Need a Hoist for the Hoist

75 degrees - a beautiful day.  Mosquitoes have taken the day off too.

Okay - here is the picture that I don't want my wife, mother or mother-in-law to see.

Oops.

I didn't fall but I did successfully catch something very heavy that was falling at least for a few seconds; then it decided to keep falling.  More about that later.

Today I took the day off to build and install a large hoist that I attached to the big pine tree next to the Pointed Playhouse.  This will be necessary to later lift the large pieces of plywood for the roofing and possibly the main roof beam.  I did some research and didn't really find anything exactly matching what I needed and thought back to books that I've read (David Macaulay) and maybe drawings that I drew when I was a kid.  Da Vinci was great at this type of thing and I was just attempting something that I can complete in a day while not killing myself in the process.

De Vinci would have done it differently.

I created a design that I liked on the back of some paper that I was using and began putting together the beam and support base along with the hefty hinge pins and eyes.  I then rummaged through the garage for a large piece of wood, which ended up being a piece of wood that I slabbed off of a large tree that fell during a hurricane about nine years ago.  I hope to use this wood later to turn some bowls so I will limit the number of holes that I drill.

The target tree.

Hinge pins and eyes aligned.

I then got up on the second floor and put the ladder up against the big tree and installed the mounting bracket to the tree with four cargo straps.  This was the easy part.

Then I swung the large beam assembly over my shoulder and began heading up the ladder to drop it over the hinge pins (insert horror story here).  This was entirely impossible because of the overall weight, height of the work to be done and the fact that the base is swinging far out to the side because the beam was long.  I brought the heavy beam back down and then went back up the ladder to attach a rope even higher with a single pulley to help lift the hoist from above.  This almost worked but I still could not get the hinge pins to align properly.  I, again, brought the whole thing back down and laid down on the second floor to rest my shaking muscles.  Looking up I saw a branch that was within reach.  I attached a Crescent wrench to the end of my last, long rope and threw it over the branch and secured it to the beam center.  With the two ropes and a little manual work to hold the beam in an upright position I was finally able to get the eyes to slip over the hinge pins.

Cool beans!  It works.

Easily swings from left to right, 180 degrees.

Tied to prevent it swinging in the wind.

I cleaned up the area, got on my bike for about an hour, took a shower and then the girls to track practice before having dinner and relaxing a little.  It was a good day in the end even though it was more difficult than what I had originally anticipated.  I attached a cheap light to the first floor ceiling joists and brought a power cord in through the window to be able to listen to music from my iPhone while I work.  I'm all set.

Tunes and light.

I'm looking forward to the Columbus Day weekend to start putting together the second story end walls.  The Pointed Playhouse will then finally be able to take shape.