ILMSTMF
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2014
- Messages
- 532
- Reaction score
- 165
SOLVED!
The goal was to figure out a simple, sturdy, easy-to-store, lightweight, and inexpensive solution. That's a lot of marks to hit, right?! Well, I hit them all.
• Borrowing an aluminum 8' A-frame ladder from my neighbor. (NEVER take a great neighbor for granted)
• Thought it would make sense to install an eye bolt in a plank. Had both of them laying around. The idea being to lay it across the top 2 rungs of the ladder. Figuring it'd be enough height for the lift. My neighbor wanted to make this extra secure in the plank which had a crack in it. So he added a plate and a washer. (NEVER take a great neighbor for granted)
• But, it didn't give as much height as I wanted. So, we made this even further simple. Neighbor loaned a length of chain and a carabiner which we used to create a loop around the top "step" of the ladder. The carabiner allowed us to shorten the length of the chain loop thereby creating a higher point to hoist from! (NEVER take a great neighbor for granted!!!!!)
After draining and squeezing, I was able to easily remove the bag up and over the arms of the ladder. No mess on the journey out. Pulled ladder out of the way, collapsed it, brought it back to neighbor. Brew day went on from there, kettle in place and 2 of 4 lifts eliminated. Yes, indeed, the other 2 lifts were eliminated too.
Remarkably light, pretty damn easy to store, sturdy, gets the job done with minimal effort. Nothing was even necessary to build! I love the ingenuity of my friends here who have built something for this purpose but, if you're doing it outdoors (or can fit an 8' A-frame indoors), just use the ladder. Dear God was that easy!! If you've got the space to store your homemade hoist apparatus, go for it.
Thanks friends!
PS - this is the same neighbor who, within a week of mentioning it in casual conversation, found a full size refrigerator left at curb "first come gets it otherwise it's garbage". Picked it up himself and brought it home. Changed out my old mini fridge with the full size as a new FC to accommodate a larger FV. He even built a wood shelf at the bottom with legs for extra stability / surface. CO2 tank going on there next.
You, like me, don't want to spend several hundred on a new refrigerator. Maybe you don't want to spend a few hundred on the Craigs List special (that takes months to show up). Imagine getting a functional unit for free...
NEVER take a great neighbor for granted!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The goal was to figure out a simple, sturdy, easy-to-store, lightweight, and inexpensive solution. That's a lot of marks to hit, right?! Well, I hit them all.
• Borrowing an aluminum 8' A-frame ladder from my neighbor. (NEVER take a great neighbor for granted)
• Thought it would make sense to install an eye bolt in a plank. Had both of them laying around. The idea being to lay it across the top 2 rungs of the ladder. Figuring it'd be enough height for the lift. My neighbor wanted to make this extra secure in the plank which had a crack in it. So he added a plate and a washer. (NEVER take a great neighbor for granted)
• But, it didn't give as much height as I wanted. So, we made this even further simple. Neighbor loaned a length of chain and a carabiner which we used to create a loop around the top "step" of the ladder. The carabiner allowed us to shorten the length of the chain loop thereby creating a higher point to hoist from! (NEVER take a great neighbor for granted!!!!!)
After draining and squeezing, I was able to easily remove the bag up and over the arms of the ladder. No mess on the journey out. Pulled ladder out of the way, collapsed it, brought it back to neighbor. Brew day went on from there, kettle in place and 2 of 4 lifts eliminated. Yes, indeed, the other 2 lifts were eliminated too.
Remarkably light, pretty damn easy to store, sturdy, gets the job done with minimal effort. Nothing was even necessary to build! I love the ingenuity of my friends here who have built something for this purpose but, if you're doing it outdoors (or can fit an 8' A-frame indoors), just use the ladder. Dear God was that easy!! If you've got the space to store your homemade hoist apparatus, go for it.
Thanks friends!
PS - this is the same neighbor who, within a week of mentioning it in casual conversation, found a full size refrigerator left at curb "first come gets it otherwise it's garbage". Picked it up himself and brought it home. Changed out my old mini fridge with the full size as a new FC to accommodate a larger FV. He even built a wood shelf at the bottom with legs for extra stability / surface. CO2 tank going on there next.
You, like me, don't want to spend several hundred on a new refrigerator. Maybe you don't want to spend a few hundred on the Craigs List special (that takes months to show up). Imagine getting a functional unit for free...
NEVER take a great neighbor for granted!!!!!!!!!!!!!