New to wheels-pulleys-hoists

[masoct3]

Hello everyone.

I am an ice fisherman. I have a sled that I pile everything in, with a weight of between 40-65lbs. I am wishing to install DIY style some type of a wheel pulley system that would be attached to my horizontal studs high in the garage.

I am unable to apply the physics that is needed to calculate # of wheels, size of wheels, and where placement will be. As far as my placement of the sled, it will be in the most front, hanging from the rafters with lots of support to hold it.

I appreciate your help in advance,

[delcecchi]

It is all in the number of pulleys supporting the load. A rope over a single pulley you have to pull as hard as the load that rope supports. Put a pulley on the sled and tie the rope to the rafter, halves the load that you have to pull, but you pull twice as far.

[aanderud]

Shouldn't take a lot of physics here since you're really not doing a huge load. Get yourself a couple of pulleys, or maybe 4 of them if you want a stable flat platform. You're only talking about lifting 60 lbs. The lifts I've seen are capable of lifting upwards of 200 lbs with little trouble. Check out heavylift from racor for a sample. I think it's rated at like 250 lbs. Costs about 150 bucks....but might be worth it depending on your needs. If nothing else it's something to look at for ideas on design.

[masoct3]

That's a cool setup.

I am trying to do this as a DIY and keep the expenses low. I was at a store today and they had the pulleys or wheels, and I just did not know what to base it on.

Thanks!

[masoct3]

Can you possibly give me a visual on where the pulleys are, say in line with each other, or by distance......

So let's say 4 pullies:

How would I setup the rope?

Will each pulley be on top of each corner of sled?

**It doesn't matter to me the ratio going down on the distance of pulling. I just want it out of the way when I need the room.

It is all in the number of pulleys supporting the load. A rope over a single pulley you have to pull as hard as the load that rope supports. Put a pulley on the sled and tie the rope to the rafter, halves the load that you have to pull, but you pull twice as far.

[Tom7227]

Be sure to check that the rafters are strong enough to hold the load you want to lift. Trusses that are 2x4 and over a long span would be a concern for me, especially if any stuff was setting on top. The closer you are to the middle of a span would also make me think about it. Are you sure that you'd never leave another 20-40 lbs of stuff in the sled to get it out of the way and to make it ready to use when the itch to fish came?

The one pictured seems to have one end attached to a wall which would make a lot of difference in the amount of weight put on the trusses,

[delcecchi]

I searched on pulleys and found these pictures which are way better than I could draw

These show some ways that pulleys are rigged. Look at the middle picture. in i, the pulley just changes the direction of the pull so you can pull down to lift up.

In ii there are two pulleys so you pull half as hard to lift up, but twice as far.

In iii, you pull 1/4 as hard since there are 4 pulleys (two pairs) but 4 times as long. This is what is sometimes called "block and tackle"

The last picture is a redrawn equivalent of iii.

The best way to understand this is to go to FF or a hardware store and get a few small single and dual pulleys and some rope that fits them and play with them a while.

Like the setup in the last picture could be the two ends of a sled.

[CAMAN]

First, DON'T connect the rope/cable directly to the sled, it will deform, and in the heat of summer will become a giant bowl. Instead cut a 3/4" piece of plywood that is atleast 3 inches bigger than the sled is on all 4 sides.

Find pulleys big enough that the rope/cable fits properly in the groove, but not so big they get in the way. I'd say around 1 1/2" - 3" diameter.

A quick drawing that should work well.

[delcecchi]

Are you sure that arrangement will stay level? The plywood is a good idea.