Lifting Heavy Monitors Thread

I use an electric hoist, it's in a position where I can lift monitors up to my mezzanine area for storage but I can use it to take monitors out of cabs and drop them onto a trolly.

An OG JVC bazooka boombox. Nice!

Hoist is cool too.

I've got an electric hoist too. They're useful and cheap but you need somewhere stable and high to mount them too. That's a much bigger challenge / problem than it sounds. You're not going to be able to mount them on drywall. you'd need bars or a gantry higher than your cab and strong enough to support a 100-300lb crt plus 30-50lb for the hoist itself.

Before I got my shop crane, I tried to use one to lift a cnc machine onto a desk. The aluminum T-slot gantry frame I tried to construct for it was an incredibly time-consuming and dangerous failure....

I have to find a new solution. I bench like 150 all day and am right under 300lbs. While rotating an Astro I ripped my bicep muscle into my armpit and had to have surgery end of last month.
I’m out of commission for the next few months and am not gonna pull monitors alone. The Astro and Blast monitors are over 100lbs and doctor said no more heavy lifting for six months at least.
This was a freak accident and was completely unexpected but it can happen to anyone. Not from pulling a monitor but because of the rotation of it. My left is dominate so it takes more for the recessive arm to lift and rotate.
Just be careful with rotating if your left handed. This whole experience has not been fun. I’m definitely going to the gym to start lifting again after rehab.
it would be nice to develop a system to pull these. I wish someone had handles so we could at least reproduce them. If anyone has the ones for the blast send them to me and I’ll reproduce them at a local machine shop. Every time I get a cab I pull the monitor and clean it out I have three on the way and two in storage just waiting on a better solution.

Electric hoist is the way, with plenty of mounting options.
I like the guy that did that rotating/sliding mount picture below.
Pretty cheap at harbor freight, this one can lift 880lbs more than enough I think.
https://www.harborfreight.com/880-lb-electric-hoist-with-remote-control-62854.html



The issue will be with clearance/balancing when you lift the monitor out. You don't want it bouncing around, so you will probably need someone operating the remote while someone stabilizes the monitor to not bang into anything.

jimmyjames said:

While rotating an Astro I ripped my bicep muscle into my armpit and had to have surgery end of last month.

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Sounds rough—hope the rehab goes well for you. Feel better soon.

I’ve heard of people laying the entire cab on its “back” to rotate the monitor. Still a two-person job but seems easier on one’s body and less of a chance of damaging the tube.

A hoist seems ideal for those who have the space for it.

I was just looking at 1 ton cherry pickers to do the job. I still would like to find someone with handles. Maybe I can get something together with my local shop for actual handles.

kikaso said:

Sounds rough—hope the rehab goes well for you. Feel better soon.

I’ve heard of people laying the entire cab on its “back” to rotate the monitor. Still a two-person job but seems easier on one’s body and less of a chance of damaging the tube.

A hoist seems ideal for those who have the space for it.

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That’s what I do, put a Windy on its back and lifted out the monitor just a day ago. If doing on your own it’s the only way. I have done it with the following cabs, Neo29, Capcom Impress, Aero city and now a Windy.

The frameless monitors like the Impress need doing flat or you risk catching the neck and snapping it off.

thegreathopper said:

The frameless monitors like the Impress need doing flat or you risk catching the neck and snapping it off.

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This is the terrifying part. More so than the fear of re-injuring my back.

hoagtech said:

Thanks I have been.

heres my story:

I own a hydroponic store that sells over 300 pallets of dirt a year.

Just helping customers can mean benching over a ton of weight per day if they're not flatbed customers.

I throw my back out once a year and am worthless for a week during recovery and then weak for another month.

I got hit by a car in 4th grade and have some real issues going on.

I can and have been lifting safely but I'm really looking forward to a process that I can depend on that does not having me bent over my cab lifting my monitors out.

I have nothing against people that don't mind doing it themselves but I abused my back over my lifetime so far and am looking forward to testing this thing.

I have Kenny coming in to design my chain array. We'll see how it goes

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This is an old thread but curious if you found a solution that worked well for you?

I'm not getting any younger and after having various incidents with lifting heavy objects, preserving the somewhat usable back I have is top of mind.

I've been looking into the latest exoskeleton suits meant to prevent injuries in manual labor and am wondering if that's a potential solution. From what I've seen they can potentially take 20 or more pounds of pressure off of the user for specific muscle groups. I'm thinking of things like HeroWear Apex 2. They still aren't accessibly cheap, but could save you a lot of pain and medical bills.

ninja gaijin said:

This is an old thread but curious if you found a solution that worked well for you?

I'm not getting any younger and after having various incidents with lifting heavy objects, preserving the somewhat usable back I have is top of mind.

I've been looking into the latest exoskeleton suits meant to prevent injuries in manual labor and am wondering if that's a potential solution. From what I've seen they can potentially take 20 or more pounds of pressure off of the user for specific muscle groups. I'm thinking of things like HeroWear Apex 2. They still aren't accessibly cheap, but they're less than you'll find for an aero table and could save you a lot more in medical bills.

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No. The engine hoist was unwieldy and very slow. I would buy a scissor lift over that and just slide the monitor off its mount directly onto the lift table.

I use a rolling tool chest I bought from Home Depot for $160 on sale. It takes most of the burden but I would love to own that table lift:


https://www.uline.com/Product/Detai...E6JmjsiiVmO4-3LH-VxZgnoN5k9_r4PBoCzxMQAvD_BwE

hoagtech said:

No. The engine hoist was unwieldy and very slow. I would buy a scissor lift over that and just slide the monitor off its mount directly onto the lift table.

I use a rolling tool chest I bought from Home Depot for $160 on sale. It takes most of the burden but I would love to own that table lift:


https://www.uline.com/Product/Detai...E6JmjsiiVmO4-3LH-VxZgnoN5k9_r4PBoCzxMQAvD_BwE

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Ok cool. I was actually looking at some scissor lifts. Seem like they'd be best option for usability/maneuverability.

Also a good way to get tubes onto the ground and lower shelving for storage without having to lift from that low position. Could shimmy the tube onto a scissor lift and just crank it up to desired height.

Still gonna keep an eye out in case exo suits come down in price. They'd potentially be handy for actually pulling a monitor from a cab.

I’ve had success in chocking up the back of the machine on something so it’s leaning quite far forward. My other half won’t help me lift the machine out but she can tilt the machine for me. That way it’s easier to bring forward to your body.

Lifting over a control panel just sucks - so if you can take it off easily that will help a lot - but takes time and effort.

I’ve had an L4/5 disc replacement so know what it’s like to have a bad back and am always thinking of ways to lift without hurting myself.

Depending on the machine I’ve also laid a plank of wood across the control panel (with protection underneath) to kind of walk the corners off the studs before tilting the top vertical and then lifting. I’ve even used furniture lifting straps wrapped around each hand and over my shoulder to help spread the load. So even though you’re holding the frame with your hands you’re using your legs and shoulders to lift.

I’m doing a Windy II tube swap soon so will see how the tilting technique goes on that.

believe in yourself and get it to your chest as fast and safely as possible. then its not heavy anymore. it is not as hard to lift out a monitor as the internet makes it out to be.