Harbor Freight's Telescoping Gantry Crane - It Ain't Heavy, It's My Hot Rod

One optional accessory I went for was a Push Trolley. The trolley comes in handy for moving a load from side to side-like positioning an engine during installation.

Pay attention when picking up or ordering the trolley, I didn't and ended up with one for a wider I-beam. Rather than return it, I picked up some extra shims and made this one work.

With the trolley assembled and in place I dug out my old (Harbor Freight) chain fall and hung it from the trolley.

The neat thing about this crane is the fact that it's telescopic. This works well as large bulky items will need to be lifted higher than smaller ones to get 'em the same distance off the ground. These are the crank handles supplied with the crane so the I-beam can be raised.

Each post is equipped with a crank-operated reel that uses a cable assembly to lift each side of the I-beam. It'll work with one person if you inch each side up a bit at a time, but it's one chore that's faster if you've got a helper to man the second crank at the same time.

Each post is equipped with a safety locking pin and nine locking positions. These pins are removed to raise or lower the posts and are reinserted whenever the crane is raised or lowered to a desired height. Never use the unit without these pins in place as the cables are used only to lift the I-beam not to handle the weight of any load being raised.

This image shows a few of the locking positions on the posts. There are nine positions on each, allowing the I-beam to be raised from a bit over 8 feet to a maximum of 12 feet 8 inches.

Assembly took a couple hours; its 2,000-pound capacity and 8- to 12-foot height range offers great flexibility when it comes to how and when I get to perform needed tasks around the garage and I think it's a perfect addition to any home or professional workshop.

I fabricated a boom that'd have a longer reach and higher lift height than it had at the moment.

I have an ample supply of scrap steel piled in the corner of the shop and soon found a selection of square tubing that was the correct size for the mods. I first took the original hoist legs and removed their casters. I then cut 5-foot sections of 0.177-wall square tubing and slid them into the original legs (about 12 inches) and used the original caster mounting holes to create a way to hold the new extensions in the legs so they wouldn't pull out as the hoist was moved.

I then welded the casters back onto the initial legs about 6 inches rearward of where they were originally and added a second pair at the ends of the new extensions. This modification gave me about a 10-foot overall leg length.

To ensure that I had sufficient strength I left the original inner boom section fully engaged in the fixed section and cut a new piece of tubing long enough that it would slide in the full-length of the original boom(s), basically tripling the wall thickness of the first 4 feet of the boom.

Leaving about 6 inches of the first section of tubing protruding from the hoist, I used my HEM saw to cut it at about a 40-degree angle and welded on a second section of tubing about 21 inches long and a 3/16-inch support plate underneath the junction-this closed up the open end of the second section of tube as well as providing a bit more support to the area too.

You may also notice that I drilled a hole in the original boom assembly and welded a nut to the top surface so I could insert a bolt to hold the new extension tightly in place.

You can see the third section of the extension (about 48 inches long) and a couple of gussets I added to the new boom extension as well. I added one piece of flat stock from the first tubing section part way up the back of the second section to provide support at the first weld joint-and a pair at the sides of the second joint.

Here's a shot of what I ended up with. As you can see, I added a pair of 1/4-inch tabs near the end of the extension and fabbed a rectangular cradle from the tabs. The cradle is where I intended to hang the straps connecting the hoist to whatever I'd be lifting. Again, keep in mind that I was totally winging it here.

This shot shows the gusseting used to support the boom assembly.

I chose my '29 Model A for the hoist's first test. I rolled the hoist into place and used four heavy-duty tie-down straps to attach the cradle to the cab (I know the tie downs are not designed for lifting but they were all I had). In the future I'll replace the tie-down straps with steel cable for safety sake.