Anyone build your own jib crane for your shop? Any pics

Looking to build a jib crane for my shop to help out my back from lifting things off trailers, onto work benches etc. My buddy had built one out of a large pipe, cemented it into about 2 yards of concrete and built a bearing to sit on top of it with a larger pipe and flat round stock as the bearing. His shop is long gone so I cant remember exactly how we did it. The pipe was a least 8 inches for the main support post. Does anyone have some pictures of jib cranes they built or ideas of ones they built they could share?
Thanks
 
H-F sell them for around $100-150. I have one on the bed of my pickup truck. My shop on the other hand is set up with an I-Beam that round the length of the shop and has 5 chain hoist hanging on it
 
I looked into building some for loading our big lathes at work.

These are the portable ones with a concrete filled box base that can be moved with the fork lift. They are rated for 300 lbs best I remember, but that is a very conservative number, I'm sure they will go probably double that if ever needed.

But, after penciling it out, we were way ahead just buying them instead of building.

That also puts more liability on the mfg should something ever happen.

We got one at Global Industrial, then I found a better deal somewhere for the second, don't recall what they cost, but wasn't too bad.

Then I had to find a trolley and small hoist for each.

They work well, sure beat having to clear a path for the forklift and rely on someone else operating it.
 
I think you chose wisely buying a crane instead of building one.

Liability when in business is brutal.
 
This is the one I built for the barn. The vertical pipe is 5 inch dia. and the swing (black) pipe is 4 inch dia. which is a perfect fit. The column is set in one yard of crete and the back brace that goes to the ground is in a half yard. The swing pipe goes down in the vertical pipe way past where the back brace is welded on. My neighbor came down with his hoe and dug out the holes and helped me set the column. I also used the column to weld a vise platform to. The crane is designed to swing to the center of the barn door. I have lifted a measured 1360 pounds with it. Top links cut in half and a piece of pipe welded in between make excellent support brackets. Sorry it looks kinda junky. Ellis
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Mr Kinney it loooks like you did a wonderful job of designing and building your crane!!! And if all of us could do it that well (too many of us are tempted to work with the material out back in the iron pile) it would be great. But if I needed a shop crane it would also mean that from time to time I would need by buddy to come help me with those large items, and if he got hurt because my home-made crane broke I would be forever regretful. My insurance company would hate me as well. Just a thought
 
Ellis,

I don't think anything looks junky in these pictures. If my shop was that neat, it would probably mean that I'd died and someone else had cleared it out. I am impressed with your hoist. I'd trust your welding any day compared to a lot of crap coming from today's factories. Some are good, and some are random about quality control. Too often we see a manufacturer's name on an item and three years later the company does not exist, but may be the same factory with a different name. It is the lawyers advice on how to avoid liability for crappy product.

You know what you have and what it will do. I respect that.

Paul in MN
 
Junky my foot! That about looks pro. Good on ya! Always wanted to build a 1:1 scale version of the V&T jib crane kit that's in HO scale. I have a couple for my train layout, just don't have a spot for them yet. Bet the timbers to make a real one won't be cheap.

Mike
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Sometimes you can buy an old bucket truck discarded by a power company, really reasonable. Pour in anchor bolts for the boom assembly in your shop floor. Replace the bucket with a hook. This idea showed up on this site, some years back. Nothing was said about how to power the hydraulics, though.
 
I built this one to load cranks into the grinder. I placed other machines so I could also use it. I boxed the I-beam and lagged it to a pole.
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Ellis, when I see something like that and someone cautions about how dangerous it is, I think about what sort of hammer it would take to break the anvil. The only way that I can think of for you to break your crane if someone told you that you had to find a way, would be to back a good sized crawler in and then set up a set of a number of chain pulleys like a block and tackle with 3/8 chain. After taking the slack out of the chain you would then need a chain come-a-long which you probably already have, then set about lifting the back end of the crawler up. However, I would be betting on the crawler being lifted instead of the crane breaking.
 
Fred : I have a 16 foot 1 ton in my shop I do not use anymore, it could be for sale cheap or I can take some pics of it. it is a manufacture one not home made I think it was made by a company named gorbel not sure of spelling. I put in a 6 tons bridge crane and no longer use it. if you want info reply back to this and I will get in touch as I work nights.

thanks
 
That is a nice one to. So the 4 inch pipe just sits in the 5 inch pipe with no bearing and you can turn it freely just fine?
 

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