The History of Human Powered Cranes

[DMac]

While browsing the Thought Provoking Pictures thread I was inspired by this post (http://gold-silver.us/forum/showthread.php?22927-Thought-Provoking-Photos-(Now-Stickied-)&p=562224&viewfull=1#post562224) about a Roman crane to learn how these things were built.

The sky is the limit: human powered cranes and lifting devices (http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/03/history-of-human-powered-cranes.html)


I found this interesting enough to share. My initial browsing of the main page turns up some useful information:

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/

[gunDriller]

i'm interested in this myself.

i recently rented a forklift to lift some machinery off a truck.

now i have to lift the machinery onto dollies. i'm tempted to build a simple crane - i just need to lift the machines about a foot - but then i'd have one more project.

the forklift is $150 a day, and $30 for drop-off, $30 for pick-up.


it's a fascinating technical challenge. sort of an extreme sport - the penalty for failure is damage to the machine, getting crushed, i.e. extreme injury or death.

i guess the home-made crane will be a project for 2013. i have a burl about the size of a Volkswagon bug that i'd like to lift.

i had never done this kind of work before, and found that i really enjoyed it - and had some skill at it. i did a better job tying down the equipment than the highly-experienced 'expert' i paid $600 to help me load the truck.

[Dogman]

i'm interested in this myself.

i recently rented a forklift to lift some machinery off a truck.

now i have to lift the machinery onto dollies. i'm tempted to build a simple crane - i just need to lift the machines about a foot - but then i'd have one more project.

the forklift is $150 a day, and $30 for drop-off, $30 for pick-up.


it's a fascinating technical challenge. sort of an extreme sport - the penalty for failure is damage to the machine, getting crushed, i.e. extreme injury or death.

i guess the home-made crane will be a project for 2013. i have a burl about the size of a Volkswagon bug that i'd like to lift.

i had never done this kind of work before, and found that i really enjoyed it - and had some skill at it. i did a better job tying down the equipment than the highly-experienced 'expert' i paid $600 to help me load the truck. Have seen a-frames, or old heavy kids swing frames made by welders mounted with wheels, using chain hoists to lift and move equipment around shops. Here in the oil patch there were ton's of swing sets made out of drill pipe that later morphed into a-frame cranes for pulling engines, etc,etc.