Home Brew Heavy Lifting

[Tony]

Well.......... im not 18 any more...... and the on-set of Carpel Tunnel has made it hard for me to lift my own arms, let alone left a 50 liter batch of brew onto a bench to rack, or a full 50 liter keg into a chest freezer.

I can do it, but it hurts, and one day, its gunna pop a disk! Hell a full keg only weighs 20kg less than me and i have to lift it to shoulder height to get it in the freezer.

So for $131 delivered i have an electric hoist.... good for 125kg or if i use the 2nd hook supplied and double the wire over..... 250kg

I bolted it up on the big metal beam that holds up my kitchen and it will be perfect for lifting full fermenters to be emptied and kegs into the kegorator.

very happy with my new toy

 

[schooey]

G'day Rob,

The limit of grain for the 50L is around 12kg, but you can get more in if using a lot of wheat in the grist. You may get a bit more, but that's about ballpark. The malt pipe can be a little tricky to lift when it's saturated and fully loaded with grain, especially when you need to free one hand to place the staple in under the lugs to hold it and let it drain. You also have to be careful not to lift it too high, causing the lower filter plate off the centre bolt. Because if you do, and you lower it, you skew the plate and all your spent grain ends up in your wort... I speak from experience here... <_< I ended up with a little electric winch to control the lift and make it easier.

It makes no difference to the elements if you use the small malt pipe or not, they are still controlled by the same program. I'm glad I got the small pipe too; it makes it two machines in one really...

Heh heh...six months ahead of you on that one old son!

 

[hirns]

Now you just need one of these :icon_cheers: !

 

[Tony]

Heh heh...six months ahead of you on that one old son!

Yeah i know others have them........ just thought id share

Now you just need one of these :icon_cheers: !

Its planned dont worry about that!

 

[Spork]

Nice.
Where did you get it Tony? The only ones I could find on evilbay were all 12v. 240v would be great - just "plug and play" as it were.

 

[real_beer]

Well.......... im not 18 any more...... and the on-set of Carpel Tunnel has made it hard for me to lift my own arms, let alone left a 50 liter batch of brew onto a bench to rack, or a full 50 liter keg into a chest freezer.

I can do it, but it hurts, and one day, its gunna pop a disk! Hell a full keg only weighs 20kg less than me and i have to lift it to shoulder height to get it in the freezer.

So for $131 delivered i have an electric hoist.... good for 125kg or if i use the 2nd hook supplied and double the wire over..... 250kg

I bolted it up on the big metal beam that holds up my kitchen and it will be perfect for lifting full fermenters to be emptied and kegs into the kegorator.

very happy with my new toy

Welcome to the smart side Tony. Ain't getting old a bitch?

This is the best thing I've every made myself to make the brew day easier, especially now I've started doing BIAB.



Cheers

 

[pbrosnan]

Nice.
Where did you get it Tony? The only ones I could find on evilbay were all 12v. 240v would be great - just "plug and play" as it were.

Ditto, I saw one advertised at a car parts place about 4 years ago. Didn't do anything about it and haven't seen on since (bugger).

 

[schooey]

Got mine here...

looks about the same as the one above

 

[Spork]

thanks schooey. Did an ebay search for "hoist" and found a couple too.

 

[Amber Fluid]

I just want to thank you Tony for posting this and thank you Schooey for posting the link to a supplier. I too am not getting any younger and since hurting my back a few weeks ago will find it hard to lift the kegs into the keezer once completed.

I was trying to get around SWMBO with regards to getting one and asked my mother if I give her the money then she can say seh bought it for me Next thing I know is my mother has bought me one for Father's Day. lol I'm her son not her father but it's going to cost me nothing now.

Once again... thanks fellows for the heads up. hrrrmmm now I need to find somewhere convenient to mount it :icon_cheers:

 

[Malted]

Though a hell of a lot more expensive, these are quite versatile...

 

[TasChris]

I remember someone (maybe GL) filling cubes full of water to provide a counter weights to lift fermenters, kegs etc just water and gravity to the rescue and then empty them to lower things back down.

Thought the idea was pretty clever
Cheers
Chris

 

[wombil]

I have this model,doesn't hurt my back or strain my ticker at all.

 

[Amber Fluid]

Yep, I was going to go with that model but now I have no need and it won't cost me anything either. B)

 

[leiothrix]

Got one of those a year or so ago -- best thing ever.

I just modified it slightly (can't have anything without modifying it ) to have a longer cable on the controller and it works a treat.

Got it of eBay for around $110, but I think I got lucky on the price.

 

[michael_aussie]

a great idea guys .. got me thinking...

The worst (hardest) part of brewing for me is carrying 23 litres of wort in the fermenter from the kitchen out to the shed and lifting into the fermenting fridge....
I've tossed up setting up in the shed to eliminate the long distance carry .. but I'd still need to lift into the fridge.
I could get a chesty for a fermenting fridge, but the methods I've seen to lift fermentors look awkward.

What do you guys do for this part of brewing???

 

[leiothrix]

I brew on a bench in my garage with the fridge in the opposite corner. So I just carry it -- doesn't really help you though ^_^

You could put it in a cube in the kitchen. Those seal tight, so you could use a trolley to move it around without spilling it or aerating it, and saves your back.

Then empty fermentor in the fridge, lift the cube by the handle with an overhead winch and drain into the fermentor. If your fridge is tall enough you could bottle/keg straight out of the fridge too.

I might be going a bit overboard here, but if you've got an injury or something it would eliminate almost all heavy lifting.

 

[TasChris]

Next thing I know is my mother has bought me one for Father's Day. lol I'm her son not her father :icon_cheers:

Are you sure, I know relationships can get a little convoluted in Tas...
Cheers
Chris

 

[Amber Fluid]

Welcome to the smart side Tony. Ain't getting old a bitch?

This is the best thing I've every made myself to make the brew day easier, especially now I've started doing BIAB.

View attachment 47972 View attachment 47973

Cheers

That is a great frame Real Beer. I have been looking at how to suspend the hoist but I only have a concrete slab to work with. Any chance you can tell me what materials you used and the measurments please?... I can't weld but have someone I work with who will do it.

Also I am assuming the black bar at the front is to stop the legs from spreading??

 

[Malted]

I can't weld but have someone I work with who will do it.

I can't weld either but have not let it stop me having a go!