Need input on crane design

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I went dumpster diving at work this weekend and scored a nice stick of I-Beam. I have been wanting to build a gantry style crane for a while and was waiting to find the materials in my price range....free. I check every day and last night I found this 14' stick of 6" I-Beam with the trolley! I have four 1200lb capacity swivel casters and the frame for a swing set style frame already cut and mitered out of 2" and 1&1/2 sched 40 pipe ready to go. I was just waiting to find something like this to complete the build. My issue is I want to maximize the travel of the trolley the full 14' yet still have gussets for structural integrity. Could I run the vertical runs of pipe through the I beam and gusset on the top? I want to max out at around 1.5 tons. I guess I should mention that the vertical runs also telescope to adjust for height. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Attached Images
Reply:what are the limits of the heights, low point & high point? and how many different height adjustments? what is the thickness of the I beam? what do your sides look like? where are you planning on using it? indoors vs outdoors. what machine are you using to do the welding? what kind of welding do you typically do?There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:I usually let my engineers figure out that kind of stuff, If I designed it, I would need a 60 ton crane to move the 1.5 ton crane!6 Miller Big Blue 600 Air Paks2 Miller 400D6 Lincoln LN-25's4 Miller Xtreme 12VS2 Miller Dimension 812 4 Climax BW-3000Z bore welders Hypertherm 65 and 85Bug-O Track BugPair of Welpers
Reply:Originally Posted by ExpatWelderI usually let my engineers figure out that kind of stuff, If I designed it, I would need a 60 ton crane to move the 1.5 ton crane!
Reply:you have some very fine dumpsters in your area!Nice score!I personally like the idea of putting the gussets on the top.I don't want to get into hot water with any real engineers here but I would like to tell you a way that might stiffen the uprights.  My Dad sprayed expanding foam into aluminum pipe and reported it to be many times stiffer so that he couldn't bend it over his knee.  In the areas that your vertical bars that aren't sleeved together to allow for vertical adjustment it might be possible to make the tubes more resistant to buckling if you filled them with concrete.  Also, a heavy base would make me feel better when hold stuff up high and might also be less wiggly as the load moves around.Miller Syncrowave 180SDLincoln WeldPak 100 with gasHandheld Milwaukee BandsawO/A Cutting Torch
Reply:If the structure is properly assembled than it should not have "wiggle" in it while in uses, save any swing in the item being lifted. which you don't want either. in order to give the propert advice, we need to know the items I asked early. overal height, adjustability, materials, welder, skill set.There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:Don't go filling **** with concrete!Use the proper metal the first time instead.... geeze.As far as selecting the proper material thickness you can look up simple charts online of bending loads for X material in Y shape and Z thickness. If I intended to lift 1.5 tons I would want a saftey factor of at least 3, so 1.5x3= 4.5 ton breaking strength. Most, if not all deflection is going to be in the beam as the two sides just hold the beam in the air... using a simple beam calculator should get you pointed in the right direction to see if the I beam you have will do the job.http://www.engineeringcalculator.net...alculator.htmlFirst and foremost I would determine if the beam you got is going to be adequate.
Reply:Thanks for the input. The pipe is all 1 1/2" and 2" sched 40, not sure about the I-beam as that is in lbs per ft except its 6". This was a wall mounted jib crane and was certified to 1 ton in that configuration. My main concern is the gusseting in a gantry configuration. I want it to telescope from 8' to12' to facilitate loading barbeque pits onto trailers yet still fit through my garage door. My skill set is ex pipe welder in refineries and I will be putting this together with an Idealarc 250 using P-5 root and Lo-Hy cap. Again thanks for any input and I am open to any trick ideas in design.
Reply:I'm having trouble visualizing your design. Can you sketch it out? I have a feeling getting 100% of the 14' beam is going to be tough unless you have a pretty stout leg design or it's way oversized. All the brace designs I can think of that would give you that travel would depend on coming in from the end rather from the side like most designs would use. I guess you could build some cantilevered hangers on the legs, but that would complicate matters greatly and most likely reduce your capasity for safety..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:A site for some idear's.......hereSemper FiJesus may have been a Carpenter, but his dad was a Millwright" A grinder and a can of paint, will make a welder what he aint' "I've done so much, with so little, for so long, that now I can do anything with nothing!
Reply:I'll try and get something sketched when I get off work, I'm on my phone right now. Thanks.