Wanna store my trailer up at the ceiling

[Beau-Kat]

Alright folks.

 

I have a need.

 

I want to store my trailer up near the ceiling of my garage to free up floor space.

 

I have actually already used a cumalong to get it up there and safety chained it to the joists. It was cumbersome and I had to be careful to raise each side evenly to keep it from tipping.

 

But, I want to make a system to hang it up and get it back down a lot more easily all by myself. That way I will probably use my trailer more often instead of using my truck to go get smaller items.

 

Any suggestions?

 

The bottom of my ceiling joist is 10' 4" above the floor.

 

I thought about building a plywood ramp (reinforced with 2x4s standing on their sides and screwed along the length of the outer edges of the plywood).

 

I would hinge the plywood at the rear to the bottom of 2x4 vertical studs extending down about 30" from the joists. This would allow clearance for the raised trailer to hang below the bottom of the joists.

 

I would lower the front of the ramp and push the fairly light trailer up the ramp and secure the tongue to a stop at the front of the plywood. Then, I would only have to lift the tongue up and secure it with a safety chain. The plywood would also act as a storage shelf for light things associated with the trailer (folding chairs, small tent, etc.

 

Did all that make any sense?

 

Rusty

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Is there room to stand it up against a wall?

I used some rubber pads, about the same size as hockey pucks, and mounted them on the tail end of my Motorvation trailer, and I can back it up to wall, about 3 feet from the wall, and then lift the coupler and stand the trailer up on its tail. Sure takes up a lot less space this way!

 

[Beau-Kat]

That is also a good idea and I do have room for that.

 

However, right now, my tail lights protrude past the frame.

 

So standing it up would require me to protect them in some manner so the rear of the trailer can rest on the floor.

 

Anyway, I'm planning to replace those lights with led lights and will recess them then. Maybe I'll do the "against the wall" thing then.

 

Thanks.

 

Rusty

[LilBeaver]

Instead of using multiple come alongs (or a light duty winch), why not use a single one and then with 4 points around the trailer attach all above at a single point, Then it is a simple one attachment up and down with no careful balancing of multiple lift points.

 

Although standing it up along a wall seems like a winner - even though that will require some light re-working...

[Beau-Kat]

Thought about that too.

 

I was gonna use four straps attached to the four corners of the cargo area and hook the strap ends to a single lifting point (winch cable) above and lift the trailer up evenly that way.

 

I was afraid that as it was being lifted, the straps would push on the sides of the (now 20 year old) abs plastic body of the carrier and possibly stress it.

 

I may try that way just to see before I go to building anything like a ramp.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

[LilBeaver]

I don't know what the trailer looks like, but what about the ends of the axles, a rear point on the frame and the tongue? If I am picturing your trailer correctly, that ought to minimize any stress on the plastic components; surely the frame is strong enough for that.

[Beau-Kat]

You are assuming partly right.

 

The frame would indeed be the connection points for the straps and bear the weight of the trailer as it is raised.

 

But the straps would have to then be pulled tight against the sides of the box and come together really close to the top of the box to hook onto the cable hook.

 

Keeping the straps close to the top (i.e. as short as possible) would allow pulling the trailer up as close to the ceiling as possible.

 

As the trailer is lifted, I am assuming the straps would all pull inward against the sides of the box.

 

I hope I didn't just confuse you more.

 

My background is in electrical/electronics/mechanics. Unfortunately, not much rigging experience here.

 

Appreciate your comments.

[LilBeaver]

You are assuming partly right.

 

The frame would indeed be the connection points for the straps and bear the weight of the trailer as it is raised.

 

But the straps would have to then be pulled tight against the sides of the box and come together really close to the top of the box to hook onto the cable hook.

 

Keeping the straps close to the top (i.e. as short as possible) would allow pulling the trailer up as close to the ceiling as possible.

 

As the trailer is lifted, I am assuming the straps would all pull inward against the sides of the box.

I hope I didn't just confuse you more.

 

My background is in electrical/electronics/mechanics. Unfortunately, not much rigging experience here.

 

Appreciate your comments.

 

That all makes perfect sense - I just didn't know what your trailer looked like.

 

Another option would be to extend the base of your frame (i.e. slide a few studs with eye hooks or something) under the frame, to broaden the base of your lift points to minimize the pressure on the plastic topper of the trailer.

 

OR, you could rig up a few pulleys attached either to the ceiling/joists directly above the 3 or 4 lift points you want to use for your trailer (you could actually do this with just 2 as well), then run a line through the pullies to the winch - that way your lifting effort would be directly up from the trailer (without dealing with the 'pinch point' of the top of the trailer)... Just another thought...

 

Okay *sigh* back to work...

[MidlifeVenture]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MujbcaKO44]YouTube - Winch Garage Trailer Lift - TATV#9[/ame]

[jemorrisonjr]

That is what I did, puut extra support on the rafters and mounted a electric winch to a 12 x 12 x 1 plank I had and it works wonders.. Now I plenty of room for the other toys..

[Marcarl]

My trailer was built by Squid and has the first gen tail light sticking out the back, so I couldn't set it up on it's rear panel either, so I built a 2x4 frame to sit on the floor for the trailer to tip on to. When I did that the trailer wouldn't stay balanced there so I had to put a hook into the wall to hitch to the tongue to keep it up. Now it all works perfect. Takes about 1 minute to store and about 30 sec to get back into action.

I do like the winch idea but it's a way to complicated and involved for me. If I decided to go the ceiling route, and I like that as well, I would put 4 eye hooks in the ceiling, tie a rope to one and put pulleys on the other 3, run a rope from the open eye hook, through all 3 pulleys and so make a cradle for the trailer. Now it would be a matter of rolling the trailer over the cradle, pulling on the rope to raise the trailer and then tying the rope to another convenient hook in the wall. If your trailer is 2 ft wide keep the eye hooks about 30 in apart and there won't be any stress on the box.

[craigatcsi]

The guy in the video is a little long winded, but it looks like a very well designed system.

I have a Bushtec Roadstar trailer, (much smaller), that I plan to hang by the tongue. According to my Trailer Dealer, that is how they are shipped.

I plan the electric winch, then just pull it up the wall, then secure it with a chain to take the weight off the winch.

Of course I have been planning to do this since last year when I bought the trailer.

craigr

[Condor]

Good ideas, but why not go with a 2-speed boat trailer winch and save a few bucks?? Mount the winch on the wall and run the line up and over to where you want the trailer. Just a thought....

[Flyinfool]

When you want to hoist something without putting any side loads on it you just use spreader bars.

 

You can make up something simple out of some 2X6 lumber for the back end of the trailer and then use the hitch for the front lift point of the trailer.

 

The length of the blue pieces is made so that the top spreader bar clears the top of the trailer, the red pads are only required if something is needed to engage somthing on the frame or rear spriing mount of the trailer, and the green lengths are set to clear the sides of the trailer. 2x4s would probably be more than adequate if you do not want to use the 2x6 shown.

You still want to attach your straps to the bottom board so that the nails holding it together are not carrying any load. the top bar will hold the straps away from the sides of the box. and you will be lifting at the points that were designed to carry the trailers weight.

 

You could bring all 3 lift straps together just above the trailer and then be able to use a single line and lift to lift it into place.

[Beau-Kat]

Alright folks.

 

I have a need.

 

I want to store my trailer up near the ceiling of my garage to free up floor space.

 

I have actually already used a cumalong to get it up there and safety chained it to the joists. It was cumbersome and I had to be careful to raise each side evenly to keep it from tipping.

 

But, I want to make a system to hang it up and get it back down a lot more easily all by myself. That way I will probably use my trailer more often instead of using my truck to go get smaller items.

 

Any suggestions?

 

The bottom of my ceiling joist is 10' 4" above the floor.

 

I thought about building a plywood ramp (reinforced with 2x4s standing on their sides and screwed along the length of the outer edges of the plywood).

 

I would hinge the plywood at the rear to the bottom of 2x4 vertical studs extending down about 30" from the joists. This would allow clearance for the raised trailer to hang below the bottom of the joists.

 

I would lower the front of the ramp and push the fairly light trailer up the ramp and secure the tongue to a stop at the front of the plywood. Then, I would only have to lift the tongue up and secure it with a safety chain. The plywood would also act as a storage shelf for light things associated with the trailer (folding chairs, small tent, etc.

 

Did all that make any sense?

 

Rusty

 

(Tried to add pix for clarification of what I have now). Don't laugh at my stick people like drafting.

 

My trailer is 44 inches wide outside to outside of the trailer tires, so a piece of plywood would be wide enough to work for the ramp. Of course I would have to make the plywood longer than 8 feet for it to work.

Edited October 4, 2010 by Beau-Kat

[Beau-Kat]

 

 

Might have been a long video, but did a good job describing and showing the lift mechanism and parts.

 

Thanks!

[BradT]

I was thinking of flyinfools idea. But make it out of steel sort of like a large D-rings and just slip it under each end. One come along to lift it up in the center

 

Brad