Jib boom Help

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My spine is slowly fusing and my neck barely moves. I am loosing the ability to bend and work at anything below the waist line. Chest height is best either standing or sitting. I do my best at bench work. I have been using an engine hoist to lift everything up onto a rolling work bench, however, it has its limitations in maneuverability. My days of working on heavy equipment seem to be very limited in scope, my role is now that of adviser rather than doer. So here is my plan. I would like to build a jib crane that can lift 500 lbs. or so and have as much range as practical. My shop/garage is three bays twelve foot  wide with nine by nine foot doors, ceiling height ten and a half feet. I would like to locate the crane between door one and two and have the ability to lift items up on to a rolling work bench, swing it over to the welding bench or cutting table etc. I have no problem breaking the concrete and using the post hole digger from my tractor to drill down a few feet for a proper footing. I can get my son over to help, however, he has a job etc. so his help time is limited to a weekend or so a month. Being unable to lift, position and work is driving me nuts.Does anyone have a set of plans that they have used to make something that may fit my need? I would like to use a piece of I beam for the boom as I have acquired a nice electric powered trolley and have a HF electric hoist ready to go. I thought of using the HF telescoping gantry crane, plan B,  but would like to have the freedom to swing from one bay to the other without trying to roll the whole thing around.
Reply:I don't understand why a jib will be any better for you than a gantry.If you're only hoisting from the end of the jib without a trolley, then the space covered by the hook is almost the same as by a gantry, except that one path is curved, and the other is straight.For the same section beam, a gantry can use a much longer beam, and doesn't require a massive counter weight.  If you suspended a beam the width of the shop (or even just two bays), and hung a trolley from that, it would give you much more reach than a jib crane.
Reply:If you hang 2 beams length wise from end to end then put your hoist beam on rollers you can then have complete shop access!  Something to consider.AEAD 200LE, Lincoln precision tig 185, Millermatic 251, Spectrum 625 extreme, Victor torch , Smithy 1220LTD. and  Do all C-4 band saw ,  Always adding.
Reply:I just converted my old milking barn into a shop and  had to put a support post in the middle and I built a crane that revolves 360 degrees around the center post.   I got the design from from a water lift station.  Most water plants and lift stations around where I live have these cranes for lifting the electic motors out of the below ground pits.  Go find one of those and copy that.  Another design i've seen for just revolving 180 like you want to do used an 8" I beam with a spindle and a king pin.  Imagine the front axle on a truck and the I beam takes the place of the wheel on the spindle and the axle is attached to the verticle post.  If you'd like I could draw it out.    Hope this helps.
Reply:They are of a simple enough design. Overbuild and be sure of your welding abilities.Lincoln PrecisionTig 275Miller 251Miller DialArc 250Bridgeport millHossfeld bender & diesLogan shaperJet 14 X 40 latheSouth Bend 9" 'C'Hypertherm 900Ellis 3000 band saw21"Royersford ExcelsiorTwo shops, still too many tools.
Reply:Originally Posted by WyoRoyThey are of a simple enough design. Overbuild and be sure of your welding abilities.
Reply:One of the spindles I fabbed up for a friend down in Texas. While I did mill the flat on the spindle to have a place to weld the mounting ear for the jib, I was too lazy to vee the weld joints on the mill for him. I believe that, and not including caps for the spindle pins I turned down and threaded on one end, were his only gripes. Attached ImagesLincoln PrecisionTig 275Miller 251Miller DialArc 250Bridgeport millHossfeld bender & diesLogan shaperJet 14 X 40 latheSouth Bend 9" 'C'Hypertherm 900Ellis 3000 band saw21"Royersford ExcelsiorTwo shops, still too many tools.
Reply:maybe this may help. http://www.wallacecranes.com/
Reply:car or pickup rearend housing. just use the axles and bearing ends, put a piece of pipe in the middle to reach from floor to cieling. there is your swivel just add your i beam and bracing for the trolley.
Reply:Thanks for the suggestions. Many of the shops I worked in had two axis cranes overhead and I am familiar with there use and design. That would be way overkill for what I have in mind. The shop is twenty four by thirty six feet. Enough steel to cover a 24 by 24 area would be quite expensive. I was hoping for a jib with a 8 - 10 foot boom.  500 lb working capacity should be more than enough to lift a snow blower, tractor attachments, small engines, transmissions, hydraulic pumps, electric motors that kind of stuff (bench work). I have just moved and am setting up this shop in my retirement. My last shop had an electric hoist fixed at one point in the shop it was not too easy to maneuver everything that needed lifting to the only point in the shop with the hoist. I have conceded defeat in what my body is capable of and know it will only get worse. So while I can I want to make my shop more user friendly. I am not in business or will be doing a lot of work but I still want to work on and maintain my own equipment. Making attachments for my tractors, repairs, fixing things for friends and family etc. I was hoping to put the crane in between the two bays with a three sixty swing. Lifting heavy objects that are not in that reach I should be able to do with the forks on the tractor or the engine hoist. I will position my lathe and milling machine within the range of the swing to lift chucks, vises and materials.I was hoping to sink a cylinder in the ground with enough concrete to resist the lateral loads of the jib and perhaps some stiffeners extended to the three closest walls if needed.  I am open to different weight capacities, boom lengths etc. I was hoping someone had designed and built something along these lines that I could modify or adapt to my situation. If I cant come up with an economical alternative I will have to settle for buying or building a simple gantry crane until I can. I think trying to position a gantry crane over the lathe etc. will be more of a problem not to mention the amount of room need to maneuver position and store a gantry.
Reply:If you didn't have the materials, HF has a good deal on rolling 2 ton hydraulic cranes for 215.00. They will handle weight good and have an extended boom. I saw a man pick up a 950 lb Oilfield wellhead with one and put it up on a 5 ft. Shelf with one hand...it impressed me. Just my 2 cents.Lincoln 305GLincoln 100 WeldpakAssortment of Victor, Smith and Harris TorchesDont Worry About the Mule-Load the Wagon!Lincoln 305GUnion Carbide TorchDon't Worry About the Mule~Load the Wagon!
Reply:Originally Posted by Timster2T I was hoping for a jib with a 8 - 10 foot boom.  500 lb working capacity should be more than enough to lift a snow blower, tractor attachments, small engines, transmissions, hydraulic pumps, electric motors that kind of stuff (bench work).  I was hoping to put the crane in between the two bays with a three sixty swing. Lifting heavy objects that are not in that reach I should be able to do with the forks on the tractor or the engine hoist. I will position my lathe and milling machine within the range of the swing to lift chucks, vises and materials.I was hoping to sink a cylinder in the ground with enough concrete to resist the lateral loads of the jib and perhaps some stiffeners extended to the three closest walls if needed.