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General Forestry => General Board => Topic started by: UNCLEBUCK on January 17, 2004, 09:23:24 AM

Title: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: UNCLEBUCK on January 17, 2004, 09:23:24 AM
here is pictures of old barn I am fixing up and cleaning junk out of and would love to see pictures or hear ideas of anyone that has found a easier way to get upstairs to the loft like a homemade elevator or a outside ramp or a neat stairway , I would like to move all my woodworking stuff up to the loft because I like it up there and it otherwise is wasted space . thanks                                                                                  (https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/LOFT.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/barn.jpg)
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Wes on January 17, 2004, 10:27:52 AM
 Looks like a nice place, I hope to have a small farm someday. I ve noticed that most of the dairy farms in my area were built into a hillside or slope,providing easy acess to the loft, Ive also seen a fiew with earthen ramps, I think that would be the best, you would need to first build a retaining wall alongside the barn wall.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Swede on January 17, 2004, 10:39:29 AM
Perhaps a beltconveyor on wheels so You can move it? I think an used one for gravel should be possible to find but most of them goes to fast and are heavy.

But how much wood do You want to take up on the loft? I´m thinking about the weight.

Swede.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: UNCLEBUCK on January 17, 2004, 02:30:40 PM
Hi Wes , I never thought about the dirt ramp idea but its a darn good thought . I have heard of people making a homemade elevator but I just cant find any pics on the web.  Swede , hey there !  My great grand parents all came from sweden and norway so that makes me half and half ! good idea about the conveyor , I use to fill the loft full of haybales 20 plus years ago from floor to cieling so I guess it held 4000 hay bales at 50 pounds a bale so 200,000 pounds so to be safe say 100,000 pounds spread out should be no problem, I know its old but I want to get things like table saw ,band saw stuff up there, its a waste to not make use of it and still have cattle come in the lower part , it feels like the woodwrights shop t.v. show up there if I can figure out the ramp or landing or elevator thing, thanks for the feedback , keep it comin, going to be about minus 18 f tonight here in central minnesota, thats a long way from sweden
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: shopteacher on January 17, 2004, 03:14:14 PM
I was going to put a hydraulic elevator in the barn I'm currently building, but decided to forgo it as I didn't want to give up the space.  What I bought was the whole front end off a fork lift and all the hydraulics. All I would have had to do was cement it into the ground and install an electric motor to the pump.  Got the forks with the front end so would have only had to put a platform on them.  My second idea was to set up the front end to fit a 3 point hitch and use it on the rear of my Massey  as a rear fork lift.  Bought a JD 8875 so no longer need it for that either.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: UNCLEBUCK on January 17, 2004, 03:29:52 PM
thanks shopteacher , the  forklift idea sounds great, I have drawn so many homemade elevator ideas inside/outside etc and all my drawings I have had a electric winch but I really like this forklift thing you have , its about 9 foot from main floor to upstairs so not too impossible . I pulled the overhead power pole down and going to dig in underground power to this barn in april but I want a elevator really bad and I will do it the cheap way somehow .
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: ADfields on January 17, 2004, 03:45:46 PM
I'm thinking a 4 post car lift inside with your lumber rack right on it.   You know the ones like in this link. http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&TEST=Y&productId=200214674

I think you could extend the legs so you get the travel you need.   They have a drive type chain that lifts all 4 legs at once with 1 hyd cylinder on them.   Not a lot to them. ;)   Build a floor on the ramps and your in business and your cows can use the center ally under it when it's up.   Use a spiral stair to get you up and down easy and take little space.
Andy
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: J_T on January 17, 2004, 05:54:19 PM
I just bough an old electric fork lift with side shift ,five foot forks 190in lift for 250 bucks could set aganst a wall put on a big platform and have lots leftover parts for something else. I build everything am putting this one on a two row cotton picker calling it my cotton picking fork lift  8)
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: ScottAR on January 17, 2004, 06:53:57 PM
The forklift idea is great.  Most lifts are pretty cheap.  The electric ones can be had for nearly nothing when the batteries go bad.  Don't be tempted to use the 12V pump.  One will spend more on batteries than a 110V pump will cost.  HTH.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: UNCLEBUCK on January 17, 2004, 08:43:36 PM
wow  ! sounds like the forklift idea is what I like and lots of auctions coming up soon around fargo,nd. so I be a biddin on a junker and throwin out all my drawings . AD had a great idea too if I could get it at the auction it would be worth a look to see how much it goes for . I see that new price is out of my budget but its auction season soon, I would have never thought about either of these ideas if I wouldnt have asked and I probably would have walked right past it at the auctions and went and stood by the hayrack junk. J_T, ScottAR, great idears !  :) thanks
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Corley5 on January 17, 2004, 08:46:10 PM
Hayrack JUNQUE.  The real treasures at auctions are found on those loads of JUNQUE ;) ;D
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: UNCLEBUCK on January 17, 2004, 08:52:32 PM
hahaha  :D  , yeah I be the one with three hamburgers in my hand and diggin through the boxes of "gold" !  sure is fun though isnt it . :D
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Corley5 on January 17, 2004, 08:56:58 PM
Loads ;D  That what's been hauled home ::)  Gonna have to have an auction here to make room for more ;) ;D ;D
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Stan on January 18, 2004, 10:54:24 AM
I saw one in "Farm Show" that might work for you. It was set up for a 3 point hitch, but there's no reason you couldn't just make it a stationary rig. The guy built a heavy duty ladder out of pipe, made a platform that rode on wheels against the verticals, and cranked it up with a winch looped around a pulley at the top. His was just to gain access to the side of his house to work on gutters, so he used a hand cranked winch. I don't know why you couldn't use an electric one.  8)
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Den Socling on January 18, 2004, 12:37:02 PM
If you need more travel than hydraulics can deliver, an elevator is easy. Get a gear motor with an electric brake. Add a reversing starter designed for a hoist (with up and down buttons). Make spools from pipe and crank the spools with the gear motor. It doesn't take much to lift tons. And, with a few calculations, you can make the travel speed exactly what you want by taking an old gear motor and adjusting speed with the spool diameter.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Swede on January 18, 2004, 06:48:09 PM
9 foot....... ::) *thinking in Meters* 2,73. It looks double as much from my chair. Then I vote for an old forklift.
In back of a traktor or other wheels with low pressure even that can be too much with big load on the top. Make it stationary or use other wheels if there is no supportlegs to squeeze to a firm  ground.
Check old pipings and hoses!

Swede.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: UNCLEBUCK on January 18, 2004, 09:05:14 PM
Stan,Den and Swede thank you for the feedback and maybe it will help anyone else wishing to do this too, well its 22 below tonight and I will be checking all the auction bills for a forklift set up, sounds like the way to go , and much safer than my first plan. If anyone finds a picture of one installed in a barn please post it here someday otherwise I can pretty much pisture it in my head , now thats scary ! ::)
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: D._Frederick on January 18, 2004, 09:58:09 PM
Uncle,

I see that  your barn was set-up for loose hay with the track down the center, do you have the carriage for the track? That carriage and track will easily lift a 1000 lbs. It wouldn't be that much of a problem to lift your wood working equipment to the loft for a one time thing. Most of those barns used 3/4 inch lumber for a floor, you should put down some sheets of 3/4 plywood for your equipment to sit on.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: UNCLEBUCK on January 18, 2004, 11:27:24 PM
D._Frederick,  here is a pic of the track as it extends outside of the barn and yes the carriage is still hanging on the track but I dont know anything about it , I read once that it locks the load in the air and then somehow the carriage will roll on the track all the way to the other end and then you can somehow trip it , I guess I better crawl up the extension ladder and figure this one out because I feel really stupid now but thats ok, it sounds even better than the old forklift idea and also its free and allready in place, you have once again helped me in a big way here, wow ! thanks , now I wont sleep for sure !  ???                                                                                  (https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/barntrack.jpg)
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Minnesota_boy on January 19, 2004, 05:46:54 AM
Our barn had one of those hay carriers.  The trolley would roll out to the end of the track to where there was a mechanism that locked the trolley in place and let the hay lift down to the hay rack.  When you pulled the rope, it would lift straight up until the load reached the top, then it would release (sort of) the trolley to roll into the barn where you would trip the hay forks to drop the loose hay.  No way included to let the load down slowly, just had to drop it.  You could get creative and make up something to stop the trolley and let you lower the load, but you'll be working at the top of the barn, far above the floor while you do it.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Bro. Noble on January 19, 2004, 07:03:37 AM
Be sure to replace the old ropes with modern synthetic rope.  The climbers can probably reccomend the right kind,

I think you can put a collar or knot or something in the rope so it makes the trolly think the load is all the way up.  You could locate it so that the trolly moves when the load is just above the level of the loft floor.  By incorperating a hand winch (come-a-long) or a chain hoist a few feet above the end of the lift rope,  you could allow for lifting different heights of loads.  And could set them to the floor gently.

Ya gotta have a team of mules to pull the lift rope though :D  That sure brings back memories.  Had a neighbor that used an electric motor and a capstan winch on the lift rope.

Somewhere there must be operators instructions for those setups------would be very helpful to you.  Probably some old-timers around that would be thrilled to show you how they worked.

If you could see our old barn (in my logo) better you would see that it is also made for loading loose hay.  If you could see, however,  sticking in the opening below is a portable grain elevator.  We use it for putting Small square bales in the loft. Used to use it in two different barns as well as stacking bales in a pole barn.  We put the hopper on it and used it with ear corn.  We have used it to put shingles on roofs and to build concrete block flues-------both to lift the blocks and as a scaffold.  It's 40 ft long and will lift (by hand crank and cable) to about 20 ft high.  
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: isawlogs on January 19, 2004, 08:10:19 AM
You could rigg an electric winch easaly to the trolly and use the winch for up down, and pull the load by hand in or pull it with a rope . We put a winch over at dads and use a rope tpull in the load ...We took the trolly off and oiled it good and do oil it every time we use it..
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Corley5 on January 19, 2004, 03:56:07 PM
The following pics show what we've done to our old hay barn to make it into a workshop.  We poured a floor, added an upper floor with I-beams, 2X8s and 1" lumber, then insulated and sheathed the inside with chip board from the GP plant in Gaylord.  The I-beams are also going to double as shop crane.  We are going to put a trolley on each beam with another beam with a trolley and chainfalls to give a wide range of mobility.  The old barn also has a hay track in the peak and we framed in a trap door in the floor to use it along with a trolley and chain falls to get stuff to the second floor.  For heat we have a heat exchanger hooked to Dad's Heatmoor outdoor furnace.  It doesn't take long even at zero degrees and no heat in there for several days for it to warm up.  We put 8" of insulation in the ceiling and six in the side walls.  The total work area in the shop is about 24X32.  That about half of the barn with the other half being cold storage.  We had talked about building a new shop but decided we'd be better off utilizing one that we already had.  We also upgraded the power to a 200 amp service.  This is still a work in progress but we are almost done now.  Just have to finish painting and build some work benches.

The stairway to the second floor
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/Barn%201-2.jpg)

The heat exchanger
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/Barn%202-2.jpg)

Hay grapple/forks where they've been for as long as I can rember
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/Hay%20Forks%202.jpg)

Hay trolley where it's also hung for as long as I can remember
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/Hay%20Trolley%202.jpg)

Trap door to second floor for lifting stuff with hay track
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/Trap%20Door%202.jpg)

Last winters pic of the barn.  It doesn't look much diiferent this winter
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/Barn%20and%20Furnace.JPG)
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: D._Frederick on January 19, 2004, 04:11:37 PM
Corley,

Nice job of building a shop in your barn, can you hide it from the tax assessor? How are you handling that cutting torch in a wooden building, my assurance agent would have a fit if he saw that?
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: HP on January 19, 2004, 07:10:32 PM
Here are some pictures of an elevator that I built in our house several years ago.  (https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/IMAG00055.JPG)
between floors
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/IMAG10.JPG)

worm gear winch
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Dave_Fullmer on January 19, 2004, 07:25:04 PM
Boy, talking about that hay trolley sure brings back memories.  In 1949 when I was 12, I went out to a farm to help with the hay.  Got paid $1.00 per week and board and room.  Bernie had a big old barn on his 80 acres just outside of Big Rapids, MI.  He cut his hay with a horse drawn mower with a cut off tongue behind his B Allis Chalmers.  He raked it with a team of horses and a dump rake.  He taught me how to drive the tractor, and we picked up the hay with a loader behind the wagon.  When we got to the barn, we pulled the wagon into the barn from one side, unhooked the wagon and drove the tractor out the other side of the barn.  We would hook the barn rope to the tractor and off I would drive it to the end of the track we made.  It would take about 3 sets of the forks to get the hay off the wagon.  When it was off, we then had the big job of mowing it away.  If you didn't mow it back to the sides of the haymow, it would lay in big knots and be hard to dig out to feed the cows in the winter.  Bernie is now in his late 80's with altzimers but he and his wife still live on the farm.  I tried to buy his '51 CA that he bought new a few years ago, but he didn't want to sell.  I did buy his '55 WD45 WF and I am in the process of restoring it.

What good memories.  We sure worked back then.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Corley5 on January 19, 2004, 08:35:18 PM
So far the tax assessor hasn't noticed the improvments 8) ;) :D.  I always use the torches on the slab outside just to be safe.  Never had any thing said about torches in any wooden building.  Before they were here they were in the old shop across the road which is an old granary.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: UNCLEBUCK on January 19, 2004, 09:54:00 PM
holy cow !  great pictures Corley5 and HP and from all of you this is fantastic the interest in making a barn into a shop .I was gone all day , went on a 6 hour drive up by north shore of lake superior to get a few parts for my old R john deere and the man that sold the parts to me had a portable bandsaw sitting by his shop so I had me a looky up close and those bandsaws are neat, never seen one up close like that . I told him to become a member to the forum and I think he may ! I thought about my wild idea of wanting my woodshop up in the loft all day too and boy am I excited now after reading everyones replies. Tomorrow I will go really check out this track and carriage business and the trap door idea and look at the old rotten rope still hanging in the corner , my mind will be a buzzin with ideas now ! When I was a kid me and all my cousins would give suicide rides in the loft by having one kid hold the rope while we all pulled on the other end and cataupulted the kid hanging on it to the cieling and then hold him there until he started to scream , no wonder dad found us a old round baler ! we had too much fun up in the haymow ! nice barn/shop Corley5 and very cool elevator HP , great stories Dave F , good tips isawlogs,good instructions MinnesotaBoy , now I better do what Bro said and have a look at my old rotten rope , I am going to hook it up and just lift something very light and learn quick how this carriage thing works and report back . More pics and more stories I say !  ;D
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Minnesota_boy on January 20, 2004, 05:03:10 AM
Be ready to really jerk on that rope when the load gets to the top so you can get it past the latch at the end of the track.  Otherwise, the load will lock at the top and just hang there and you'll be unable to bring it into the barn or lower it either.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: Dave_Fullmer on January 20, 2004, 05:19:24 PM
Yeah UncleBuck,
Minnesota boy is right about the jerking, but I would be also concerned about the latch being stuck from no use for "how many years?".  It would be pretty bad if you got a load up there and couldent get to it to get it unstuck.

Dave
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: amishboy on December 05, 2010, 02:51:01 PM
Hey, Unclebuck, just a quick line to bring you up to date on my barn-to-house conversion.I to needed an elevator and I also decided to use a forklift for that purpose.I found an old Clark 24 volt forklift at TRW in Winona that had a blown drive motor, but the mast hdy's were in grade A shape. I paid 250.00 scrape value and had Bernies Equipment haul it to Holmen Wi for me , it cost me 85.00.I then installed twelve foot by five foot by twelve inch concrete slab, that cost me 400.00.I then rented a lull 4x4 and lifted the forklift into position. and that cost me 316.00. I am in the process of buying two sealed FGM solar batteries. The reason I chose these batteries is that they are setup for recharging by a solar panel, They also have no memory. I then link these batteries which are 12 volt in a series to produce the required 24 volts to run the forklift. These batteries are then charged and hooked to the solar panel and I never have to worry about a power outage. The batteries cost around 750.00, They should be good for about 15 to 20 years.I hope this will help you in your endeaver, If you have any more questions give me a call at 608-526-6690 any time of the day. thanks Amishboy.   
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: beenthere on December 05, 2010, 03:21:12 PM
amishboy
Welcome to the Forum.
You picked a 6 yr old thread, and Unclebuck is not with the Forum anymore.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: KellyH on December 05, 2010, 09:25:45 PM
Did it again!  Got to reading a thread and didn't even look at the date just enjoyed the information and kept reading.  :D  I was about to post information on how my uncle back home in Tennessee has built an elevator in their new home from an old Clark StandUp Forklift like the ones they use in grocery warehouses with narrow aisles when I seen it pointed out the age of the original thread.  A good story is a good story no matter how old or when it started.  In any case if you want to know how he did it I will call and get some details and maybe even a picture or two.  Happy Holidays!  ;)   
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: beenthere on December 05, 2010, 10:16:45 PM
TurboMan
Would like you to do that  8)

I recall years back going through furniture factories that just had a moving continuous rope moving between floors with cross bars of wood every 6' or thereabouts. There was a hole in the floor above (similar to the hay chute used to get into the haymow and throw hay down) and you would just grab ahold of a bar and step on the next one and step off on the floor above or the next one, whichever. To go down, just move around the post to the same rope returning in the other direction. Step on, hang on, and ride down. The rope never stopped.

Simple, and seemed to work just great.
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: KellyH on December 05, 2010, 11:05:48 PM
We have a local flour mill with that very same kind of thing.  It's just big enough to put a foot on and step over with the other foot.  The "Up" side isn't as scarey as the "Down" side.  Miss a beat and you get hit in the head with the next step coming your way.  Coornidated people only please. lolzzz  :D

I'll call my uncle tomorrow and see about getting some pictures and a description.

Happy Holidays Everyone!
Title: Re: anyone ever make a elevator for a barn/shop
Post by: mrcaptainbob on December 06, 2010, 11:12:27 PM
I lucked out. Big time. My younger son acquired a replaced elevator. My barn lofts are ten feet high. This outfit came to me in pieces and had to be assembled using the tell tale marks rubbed through the paint. Well, the main cylinder is a 4" by ten foot by 480 pound beast! The side rails are eight foot steel tee sections weighing 80 ponds each. There were some revisions needed to the cabling, but it works GREAT! There is no cage to it, but it did come to me with the base cage frame. Basically box tubing that formed an ell shape, where the floor is five feet wide and about four deep. THe standing part is also five wide and about five high. Since there's a ten foot span between lofts, I decked the cage frame with 2-by stock and sheet wood. I now have a four foot wide platform/cat walk from loft to loft. The hydraulics on this is so powerful that it will easily raise over a thousand pounds. Although I don't plan to use it for that. Another great use is it makes available an easy, height adjustable work bench. I can roll an engine block or trans on there and raise it to work height quite nicely. I really like the idea of the fork lift. Clever cabling and trussing will keep it well braced and safe. Good luck with yours.