I picked up Bentiron's 25lb Little Giant trip hammer this weekend. I think some might be interested how we loaded it, using a HF adjustable gantry crane.

Thanks once again Jerry for your genorosity! It was a pleasure to meet you. :)

Where there is a will, there is a way. Glad to see it go to a good home, where it will be well oiled and fed lots of warm steel. :)

great use of the gantry

I was helping Harold pick this bad boy up and I wasnt sure what he was doing at first so i proceeded to give him a hard time but all of the sudden the aha moment shear genious.

It sure was a lot easier than the ways I had loaded and unloaded it in the past. It sure looks tiny on that trailer doesn't it? When you're manhandling it by yourself it looks a lot bigger. Harold, thanks for buying it, I know it has a good home. :D

Nice rigging.

It is a clever and unique solution, but I wonder why you did not do the obvious, which is to set the gantry on the ground, lift up the hammer, and then drive the trailer under the hammer. I admit that would require some backing skills, but that seems manageable, given that you could take several tries until you got the trailer lined up. Those gantries are usually wide enough to allow that.

Richard

Sweet job. One of those gantries may be on my wish list now. That looks more useful and versatile than an engine hoist.

Phil

OK, I looked at the price tag. Maybe not.

Phil

It is a clever and unique solution, but I wonder why you did not do the obvious, which is to set the gantry on the ground, lift up the hammer, and then drive the trailer under the hammer. I admit that would require some backing skills, but that seems manageable, given that you could take several tries until you got the trailer lined up. Those gantries are usually wide enough to allow that.

Richard

That was the original plan, but the gantry was not wide enough to go over the fenders. I then realized it would work great off set.

Sweet job. One of those gantries may be on my wish list now. That looks more useful and versatile than an engine hoist.

Phil

OK, I looked at the price tag. Maybe not.

Phil

I had save 3, 20 percent off coupons for the chain fall, and the trolley which where both on sale also. Then and waited till the gantry to go on sale $100 off regular price. It took a bit of waiting but it finally happened.

Like I have admitted in another thread. I guess I am a cheapskate blacksmith.

It seems to me that your method for loading the hammer with the offset gantry is pretty much the most sensible way you could have done it. I've done the same type of loading with mine, sometimes even right into the back of the pickup. I made my gantry so it would just fit inside the eight foot bed. I'm guessing that you've also figured out that when the gantry has wheels like yours does you can use it to move a load over an uneven surface pretty easily by picking it up slightly with the hoist at one end of your beam and gliding it over to the other end on the trolley. Then just set it down and reposition the gantry for the next portion of travel and repeat. If you are working on a soft surface (say a hot ashpalt driveway) with a wheeled gantry you may want to use blocking under the base when picking to spread the load better than the wheels will do- you don't want one sinking in on you especially if you are close to capacity. Thanks for sharing your inventiveness with everybody. Steve G

It seems to me that your method for loading the hammer with the offset gantry is pretty much the most sensible way you could have done it. I've done the same type of loading with mine, sometimes even right into the back of the pickup. I made my gantry so it would just fit inside the eight foot bed. I'm guessing that you've also figured out that when the gantry has wheels like yours does you can use it to move a load over an uneven surface pretty easily by picking it up slightly with the hoist at one end of your beam and gliding it over to the other end on the trolley. Then just set it down and reposition the gantry for the next portion of travel and repeat. If you are working on a soft surface (say a hot ashpalt driveway) with a wheeled gantry you may want to use blocking under the base when picking to spread the load better than the wheels will do- you don't want one sinking in on you especially if you are close to capacity. Thanks for sharing your inventiveness with everybody. Steve G

Steve G Thanks. You are right about this gantry. I have used it like you have metioned. To take it out to a job site and use it for setting gates and lifting has been great. I can load it all by myself. I have been thinking for sometime about getting a forklift and now I think I can do without it for a while.