20$ BIAB Crane or Lift

So I am slowly building up to my first AG and am taking the BIAB approach. One of the things I want to be able to do is to sparge and I have decided I want to be able to do it with the bag elevated over the pot - so I needed a crane or lift. I also wanted the crane to be cheap since I just bought the pot, copper for a chiller and recently built a vintage kegerator (and someone in the family thinks my hobbies are getting expensive). Lastly, I wanted it to be strong and collapsible... this is what I came up with.

Spent several hours building it and rebuilding it on the back of napkins, and then an hour and 15 to buy materials and build it during one of my kids hockey practices, so quick and easy.

Materials are
5 2x4s;
about 3 square feet of scrap plywood
2 steel pins
2 eyelets with hoops on them to guide the strap
1 ratcheting strap
assorted 2.5" and 1.25' screws

Only had to buy the 2x4s, so for me this was around $12

Dimensions and other tidbits:
I left the vertical post at 8 feet b/c I am not sure how much the viole will stretch, but I think 7.5' would be easier
Similarly, the arm at the top is 3', but this could be shortened
Cross beam is 6' and the angled supports were laid out at 4' on long side to limit # of 2x4s
As you can see, I am a fan of gussets for strength; as a result though, I had to add filler strips beside the vertical for even
I made the vertical and then the base, then connected one of the side struts that hold the vertical in place (or blank of similar width) and then screw in second.
Last, with it all loosely together, drill the holes for the pins. I thought of the pins at the last minute, another option is to have a scrap piece of wood that swing closed to hold two pieces together.

Cheers,
Kerry

Nice! I like it.

I also do a BIAB w/ sparge and decided to go with a 9gal turkey fryer. I mash in the kettle, then when i pull the bag it goes into the basket and the basket goes on top of a grate which fits over the kettle. It's worked really well so far

That's a great way to do it danath - my challenge was the weight, I am setting up for 10 gallon batches and I didn't want to be restricted on the grain bill. I should be able to test in a week or so, I still have to sew up the bag and solder the chiller, Cheers

Very cool

To close the loop in case anyone is setting up a crane like this, here are some photos from a 10 gallon 27.5# grain bill. Starting with the design flaw, I used the upper ring from a keg to wrap the bag around and hold it open during the sparge. All was going well except that in order to hold the ring in place, I needed the strap, which made it difficult to put the top on - thus the top offset and tin foil. Wasn't a big deal in the end, the burner is able to hold a very low flame, but this resulted in the need to open and stir regularly to maintain even heat throughout the kettle.

Once the sparge drained, the bag was easily unhooked and dropped to the side (helps to have a helper at this stage unless you add wheels to the crane).


The second challenge was the amount of stretch in the bag - kettle depth is only 16.7", the bag is around 24", but stretched to almost 36" (glad I kept the full length 2x4).

Beyond that, it was an excellent day, can't remember my pre-boil, but post boil was 1.066.

Cheers