Any Advice on How to Design a Crane for Repotting Huge Cactus?

[samhain]

its not too hard to build an a frame that can be assembled by one man, chain hoist and learn some rigging. Height will make it a more difficult process than weight. It will all brake down into a pickup. There are always deals on heavy equipment and the statue you came across for those willing. Search diy gantry crane should get you plenty of ideas.

[mikethecactusguy]

wow. $6000 to move a single statue. Bekins is charging me $6000 to move the contents of my 1100 sq ft house.
Times sure have changed.

[pone]

wow. $6000 to move a single statue. Bekins is charging me $6000 to move the contents of my 1100 sq ft house.
Times sure have changed.

Movers understand how to carry out furniture without enormous risk. What is beyond their skill set is getting a 700-pound statue off a pedestal that is three feet high and also weighs 700 pounds. You need some kind of portable gantry crane or a platform lift, and Bekins does not have that or want to take on the risk of advanced logistics.

[Steve-0]

Hard to imagine a simple 1 hour job with 2 people can turn into a 3 day ordeal. I'm missing something I guess.

Yep, I missed it, too.

[DaveW]

By the time you have fiddled about making special lifting gear you could have re-potted it. I think you are making yourself problems where non really exist. You just need to pad around it and get a friend to help to lift it. If you sacrifice the container its in it is much easier to handle the root ball.

See:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCBU5dEPzYo

If you need to winch it up just move the pot under the bough of a tree or some structure where you can screw a hook in that will support it. No need for special lifting frames as an ordinary block and tackle will then do.

See:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAcv7qoQpGM

[pone]

If you need to winch it up just move the pot under the bough of a tree or some structure where you can screw a hook in that will support it. No need for special lifting frames as an ordinary block and tackle will then do.

See:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAcv7qoQpGM

What he does in this video is the same basic approach I am proposing. Why is it that a guy who jury-rigs a crane out of his home's rafter, with a hand winch tied onto his tree, somehow doing things the right way? I want to invest a minimal amount in gear whose weight ratings and characteristics I can measure and make sure are safe for the job, while at the same time giving me a portable kit I can take out onto any job site to help remove or repot a 500-pound cactus?

P.S., it will take me less time to set up and break down my kit than the guy who tied a winch to his tree.

[DaveW]

There is not necessary a right way, just ways that work and the simplest way is often the best, particularly for "one offs" where you will seldom need the equipment again.

"while at the same time giving me a portable kit I can take out onto any job site to help remove or repot a 500-pound cactus?"

You did not mention the intention was to use the equipment for other jobs as a commercial venture, so I presumed it was solely a one off? If it's to be a regular professional occurrence then invest in or hire professional lifting equipment and you can always put it down as a tax deductible business expense?

[pone]

You did not mention the intention was to use the equipment for other jobs as a commercial venture, so I presumed it was solely a one off? If it's to be a regular professional occurrence then invest in or hire professional lifting equipment and you can always put it down as a tax deductible business expense?

I have no desire to be professional here. I want to be able to buy large cactus from private parties and not pay someone $1500 to move them.

The total investment in equipment here is going to be under $200

[samhain]

Sounds like it’s all figured out. Post some pics when you get it goin.

[pone]

Sounds like it’s all figured out. Post some pics when you get it goin.

So far, the plan is to have a tripod head with three PVC pipes as legs and a chain hoist as the lifting mechanism. To the chain hoist, I will strap towing straps. Around the base of the plant I will loop a strap designed to lift plant containers, which contains built-in loops through which you can insert a PVC pipe. Those PVC pipes will form a kind of stretcher for the plant, and could be used by two people to move it around manually. I will do something resembling a basket or bridle hitch on each end of the stretcher. I am pretty sure the way I do those hitches will violate some of the rules used in rigging, but when lifting something under 250 pounds with equipment rated for 1000 pounds, I am not going to invest much time in getting any of that to be perfect. I will try to post photos once I get it figured out.

[pone]

Sounds like it’s all figured out. Post some pics when you get it goin.

Here are photos of 1) the tripod lift rigged to the cactus, 2) the roots after clearing and 3) the cactus after transplant to a new pot of pumice soil. I went with steel tubing for the tripod legs. PVC is not strong enough.

Mission accomplished.

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[samhain]

Killer

[558cbs1012]

Pretty sweet. I was skeptical when i first read it but it turned out really well. I actually just had an accident at work, broken wrist, surgery, pins and anchors in my arm so i am gonna use your idea. Have 8 good sized repots i need to do and just being one arm and only my gf to help, i think this is gonna be a pretty awesome solution. Kudos on design, cost, and value.

[pone]

Pretty sweet. I was skeptical when i first read it but it turned out really well. I actually just had an accident at work, broken wrist, surgery, pins and anchors in my arm so i am gonna use your idea. Have 8 good sized repots i need to do and just being one arm and only my gf to help, i think this is gonna be a pretty awesome solution. Kudos on design, cost, and value.

Aside from buying components that are rated for the weights involved, and not allowing any weak component to bring down the overall system rating, I would say the hardest part is the rigging of the plant. If you do not get straps evenly positioned on the plant, and if you do not have something to support the entire base circumference, when you start to lift the plant up it could suddenly tilt over and spill out of your rigging.

My advice would be to lift it just six inches, then 12 inches, and test the stability of your rigging many times before you start to rely on it. You want to detect problems when you are close to the ground and can easily lower it back down. A chain hoist is an amazing piece of equipment, but the negative thing about a chain hoist is once you are far off the ground, it takes a very long time to get back down.

[mauicacti]

Well done! Beautiful plant.