Way back last fall I mentioned that I had to unload my Bridgeport onto
soil rather than a paved surface and the Harbor Freight shop crane
kept rolling off the boards I put on the ground when I'd start to
lift.

I tried putting C clamps as brakes on the wheels in order to lift a
500 lb. drill press this weekend, and they kept the wheels from
rolling off the boards.

Photo of the setup in the dropbox he

http://metalworking.com/dropbox/Stab...Shop_Crane.JPG

I'd still like to make some removeable outriggers for the ends of the
crane's legs, but I haven't run across the right pieces of steel at
the local junk dealer.

If you guys have come up with another way to level and stabilize these
shop cranes, I'd like to see some photos to get other ideas.

RWL

Simple chocks, even made of wood, would keep the crane from shifting.

I personally threw away the original HF casters, and instead
installed more decent casters (2 swivel/2 rigid).

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/Addi...To-Shop-Crane/

i

GeoLane at PTD dot NET wrote in message
...

Way back last fall I mentioned that I had to unload my Bridgeport onto
soil rather than a paved surface and the Harbor Freight shop crane
kept rolling off the boards I put on the ground when I'd start to
lift.

I tried putting C clamps as brakes on the wheels in order to lift a
500 lb. drill press this weekend, and they kept the wheels from
rolling off the boards.

Photo of the setup in the dropbox he

http://metalworking.com/dropbox/Stab...Shop_Crane.JPG

I'd still like to make some removeable outriggers for the ends of the
crane's legs, but I haven't run across the right pieces of steel at
the local junk dealer.

If you guys have come up with another way to level and stabilize these
shop cranes, I'd like to see some photos to get other ideas.

RWL


If you don't have to move the crane under load, I would put some 4x6 blocks
(or similar) under the frame next to the casters. Just let the castors hang.

Photo of the setup in the dropbox he

http://metalworking.com/dropbox/Stab...Shop_Crane.JPG

I'd still like to make some removeable outriggers for the ends of the
crane's legs, but I haven't run across the right pieces of steel at
the local junk dealer.

If you guys have come up with another way to level and stabilize these
shop cranes, I'd like to see some photos to get other ideas.

You could drill a pair of holes near the casters for a long say 1/2" bolt
and weld a nut on the bottom of the legs. That way you can turn the bolt
down into the ground or boards to stop any movement.
Roger

On Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:21:31 -0700, "Roger Paskell"
wrote:

Photo of the setup in the dropbox he

http://metalworking.com/dropbox/Stab...Shop_Crane.JPG



If you guys have come up with another way to level and stabilize these
shop cranes, I'd like to see some photos to get other ideas.

You could drill a pair of holes near the casters for a long say 1/2" bolt
and weld a nut on the bottom of the legs. That way you can turn the bolt
down into the ground or boards to stop any movement.
Roger


That would work, but I wonder if it would be shortening the legs on
the sides just enough to make it a little unstable.

I picked up some 3/4" threaded rod and some nuts at the scrap yard
recently, thinking / worrying that 4000 lbs might strip the threads on
a half inch bolt. What I'd like to do is find some U channel that is
a sliding fit inside the legs of the crane, and weld the 3/4" nuts to
the U channel. I could just slide in the outriggers and adjust the
"feet" to level the legs.

RWL