How would you lift an 8×8″x 24′ beam?
ANDYSZ2
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I just got a large arbor job that has 2 8″x8″ x24′ beams that I have to lift 10′ in the air and set on 4 8×8 posts per beam.
Because I don’t have workmans comp I can’t bring in help unless I hire from a temp. company.
They have a very nice yard so heavy equipment is not an option.
I thought about jacks and cribbing.I figured 2 3 ton roll around jacks and a pair of A-frames.
Looking for a better system any ideas?
ANDYSZ2
WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
Replies
If you can handle one end at a time, set up pipe scaffold with the aluminum/plywood walkboards that the rental yards keep. Just work your way back and forth, raising what you can on each lift. It's slow but safe.
Be careful.
A couple tripods and and hoists would work.
Got any wall jacks?
No wall jacks.
I was thinking of taking a set of 2x12's and drilling holes every six inches and running pipe clamps thru the holes and lifting the beam with the jacks, rest on the pipes, recrib jack again. my cribbing could have a platform so when I reach my post height I could roll the beam into position.
I am going to see whats out there to rent that can reach higher than ten foot.
ANDYSZ2WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
what about one of these jacks that resemble a drywall jack. i use them to put in overhead heaters. i think load limit is around 800-1000lbs. larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
heck beat me by 2 mins. yeah thats what i'm talking about.... larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
Try Idahoe Dons technique, I have done much bigger timbers than what you are dealing with doing just what he is recommending.
Your beam should weigh 300-500 lbs. (8" x 8' x 24'=10.66 cu ft.)
I am using Doug Fir weights here. (roughly 30-50 lbs. a cu. ft depending on very green or dry)
Even a 2 x 6 fastened to your posts , or a braced pole mid span with the come-along hung from the top and a choker will easily and safely lift the weight.
I once stood a green oak tree trunk that was being used as a post in a house using the same technique and that thing was 24" diameter at the base and 24' long. Used two come-alongs in tandem on that one.
Andy,
Rent a Genie Lift.
KK
Genie lift, for sure.
http://www.genielift.com/ml-series/ml-1-4.asp
Superlift™ Contractor
A Manually Operated Material Lift for Construction and Industrial Applications
The Superlift Contractor is an ideal tool for construction firms and every kind of contractor.
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_______________________________________________________________
I just want you to feel you are doing well. I hate for people to die
embarrassed. - Fezzik the giant
OK the superlift seems like the ticket now I have to move it around in the grass so 3/4 plywood sheets for that. at 24' long I wonder how much the beam will weigh and how stable will it be?
ANDYSZ2
WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
I really couldn't guess at the weight.
I recently lifted some round vigas avg. 12" dia. x 28' long to 15'. They were dry, but took 4 men to carry. We were on a concrete floor.
I think if you use plywood and get started straight that stability should be good for a lift of around 10'._______________________________________________________________
I just want you to feel you are doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed. - Fezzik the giant
Actually you will only need the plywood at the the lift site. The lift we have has 6" hard wheels on the back (crank) side. I have tipped it back and hauled it across loose soil ,graveld and grassy areas at my place. Have it delivered if you can. Getting one off a pu truck by yourself is mean.
Dave
Andy,
I did somethng similar for a pergola.
The hard part is getting started. I made a single short crib stack where the center of the beam would be, maybe 18-24" high, and got the beam centered and balanced on that.
I then got on one end of the beam and rocked it up and down.
When my end went down, a piece of lumber was put under the beam on the side of the crib away from me, when I rocked my side up, the piece of lumber just placed became the new pivot point and a piece of lumber was put under the beam on the side of the crib near me.
Sounds tougher than it is, but you can raise a beam pretty quickly with this method.
Just be careful the beam doesn't get away from you and that you keep it balanced and centered on the crib.
And make sure OSHA isn't around...
Mongo
The best way I know of is to attach a LVL to the post about 6' taller than the post. For this I like timberloc or ledgerloc screws, at least two on top, middle and bottom.
Then attach a comalong to the lvl with 2" webbing. I like 2" webbing since it's load rated at 10,000 lbs and when put on like a choker double wrapped around the lvl, it holds well and doesn't damage the beam. A single 1/4" screw keeps the webbing from sliding down when no weight is on it. Once loaded the choker action grips well enough.
The post has to be well braced, but the weight of the beam slides up the side of the post so there's less side thrust than you'd think. When the beam is up high enough it slides over to the lvl.
No equipment needed other than 4 webbing sections with loops on each end and two one ton (no pulley) comalongs. I like load rated quick links on the webbing loops so the comalong is more easily clipped in.
If you want to simplify life, drill a couple of holes and bolt on a hand crank or electric winch to the lvls.
Best of luck.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
ps Since those beams are hard to move up high, simply use those nylon webbing chokers and the comalong to nudge it right or left.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
pps We set three beams a few months back that were aproximately the same weight as yours and it took one guy 2-1/2 hours to set up, 10 minutes to lift the first, 60 minutes to reset for the second beam, and 10 minutes to lift it.
The third was a separate job and required creative bracing, but was up in under 3 hours.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Andy
I used a super lift to set a 26 foot piece of steel in a remodel last year. Even though I had the manpower available, this was by far the safest and quickest way for me. We were able to lift to eleven feet and fine tune are location with ease.
If your lumber company delivers with a moffit, maybe they could set them on the posts for you. In connecticut, small crane would be a $360 minimum.
Greg in Connecticut
View Image
Finally set the beams yesterday and today.
What I did was drill 9 holes 11/4" into 4 2x8's the holes were on one ft center in the middle of the boards.
Then I screwed 2x4 every 3' on the back of 2 of the boards and clamped them to the posts.
I screwed a 6x6 block 12" wide at the bottom to set my beams on.
Then screwed the other board to the other side of block and attached a brace from post to side of both boards at top.
Using two 1" diameter pipes per side I lifted one side of the beam a ft then slid in a pipe.Went to other side and lifted a ft and slid in pipe going back and forth till I reached the top of post. Put new brace under post and removed top one on each side then slid beam over onto posts.
All the lifting took less than twenty minutes per beam, but the prep work took the most part of a day and I put my son to work helping me.
Still much cheaper than renting a lift and very safe.
Thanks for all the advice guys!
ANDYSZ2 WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
I gotta learan to look at the date on these OPs before responding! Where did these other twenty posts come from in a few minutes?Sheesh;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Spruce, fir, oak, dry, green????????
I had a 40' 8x8 fir beam a few years back that I could handle one end at a time. Think fulcrums and jack wedges...
That does take some cribbing though. And a lot of walking back and forth.
probably a stubby bottle jack and cribbing will do the job fairly easy too.
You could cut some stair stringers - one for each end to walk it up one end and one step each time. Use legs to lift, not back.
Yeah, that is probably how I would do this. Assuming you are seating these on posts ten feeet tall, erect the posts, brace them off, then cut two stringers to fit to the top and lag them to the posts, then go one step at a time at each end
Grunt
walk
grunt
walk...you got the idea
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Western cedar, it was a lot lighter than I expected.
Yeah stringers would have worked but I didn't have the room to stretch out that far from the posts.They were ten ft. tall, and the pool is less than 6 ft away.
I set up my 3 ton aluminum floor jack but it wasn't needed.
ANDYSZ2
WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
"(well my teenage daughter can't because she can't even seem to pick up her dirty clothes and they are considerably lighter)"Amen, brother. When my daughter went off to college, taking all her clothes with her, I finally realized that there was actually carpet on her bedroom floor, not just wall-to-wall clothing.BruceT
Andy,
What wood and is it dry or green? Dry light wood like pine or fir it's not that heavy. I've lifted one end by myself. A few years earlier I've lifted white oak and set it on cribbage then another stack of cribbage and lift it over to that stack.
Crude but if fat old me can do it so can just about anyone.. (well my teenage daughter can't because she can't even seem to pick up her dirty clothes and they are considerably lighter)
You might look at using a Gin pole(s) to make the lift. At 33# per cu.ft. for Doug fir, you are looking at 351 lbs. which a small block and tackle should be able to handle
That thread is 7 years old, Oregon.