I built this hoist from scraps I had laying around. The only special piece of steel is the I beam for the trollies. I got that for free; the chainfalls were also freebies, so I got pretty darn lucky. I can roll things around and lift much higher than my engine hoist. With the chainfalls, I can very easily lower the cab, box, engine, whatever I want, into place by myself and VERY accurately. No worries about turning the jack valve closed and missing and then dropping something unintentionally. People often asked how I did things by myself, and I would say, “Oh, you know...” I use 4 corners to lift and adjust using straps until it’s as level as I need and hoist away. Only downfall? It is too tall for me to assemble by myself. I built two sets of legs for it. One tall for outside and one short that will roll under my garage bay door. I usually roll stuff outside to do hoisting, as I only have a single bay workshop. As Kevin said, be darn careful lifting with the engine hoist; the overhead crane is much safer in my opinion. To you, your truck, paint, steel work, etc.
This link shows me and my brother in law, Dad, and father in law installing the cab. I called them simply because everything was painted and I didn’t want to take ANY chances, even though I could have done it solo. Engine hoist? I wouldn’t attempt it with a painted cab, even with extra hands. But that’s me.
https://goo.gl/photos/1Yu2ocq44zA2Sm1G7
