spokewrench
Active Member
- Region
- USA
Years ago, to set my mower on high blocks for maintenance, I bought a 500 pound chain hoist and a 4 x 4 beam with a massive eye bolt to suspend it. That's what I used to weigh my ebikes.
It occurred to me that an eye bolt in a rafter would be more convenient for ebikes. At the top center of the first photo is the first eye bolt I tried. It's a 1/4 inch bolt long enough to go through the rafter to a washer and nut. I saw the drawbacks immediately. It's rated at only 100 pounds, and weight would tend to bend the horizontal bolt. An eye on the side of a rafter isn't completely accessible.
The hoist hangs from a 5/16" eyebolt rated at 650 pounds. The one-inch shoulder protects the two-inch threaded section from lateral forces. I think 5/16" lag bolt threads are good for 1,000 pounds or so. Installation is a snap. Drill a pilot hole for the minor diameter of the thread, choose a bit for a snug fit on the shoulder, and mark it with tape an inch from the end so you don't drill too deep.
In the second photo, the hoist hangs a bike from a point far enough forward that it bears 75 of the 85 pounds. Three feet forward, a second eye bolt provides stability by hanging the handlebars. The tail of the chain is in the way. I decided to put a lag screw two feet to the side of the eye bolt, with half an inch of vinyl tubing to provide a shoulder for the chain to lie on and to keep a washer against the head of the screw.
The third photo shows how such a screw makes a good tie-off for cord. I raised the front wheel of this bike a foot off the ground to make it easy to check the spokes. On the right I used a clove hitch so the cord wouldn't rub against my light. I ran it through the eye, around the bar on the left, through the eye again, and to the tie-off. If there are 21 pounds on the bars, the cord tension is only 7 pounds. When I leveled the bars, cord friction held them. When I turned them straight, cord friction held them.
A length of cord is quicker to set up than a hoist, and cords on two eyebolts would let me raise both ends to whatever height was convenient, up to the rafters. (It's better to lift with one hand and pull with the other. That reduces cord friction.)
It occurred to me that an eye bolt in a rafter would be more convenient for ebikes. At the top center of the first photo is the first eye bolt I tried. It's a 1/4 inch bolt long enough to go through the rafter to a washer and nut. I saw the drawbacks immediately. It's rated at only 100 pounds, and weight would tend to bend the horizontal bolt. An eye on the side of a rafter isn't completely accessible.
The hoist hangs from a 5/16" eyebolt rated at 650 pounds. The one-inch shoulder protects the two-inch threaded section from lateral forces. I think 5/16" lag bolt threads are good for 1,000 pounds or so. Installation is a snap. Drill a pilot hole for the minor diameter of the thread, choose a bit for a snug fit on the shoulder, and mark it with tape an inch from the end so you don't drill too deep.
In the second photo, the hoist hangs a bike from a point far enough forward that it bears 75 of the 85 pounds. Three feet forward, a second eye bolt provides stability by hanging the handlebars. The tail of the chain is in the way. I decided to put a lag screw two feet to the side of the eye bolt, with half an inch of vinyl tubing to provide a shoulder for the chain to lie on and to keep a washer against the head of the screw.
The third photo shows how such a screw makes a good tie-off for cord. I raised the front wheel of this bike a foot off the ground to make it easy to check the spokes. On the right I used a clove hitch so the cord wouldn't rub against my light. I ran it through the eye, around the bar on the left, through the eye again, and to the tie-off. If there are 21 pounds on the bars, the cord tension is only 7 pounds. When I leveled the bars, cord friction held them. When I turned them straight, cord friction held them.
A length of cord is quicker to set up than a hoist, and cords on two eyebolts would let me raise both ends to whatever height was convenient, up to the rafters. (It's better to lift with one hand and pull with the other. That reduces cord friction.)
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