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enter image description here When I first set up the electric hoist wires, I had a snatch block pulley not just there at the wall near the hoist - but I had two on the climbing wall at each anchor point, and I hooked in the wire line at the other middle wall anchor point. The up and down with the hoist worked great!... but unlike when I have separate lines (or chains), if you pull on, for example, the top right side of the climbing wall then the pulleys roll and the climbing wall bends/torques. I kind of had the feeling this would happen. I'm not finding anything on the internet about rigging or setting something up like this that is stable (I'm not sure what to look for). I have an idea I think might work...

I think if I ran the line from the first pulley down to a pulley on the right side, but then came straight back to the anchor near the hoist to another pulley that then went over to the middle wall anchor with a pulley, and the line then went to the top left climbing wall anchor and hooked in. This would work just like before, hoist up and down would angle the wall (but it would probably still flex since the pulleys and wires are free.

If there were pulleys that could lock (do those exist) then I wouldn't have to set it up this way, but if I set it up this way then once I choose may angle using the hoist maybe I could fix the two wires together (that come down to the climbing wall from the hoist pulley and then go right back up to a pulley on the same anchor). Is there something I could use to lock those together/bind those up? I think that might work as if the wires couldn't move then they would become like to separate fixed lines (like the simpler chains)... maybe.

Any thoughts on this or some better way to do this? enter image description here

better yet, if in the original I could just lock the pulleys when (after I get to an angle I want), then there would be no travel in the wire...

shawn.mek
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  • Try adding an anchor/pulley on the front side of the wall? There are a number of spinlock style pulleys but I'm not confident they will work for your application. They are more primarily for marine application and use line ("rope(s)") vs. line (wire). – noybman Sep 13 '17 at 02:36
  • Not sure what having a pulley on the front would do, but I experimented with a bunch of different configurations yesterday and also tried clamping (with big old wood clamps) the wires right in front of each pulley. Different config worked slightly better (maybe due to added friction??), but yeah if there were lockable pulleys that would be great! Still haven't be able to find any though. Even just a big piece of rubber or some to jam in the pulley might work. I might experiment some more in the future... frustrating – shawn.mek Sep 18 '17 at 01:57
  • If the wall system was anchored on both sides, you could counter the desire for the wall to fold up, which is what is causing you the problem. So you could "pull it from both sides". look at marine stores, for lock pulley or spinlock (sperry product) they make pulleys and blocks. https://www.google.com/search?q=sperry+spinlock+pulley&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwin6pmT2q3WAhUL8IMKHXNcBlgQ_AUICygC&biw=1760&bih=890 – noybman Sep 18 '17 at 02:39
  • I'd use the winch in the middle, only for adjusting. For supporting during use, I'd use unistrut on the two corners. Attach the unistrut via a hinge or flexible coupling to the house, and use two captive bolts in the unistrut and L brackets on the wall to hold it tight to the strut. – Billy left SE for Codidact Sep 25 '17 at 18:27
  • Billy C. - I can't fully picture this, but it's giving me some ideas. – shawn.mek Sep 26 '17 at 19:52

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I'd put the winch in the middle, use it only for positioning.

Maybe also have a long length of chain there so that if the winch fails during positioning it can't fall all the way over. Then again that's a hell of a shock load to your house so it might be better to risk the fall and just stay well clear of it when the winch is moving.

For supporting during use, I'd use unistrut on the two corners. Attach the unistrut via a very heavy duty hinge to the corner of the ceiling and use two captive bolts in the unistrut and L brackets on the climbing wall to hold it tight to the strut.

I laid out some parts to show the idea. Concept

I didn't have a large hinge so I used black plastic pieces. You should be thinking large barn door hinge though.

The two 1" pieces represent your ceiling and basement wall. The 2" lumber is your climbing wall.

Be careful of how long the strut is so it doesn't stick out and become a hazard. Against a wall wouldn't matter, but in the middle of the room you could walk into it potentially.

Unistrut can handle loads of many thousands of pounds and obviously holds in tension and compression. You'd use a wrench from the climbing side to loosen the bolt heads to allow the winch to move it, then tighten back up before climbing.

The wood screws in this example might not be able to be inserted all the way because I doubt that angle will be 90 all the time.

Climb on!

Billy left SE for Codidact
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  • There might be a way to avoid the unistrut poking out by having one slide against another and bolt them to each other. But this will reduce the range of motion. – Stanwood Feb 15 '18 at 02:44