My wife is getting tired of helping me push cars up our short, not too steep, driveway into my garage.
I have an overhead winch mounted on a rail near the ceiling. I'd like to use that winch (in its current location) to pull a car in.
Can I put an anchor into the floor where I can occasionally attach a pulley to convert the lifting force 90 degrees?
Thanks for suggestions.
Apologies if this has been asked before. I did a little searching but didn't find this particular discussion.
In reply to Russ McBride :
Yes.
longer answer, make sure your anchor is very sturdy!
The pulley can be attached to aback wall in a couple of studs, doesn't need to be in the floor.
Following. I have a chain hoist/trolley on a steel I beam on one side of my garage for engine removal. I've been meaning to place an anchor at the front on both sides so that I can use a come-along (or even my Jeep winch) to pull dead cars in. I hadn't thought of leveraging the chain hoist.
Thanks for the replies thus far.
I considered an anchor on the wall instead of the floor, but the ceiling winch is 10 feet from the wall.
Yesterday I did some more searching and found decent info about floor anchors. I think the bolt holes (1/2"-13 threads) would not be a trip hazard, and I could hook a pulley to it when needed.
I also read the pulley should change the pull direction close to 90 degrees for best efficiency.
I'm starting to wonder if it'd be much easier to just buy another cheap winch and mount it to the wall, or on the floor near the wall. Maybe use some type of mobile mount so I can use it in other places, too.
Easier and safer to just mount a winch to the floor. I've seen floor anchors pull out, and it isn't pretty.
If you anchor a bolt in the wall, you could extend a cable to a snatch block that would be located directly under the winch. As long as that cable is equivalent in strength to the winch's own cable, it should be fine. It could even be a long ratchet strap--make your life easy. When you're done, unclip it from the wall and store it so it's not in your way.
How heavy of a car do you want to pull ? a VW bug or a Caddy :)
and what are you going to use as a safety chain , just in case ?
In reply to californiamilleghia :
That's a good question. After I posted, I started imaging not a 2x4 stud getting ripped out of the wall, but instead the entire wall just exploding off of the foundation and the house collapsing.
If it was me....... and I was going to live there a long time....
Break a chunk of concrete out of the garage floor in the back , get a post hole digger and go down 3 foot or so , hammer a steel pipe with a flat plate welded on the top to mount a winch .....
then fix the concrete
I did something like that with a hole next to the fence , filled with concrete and a chunk of chain , then I could use it as a anchor for the 12v winch or Come-a-Long .
But what do I know .....Hahaha
Flat towed my Datsun home and pulled into driveway then scooted my truck over. Left the Z in the driveway with 15 feet to push it.
Then I panicked.
How to push it up an incline into the garage? Tire between bumpers? Asked neighbor/college sons - four of us pushed it easily forgetting without the engine it was under 2000#. DOH!
Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself said:Easier and safer to just mount a winch to the floor. I've seen floor anchors pull out, and it isn't pretty.
This^^^^. It wouldn't be a terrible idea to make something that would drag a wheel stop a few inches behind the rear tires to prevent disaster in case something gave way, like maybe a 4x4 with a couple of large hooks that hook over the axle or to the rear a-arms.
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