On Mar 18, 7:02*pm, Wes wrote:
_ wrote:
One of the projects involves both re-doing the garage and lifting a ford
4-cyl motor out of a car. *There's a fellow selling an I-beam locally, 13
feet long, 8 inches deep, 4 inches wide (no web thickness specified). *This
would span the garage nicely - could I rely on it to not bend if I hook up
a hoist to the centre and lift that motor? *Supported on the ends only....

I could be wrong but are rule of thumb in my head is a beam should only deflect 1" over
360" of lenght. *

Made up beams must be constrained so they don't twist.

Stay inside that, life is good if I didn't blow it.

Wes

That rule is for beams supporting sheetrock walls, so they don't
crack. More deflection is allowed otherwise.