HF 2 ton trolley/ chain hoist review- 4.5 stars out of 5

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Glenn Brooks
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HF 2 ton trolley/ chain hoist review- 4.5 stars out of 5

Post by Glenn Brooks »

Hello all,

I needed to unload a 2,200# crate off my trailer today, and didn’t have a big enuf chain hoist or I beam trolly for the job. So reluctantly drove down to Harbor Freight to pick up the necessary parts.

Much to my surprise they had a very nice, robust, 2 ton trolly in stock, and an equally worthy 1 1/2 ton chain hoist. So purchased both for about $180, and found they mounted perfectly on my shop made gantry.

Much to my relief, the chain hoist picked the crate without trouble and I pulled the trailer away, and lowered the whole thing to the ground without dropping or knocking anything over.
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The hoist appears to have a 10:1 chain pull which picked the load with a surprisingly smooth motion. The chain hoist swivels from the trolly, and the chain pull sprocket is enclosed with a full sheet metal cover that guides the pulling chain into the center of the sprocket as you lift. This ensures the lift chain wont jam if you pull sideways or at an outward angle - almost a necessity to stay out from underneath the load, or precariously twisting gantry.
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The 1 1/2 ton chain hoist easily lowered that much weight. So, certainly it seems good to go when handling the 2200 scale weighted pounds I was dealing with. Given HF’s propensity to under engineer most everything they sell, Iam happy lifting 1 ton plus with this nice little 1 1/2 ton hoist, and 2 ton trolley. Note: for lifting anything between 2500# and 4000#, I would upgrade to their 3 ton chain hoist with this existing trolley.

My only disappointment with this chain lift is that HF used the absolute smallest diameter pull chain they could get away with. The chain links are to small in diameter for me to grip properly and exert sufficient weight to lift the load. Small diameter line is a very common, and widely avoided, problem in the commercial marine rigging world. Small diameter line (anything under 1/2” od) is impossible to grip properly. I found that wearing a pair of padded, leather welding gloves allowed me to put my full weight and grip on this undersized chain. The obvious solution is to increase the diameter of the chain. However doubtful HF could sell this unit for $85 with heavier, higher quality chain. I’ll live with the gloves.

The 2 ton push trolley is also, a fine piece of gear. Small 3” diameter wheels, with robust 5/8”+ flanges fit perfectly my small 1.5 ton gantry crane, with horizontal 6”x3” I-beam. Yet the trolley can expand to fit a heavy lift 6”x 12” beam equally well. My only recommended improvement, would be to attach a small tag line and pulley to the trolley, to hold it in place, to and fro, along the overhead beam. The driveway to my shop is slightly superelevation, and slopes towards the street. So the weight of the load on the wheels, caused the trolley to easily move out of position, and run down hill along the I beam, towards the side of the gantry. This caused the load to shift away from my desired resting spot. I rigged a tag line uphill, as a preventer, to keep the crate from shifting and all was fine. Permanent tag lines tied off to opposite sides of the trolley, running through pulley’s down the legs, and secured to cleats on the gantry uprights, would be a nice permanent fix...
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Thankfully, I now have a fully functioning gantry, at a very reasonable $180 cost. Other, more heavily built 2 ton trolleys and chain hoists can easily run $500+. So for my general 1.5 ton shop use, these will do a fine job picking my locomotives and boilers during restoration work and winter maintenance. And, with my 2ton engine hoist set up on one end, and this 1.5 ton gantry crane of the other, I feel confident I could safely lift up to a 7,000# locomotive or goods car. Far more capability than I will likely ever need.

Glenn
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Steggy
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Re: HF 2 ton trolley/ chain hoist review- 4.5 stars out of 5

Post by Steggy »

The gantry's beam appears to be an H-beam, not an I-beam.
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Harold_V
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Re: HF 2 ton trolley/ chain hoist review- 4.5 stars out of 5

Post by Harold_V »

BigDumbDinosaur wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 1:50 am The gantry's beam appears to be an H-beam, not an I-beam.
Looks to me like a typical I beam. The reference book I trust (Jorgensen's Stock List) makes reference to such a structural shape as an I, even when it's a wide flange.

I agree, an H designation makes more sense, especially when one is using a non-serif font.

H
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Re: HF 2 ton trolley/ chain hoist review- 4.5 stars out of 5

Post by Steggy »

Harold_V wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 2:03 am
BigDumbDinosaur wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 1:50 am The gantry's beam appears to be an H-beam, not an I-beam.
Looks to me like a typical I beam. The reference book I trust (Jorgensen's Stock List) makes reference to such a structural shape as an I, even when it's a wide flange.

I agree, an H designation makes more sense, especially when one is using a non-serif font.

H
My Central Steel and Wire book refers to such a beam as an H-beam. :D Guess steel suppliers aren't all on the same page when it comes to nomenclature.

The distinguishing characteristics of an H-beam are its flange width is a larger percentage of beam height than that of an I-beam and its flanges are straight, not tapered as with an I-beam. In structural engineering, this distinction can be critical and misapplication can be dangerous.

H-beams are not rated for loading on the flanges as would be applied by a hoist trolley. Also, a properly-designed hoist trolley's wheels will have a tapered tread that matches the taper of an I-beam's flange. Running such a trolley on an H-beam can lead to flange bending, wheel grooving, or both, due to point contact between the wheel and flange edge.
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Glenn Brooks
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Re: HF 2 ton trolley/ chain hoist review- 4.5 stars out of 5

Post by Glenn Brooks »

Well, The flanges are beveled and half the length of the web. Which meets the definition of an I beam. However, All material is the same thickness at the root, so, more likely to be an H beam. And it is formed, not welded. Again an I. So thinking it mostly meets two of the three criteria for an I beam. Although typically the difference is supposed to be the width of the web compared to the flanges. In this case everything is the same thickness - leaning toward H.

The wheels indeed are beveled, and match the slope of the flange.

Also, in usage, the beam was originally used to straighten frames in an automotive frame straightener machine.

Previously I thought of it as a Green Beam. Now I shall have to go aloft again and check it over.

Glenn
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Motive power : 1902 A.S.Campbell 4-4-0 American - 12 5/8" gauge, 1955 Ottaway 4-4-0 American 12" gauge

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Steggy
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Re: HF 2 ton trolley/ chain hoist review- 4.5 stars out of 5

Post by Steggy »

Glenn Brooks wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 5:07 pm Well, The flanges are beveled and half the length of the web. Which meets the definition of an I beam. However, All material is the same thickness at the root, so, more likely to be an H beam. And it is formed, not welded. Again an I. So thinking it mostly meets two of the three criteria for an I beam. Although typically the difference is supposed to be the width of the web compared to the flanges. In this case everything is the same thickness - leaning toward H.

The wheels indeed are beveled, and match the slope of the flange.

Also, in usage, the beam was originally used to straighten frames in an automotive frame straightener machine.

Previously I thought of it as a Green Beam. Now I shall have to go aloft again and check it over.

Glenn
True I-beams are hot-rolled, not formed, with a relatively thick web and a sizable fillet where the flange joins the web. An I-beam's flanges are narrower for a given beam weight than an H-beam, but are thicker. An I-beam's proportions give it approximately equal rigidity in both vertical and horizontal loading, as well as good torsional resistance. An I-beam can support high dynamic loads on it flanges, which is why it's the preferred structural shape for gantries.

An H-beam's web is thinner, flanges are wider in proportion to height and the fillet at the web/flange junction is much less pronounced. An H-beam's proportions favor vertical rigidity over horizontal, but produce less torsional resistance than an I-beam of the same size (e.g., 8" vs. 8"). This characteristic makes an H-beam suitable for static support, such as in buildings, but less desirable for dynamic loading.
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Mr Ron
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Re: HF 2 ton trolley/ chain hoist review- 4.5 stars out of 5

Post by Mr Ron »

As a retired structural engineer, I concur with BigDumbDinosaur. I beams have tapered flanges and H columns have parallel flanges and there are WF I beams.
Mr.Ron from South Mississippi
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