DIY Gantry Crane
 

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With mechanic prices thru the roof i refused to pay someone $1500 to remove my engine. I work a lot and it would take more time if i did the job but to hell with it. I've removed several engines and put them together but had a different job that allowed me more personal time. Now i just flat out refused to dish out so much money to have the engine removed and installed. Did some research and built this contraption to get it done.

someone post the pic of the gantry using ladders and propane tanks please

I think your gutters need cleaning!:party-smiley-004:

Nice work, but remember, you need to be able to move fore / aft and side to side as you pull each engine. How do you plan on accomplishing that?

You could make a trolley that rides across the top beam with a couple of tires from HF attached to 2 steel plates through bolted with black pipe. Looks like it would work to me. What's an engine weigh, 500-600lbs?

A dressed 500 efi is 900 ish pounds

lol its a new house to me and umongst other things that area is getting torn down. In other words HAMMER TIME!!!

i ordered casters to put on. The casters have a weight limit of 2400lbs. My engine is currently a short block. Heads and manifolds are out already. Once going in will go in without the manifold and risers. Otherwise the room to tighten the bolts to back of the engine is nearly impossible.

I did something very similar many years ago when changing out the engine in a diesel Audi I had at the time. Ended up doing a couple of friends' cars, too.

Isn't that about $4K worth of wood though?! :lolhit: JK! Looks good.

1500 buck to remove a short block?!!! F/T. Should be pretty easy to do with the exhaust and heads off.

Lol, all in about $350. Trust me i kept the receipts to tally the cost.

I have done it several time and even on a fully dressed 454. That's what pissed me off with the prices of doing business in Miami. The only thing that was holding me back was my work schedule. I work from 7am to 8pm. It will take me longer than expected by i am sure as hell not dishing out 1500 to someone for such a job. Mind you, i am not dissing on marine mechanics but you can sucker someone into it, just not me.

Very nice. If I didn't have a friend with a metal one already built, this was plan B.

I've been wanting to buy the Harbor Freight gantry crane for $800, and then replace the upper beam with a longer one so it can straddle a boat.

How long is it as is?

shows 94" between the posts

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Just a >bit< too narrow.

Somebody on here recently posted how they expanded the top cross rail to gain additional width.

A trip to your local steel fabricator to weld up some plates on a new I-beam would be easy and cheap. We put steel i-beams in our house remodels all the time, wouldn't take much at all for a fabricator.

I’ve been watching them for a couple yrs.

What I see is, needs width and height.

A while back I was watching salvage yards that specialize in demoing shuttered factories.
Tons of gantrys.

I think they were going for $1500-ish for 3k lb capacity.

I wanted two.

Then you have to get them home and reassemble them.

And when you’re done w/them, where do you store them??

In my case, shop floor is concrete where casters roll.
Outside is gravel….., not so much.

I bought a harbor freight chain winch to pull the 454 out of my 25’ Checkmate Convincor and build a gantry like in this post to do it but was shocked to see that my motor lift/cherry picker would do it!

W/the boom fully extended and motor stripped to short block, it popped right out!

I was shocked.

Gantrys are cool if you have concrete all around your shop.

14'6" walls help to

I saw a guy use a Bobcat to remove the engine from his Formula.

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Per your request, This the one you like better boostbros?

^^^^^^^ Oh lord...

There it is!

I've got this one and it works with my 311. I have to drop the guide poles and raise the hoist to its max height. I store it on the side of my backyard under some trees... it's out of the way enough where the Mrs doesn't complain about it.

There's enough meat at the top that you could drill different attachment points to get a couple inches each side. A replacement I-beam isn't out of reach either if more of a span is needed.

If I needed to use in a professional capacity, I'd get something better. But for the occasional engine yanking session, not a bad investment.

You likely have to extend it also if your boat is on a trailer.

My neighbor has been helping me with his Kubota, but I'd like to rig up a gantry crane so I can be self reliant.

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I just pulled my 572 port engine with chain attached to a front loader ........you can articulate it anyway you want similar to he picture above.....