BIAB Hoisting w/ a Ratchet Pulley

I often get questions regarding how to attach a ratchet pulley to a BIAB bag, so I thought I would take a minute and post a few pics of how I do it.

First and simplest method is to merely attach the pulley to the bag drawstring, the drawstring is very strong at 175 lb break strength...the only downside here is the pulley ends up quite high as the bag is lifted.



Slightly better is to form a simple loop knot in the excess closed drawstring, and then attach the pulley through the double loop...




And lastly, my preferred method, a short piece of cord is tied in a loop, then wrapped twice around the bag and fed through the loop and cinched tight around the bag. This method is the most height friendly and quite secure...cheers!





Rather than attaching the pulley up high above the bag, I prefer to attach the pulley at the bag. Lift the bag / pulley with one hand, and pull up on the hoist rope with the other hand...works a treat. Agreed, these are small little pulleys, but at 75 lb rated load they can handle rather large grain bills, and with a practiced technique, they work quite well IMHO. With the pulley down low, the ratchet mechanism is also easily within reach, try it, it makes all the difference.
Thanks!
wilserbrewer


...cheers!

Note: Some prefer to attach the pulley to a hook on the ceiling, this also works well, however to release the ratchet mechanism, you will need to be at the height of the pulley.

Looks like you're using the ProGrip pulley that's sold on amazon. I currently have a standard pulley and an anchor point to help keep this bag elevated. But it's cumbersome, I'm definitely ordering one f these. They cost about $10 depending in the size you buy.

Do you recommend 1/4 or 3/8 size?

Thanks for the tip!

seatbelt123 said:

I currently have a standard pulley and an anchor point to help keep this bag elevated. But it's cumbersome, I'm definitely ordering one f these. They cost about $10 depending in the size you buy.

Do you recommend 1/4 or 3/8 size?

Thanks for the tip!

Click to expand...

The pulleys are 1/8", 75 lb safe working load, plenty strong IMO. I sell them w/ a bag purchase for $5 shipped, or $4 shipped with purchase of a BIAB bag and hop bag...I call it the Triple Play Value Combo for $31 shipped.

The 1/8" is plenty capable IMO, a larger 1/4" pulley may offer a little convenience over the 1/8", but they are much more expensive...relatively speaking.

I also have used a standard pulley and tied off the end of the rope. I found this rather percarious and not enjoyable, if the rope slips out of your hand, the grain bag will come crashing down into the wort. So I tried the 1/8" ratchet pulley, and found it worked very well at an attractive price, and began offering them as an accessory.

I did a large brew yesterday with over 30 lbs of grain, and the little pulley did the job well.

While there may be slightly better more expensive options available, I feel these pulleys deliver great service at their "price point".

Do you ship to Canada? I just got a 60L pot and would love a bag and pulley!b

Sure, shipping to Canada is no problem, it is a little costly. $10 additional for shipping to Canada puts the Triple Play at $41 total. (brew bag, hop bag, and pulley)

Or $38 shipped for a brew bag and pulley.

Could you attach the ratcheting pulley to the bag and put a standard pulley up high as a change of direction. The rope would start up high at your anchor, run through low pulley, then through standard pulley.
You could have ratchet down low and pull down on rope to raise your sack.

I highly vote for that bag and pulley. Totally worth it in my opinion if you have a beam or ceiling above your burner to screw a hook into. I brew on a semi-covered deck and this pulley made my day so much easier and I had zero spill (not even a drop) on deck this way. If you use steamer basket it gets even better. Latch the carabine to steamer basket (lined with bag), lift with pulley and sparge away to your pre-boil amount.

brewinginnc said:

Could you attach the ratcheting pulley to the bag and put a standard pulley up high as a change of direction. The rope would start up high at your anchor, run through low pulley, then through standard pulley.
You could have ratchet down low and pull down on rope to raise your sack.

Click to expand...

Yes a second pulley could be used, however I have not found it needed. Unless you are making huge batches, the extra pulley just complicates the process and is not really needed...even at 35 lbs of grain, the single pulley is manageable and doesn't require improvement IMHO...

I have been doing it this way for about 10-12 batches and i think it just makes it a little easier for me. I like pulling down to raise the load and having the ratchet down low. Thanks for helping promote biab

The regular lifting method has been working for me since doing two batches with Wilser's bag and pulley. These were 12.5 and 14.75 lb grain bills. I feel like this would still work upwards of 20 no problem. The bigger problem I have is getting a tight knot on the drawstring.

This may be a silly request but- Is there a Wilserbrewer 'pulley usage' video anywhere.. (Youtube ) showing this different pulley method.? I'm trying to visualize how this works other than just hoisting it out→ ..on a pulley. :rockin:
thanks-

Not my videos, but these should help....

Fat_Maul said:

The bigger problem I have is getting a tight knot on the drawstring.

Click to expand...

Fat_Maul,

The simple loop knot should be very secure and not slip or loosen at all, both pieces of the draw string are pulled through the loop. Check the pic carefully.

These racheting pulleys w/ropes seem to get mixt reviews on Amazon - as in ... won't hold the weight (supposedly 300 lb for 1/4"). Just wondering if these from Wilser are a different brand/better quality? I was planning to use racheting straps, but wanted to look into this style with ropes.
Any yeas or nays?

MT2sum said:

These racheting pulleys w/ropes seem to get mixt reviews on Amazon - as in ... won't hold the weight (supposedly 300 lb for 1/4"). Just wondering if these from Wilser are a different brand/better quality? I was planning to use racheting straps, but wanted to look into this style with ropes.
Any yeas or nays?

Click to expand...

i use the same ones pictured sold on amazon in my grow tents to hold the lights. there pretty strong but i dont think id try anything over 20-30 pounds. cheers

Ok, please let us not extrapolate the amazon reviews lol. I will admit the capacities quoted are likely the upper limit, hence why we started selling the larger option. There are many different methods to hoist a bag, our offerings are targeted at price, convenience and performance. The products we sell were used by me and found to work well, and then offered for sale as a compliment to a quality BIAB bag.

Fwiw, at first I used a ratchet strap, but moved on to the ratchet pulleys as I feel they are plenty strong and more convenient to use. A heavy ratchet strap would likely hold 1000 lbs of un needed capacity, but is awkward to use imo.

We sell an inexpensive 1/8” ratchet pulley that is rated for 75 lbs, and a 1/4” ratchet pulley rated for 150 lbs...

The 1/8” is a budget option targeted to 5 gallon batch brewers.

The 1/4” double pulley will handle 10-15 gallon batches without issue, and works very well.

Of course for those looking at 20 - 50 gallon batches we recommend outsourcing a heavier hoist...

I have done large 30lb plus grain bills w/ both the 1/8” and 1/4” fwiw, but would only recommend the larger 1/4” double for such use.

How large a grain bill are you planning to hoist?

The best we sell is the 1/4” double ratchet pulley, easily will handle 30 lb grain bills, and more with a little technique.

The key to hoisting large grain bills is to raise the bag slowly, a click or two at a time with the ratchet so the weight of the water drains as you lift. Regardless of lifting capacity, this is best practice imo.

Never had any negative feedback on the pulleys....
Are there heavier options available, of course there are, the double acting 2-1 advantage pulley works very well for “homebrew” applications.

This is an outdated thread, you should be looking here.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/biab-hoisting-with-a-ratchet-pulley-rev-1.623808/

wilserbrewer said:

I often get questions regarding how to attach a ratchet pulley to a BIAB bag, so I thought I would take a minute and post a few pics of how I do it.

First and simplest method is to merely attach the pulley to the bag drawstring, the drawstring is very strong at 175 lb break strength...the only downside here is the pulley ends up quite high as the bag is lifted.



Slightly better is to form a simple loop knot in the excess closed drawstring, and then attach the pulley through the double loop...




And lastly, my preferred method, a short piece of cord is tied in a loop, then wrapped twice around the bag and fed through the loop and cinched tight around the bag. This method is the most height friendly and quite secure...cheers!





Rather than attaching the pulley up high above the bag, I prefer to attach the pulley at the bag. Lift the bag / pulley with one hand, and pull up on the hoist rope with the other hand...works a treat. Agreed, these are small little pulleys, but at 75 lb rated load they can handle rather large grain bills, and with a practiced technique, they work quite well IMHO. With the pulley down low, the ratchet mechanism is also easily within reach, try it, it makes all the difference.
Thanks!
wilserbrewer


...cheers!

Note: Some prefer to attach the pulley to a hook on the ceiling, this also works well, however to release the ratchet mechanism, you will need to be at the height of the pulley.

Click to expand...

+1 for a ratcheting pulley! Lol, my first couple BIAB were on the kitchen stove and I quickly found out even fairly small grain bills needed to drain in another pot as it was too awkward trying to squeeze and drain by hand.

I moved my brewing into garage where I could ceiling mount a ratcheting pulley. 10 ft ceiling out there.

Good info @wilserbrewer, and though I didn't know about you or your bags until I joined this forum, I know I'll want to have/need another bag and will certainly get one of yours.

Ok let us not extrapolate the amazon reviews lol. I will admit the capacities quoted are likely the upper limit, hence why we started selling the larger option. There are lots of options, our offerings are targeted at both price and performance.

Click to expand...

I wasn't trying to denigrate your product, I was just noting that some of the Amazon offerings are not carrying the load that is claimed, and I think one of them failed right away - and as well I'm wondering if yours are a better quality product/different brand.

Fwiw, at first I used a ratchet strap, but moved on to the ratchet pulleys as I feel they are plenty strong and more convenient to use. A heavy ratchet strap would likely hold 1000 lbs of un needed capacity, but is awkward imo.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that info ... I hadn't planned on a heavy duty strap, but one of the light ones - that said, I was contemplating that it might be more difficult to strap it at height when you have to ratchet it around a few times before it will grab hold - that's why I wanted to know more about these rope-type rachet straps. Do they catch immediately when you allow weight onto the rope?

How large a grain bill are you planning to hoist?

Click to expand...

Right now, I'm limited to 3 gal batches, eventually I plan to get back to 5 gal again. I will probably be interested in the double pulley/1/4" rope. It might be overkill, but for me it will be a one-time purchase. That being said, I can imagine that a 15 or 18 lb (dry) grain bill can easily weigh 30 or 40 lbs. when you are first pulling it out of the mash pot, because of all the water/wort.

The best we sell is the 1/4” double ratchet pulley, easily will handle 30 lb grain bills, and more with a little technique.

The key to hoisting large grain bills is to raise the bag slowly, a click or two at a time with the ratchet so the weight of the water drains as you lift. Regardless of lifting capacity
, this is best practice imo.

Click to expand...

I'd guess that means they grab right away, as I was asking.

Never had any negative feedback on the pulleys....

Click to expand...

That's always good news - that's one of the things I look for when shopping ebay - how many negative comments are given.

This is an outdated thread, you should be looking here.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/biab-hoisting-with-a-ratchet-pulley-rev-1.623808/

Click to expand...

In the pix on the other thread, I liked the double-pulley arrangement you showed (1st pic?) that would mean less weight to lift, and at my age, that's an important consideration.
I'm wondering if you could use two ratcheting pulleys in that situation (rather than one of them being non-ratcheting), and if so, do you think it would still be easier to lift the bag or do you think the extra ratchet would somehow slow down the lift and make it harder to pull on?

Thanks for your quick responses. It will be some time before I will order, but I like to research all the different options ahead of time, I like to see what others have come up with that might help me solve any problems I have.
Mt2sum

MT2sum said:

I wasn't trying to denigrate your product, I was just noting that some of the Amazon offerings are not carrying the load that is claimed, and I think one of them failed right away - and as well I'm wondering if yours are a better quality product/different brand.


Thanks for that info ... I hadn't planned on a heavy duty strap, but one of the light ones - that said, I was contemplating that it might be more difficult to strap it at height when you have to ratchet it around a few times before it will grab hold - that's why I wanted to know more about these rope-type rachet straps. Do they catch immediately when you allow weight onto the rope?


Right now, I'm limited to 3 gal batches, eventually I plan to get back to 5 gal again. I will probably be interested in the double pulley/1/4" rope. It might be overkill, but for me it will be a one-time purchase. That being said, I can imagine that a 15 or 18 lb (dry) grain bill can easily weigh 30 or 40 lbs. when you are first pulling it out of the mash pot, because of all the water/wort.


I'd guess that means they grab right away, as I was asking.

That's always good news - that's one of the things I look for when shopping ebay - how many negative comments are given.


In the pix on the other thread, I liked the double-pulley arrangement you showed (1st pic?) that would mean less weight to lift, and at my age, that's an important consideration.
I'm wondering if you could use two ratcheting pulleys in that situation (rather than one of them being non-ratcheting), and if so, do you think it would still be easier to lift the bag or do you think the extra ratchet would somehow slow down the lift and make it harder to pull on?

Thanks for your quick responses. It will be some time before I will order, but I like to research all the different options ahead of time, I like to see what others have come up with that might help me solve any problems I have.
Mt2sum

Click to expand...

I'm 68 and opted for this pulley with the string release since I mounted to a 10ft ceiling in the garage. It's a 3/8 rope rated for 250lbs. Lol, way overkill for my 5gal max grain bills, but it is super easy to operate.

https://www.brewinabag.com/products/pulley-metal-ratchet-250-lbs-capacity

Cato1507 said:

I'm 68 and opted for this pulley with the string release since I mounted to a 10ft ceiling in the garage.]

Click to expand...

A simple length of “down rope” loop can be used to lower the pulley attachment point for high ceilings.

That is a nice pulley, way overkill as you say...
And at $29 bucks...I sell a four piece package, BIAB bag, 2 hop bags and an 1/8 pulley for $32...apples to oranges I realize...just stumping lol
Thanks

wilserbrewer said:

A simple length of “down rope” loop can be used to lower the pulley attachment point for high ceilings.

That is a nice pulley, way overkill as you say...
And at $29 bucks...I sell a four piece package, BIAB bag, 2 hop bags and an 1/8 pulley for $32...apples to oranges I realize...just stumping lol
Thanks

Click to expand...

Lol, no problem with stumping at all.
When I started out with the BIAB, I don't think I was on the forum yet and didn't have a clue except searching on Amazon. Likely went with more is better approach.

Cato1507 said:

I'm 68 and opted for this pulley with the string release since I mounted to a 10ft ceiling in the garage. It's a 3/8 rope rated for 250lbs. Lol, way overkill for my 5gal max grain bills, but it is super easy to operate.

https://www.brewinabag.com/products/pulley-metal-ratchet-250-lbs-capacity

Click to expand...

I'm curious as to how well your poly rope has held up ..... every time I've bought any of that yellow stuff - cheap polypropylene rope, it starts splintering almost right away - and I really don't fancy little bits of plastic floating in my beer ;>). OR, is your poly rope more like Wilserbrewer's poly cord - (What I would be tempted to call para-cord), although I don't know if you can even find/get 3/8" para-cord.

wilserbrewer said:

And at $29 bucks...I sell a four piece package, BIAB bag, 2 hop bags and an 1/8 pulley for $32...apples to oranges I realize...just stumping lol

Click to expand...

Yeah, for another 3 bucks I can get the bags, but I might have to add a little more dough for the 1/4" pulleys ($8?), which would be alright with me. I don't like tying knots in my hop socks and don't use a hop spider (yet). so I'd just figure a way to tie the hop sock with some paracord or nylon string.

MT2sum said:

I'm curious as to how well your poly rope has held up ..... every time I've bought any of that yellow stuff - cheap polypropylene rope, it starts splintering almost right away - and I really don't fancy little bits of plastic floating in my beer ;>). OR, is your poly rope more like Wilserbrewer's poly cord - (What I would be tempted to call para-cord), although I don't know if you can even find/get 3/8" para-cord.

Click to expand...

No, this is smoother better quality than the yellow type you're referring to. Holding up great and no annoying splinters.

Quite happy with the whole rig for my garage set up. Everything is right there from mashing, draining, boiling, chilling, fermenting. Kettle will slide maybe 2ft to pulley and then back for boil, chilling, and pumping into fermentation chamber.

It is overkill pulley for my 10-12 lbs grain bills but at the time I didn't know about Wilser's offerings, or I'd have probably gotten my bag and pulley from him.

FWIW, I've never had a grain bill that overtaxed the 1/8" pulley from Wilser. One was a 24lb grain bill for an imperial stout, and that plus the absorbed water (probably close to 40lbs in all) was no problem for the pulley.

MaxStout said:

FWIW, I've never had a grain bill that overtaxed the 1/8" pulley from Wilser. One was a 24lb grain bill for an imperial stout, and that plus the absorbed water (probably close to 40lbs in all) was no problem for the pulley.

Click to expand...

Likewise. My max grain bill was about 21 lb.

Brew on