Need advice for mounting to I-beam

[CajunHiker]

I'd like to add some hangers to my patio's aluminum horizontal I-beam to aid in a faster & more flexible backyard setup. My thoughts were maybe to use a U-shaped bolt and use large washers on the topside to help distribute the load.

Any thoughts on this or other reccomendations?

[NCPatrick]

Aluminum you say? There goes my whole super-magnet idea...

[GrizzlyAdams]

lesson I learned when I tried hanging from an I-beam in my garage---if you're attaching at a point 8 ft high, that's equivalent to tying to a tree at a height of 8 ft...now how far apart would two trees need to be if you were going to attach at 8 ft???? A loonnngggg ways. That or end up hanging it so high that you have to use a step ladder to get into the hammock!

You can finesse this by hanging a rigid bar (strong enough to take the compression forces) from the I beam, at a lower level, and hang from that. For related reasons I've been interested in how to make such a bar as light as possible, and able to be broken down into manageable pieces.

Grizz

[CajunHiker]

It's at least 8', but I seem to remember the length being about 27'. The other wrinkle is that I've got 3 ceiling fans attached.
This is my HH clone (aka The ARK) with a 10' ridgeline. I've also hung my HH Expedition in the same spot, and barely had enough strap & rope to tie it off.
Here's a new equation: 3 Ceiling Fans = Forced Sag.

[NCPatrick]

You could secure (in some way, shape or form) some rope loops to the I-beam, and hang from those. That could reduce the length needed between the two supports.

I drilled very small holes in the wood beams in my basement, tied some rope loops through them, and hang my hammock from those. But they're not aluminum, so that still doesn't answer your question at all. Too bad you can't use magnets.

[CajunHiker]

Too bad you can't use magnets.

Well, there's alway superglue.

There's no space on the top of the beam, so it's either got to be drilled in the bottom or in the vertical center section (or both). I don't think I'd want to run a rope through a hole drilled in aluminum. A cable maybe..

Grizz may have a good alternate solution. I've got several vertical posts along the perimeter. So Grizz, you're saying to hang directly from a horizontal bar that would carry any non-vertical loads, and hang the h bar to the posts to support the vertical load, correct?

[NCPatrick]

Or you could purchase or make a hammock stand...

[Ramblinrev]

They make clamps for hanging items from I beams. The are used in rigging all the time. I wouldn't advocate drilling a hole anywhere in an I-beam... especially aluminum. Talk to an iron worker. They hang stage rigging pulleys and stuff like that from structural i-beams very often. The clamps run the width of the beam and hook on over the flanges. Very safe and as strong as the beam.

[NCPatrick]

They make clamps for hanging items from I beams. The are used in rigging all the time. I wouldn't advocate drilling a hole anywhere in an I-beam... especially aluminum. Talk to an iron worker. They hang stage rigging pulleys and stuff like that from structural i-beams very often. The clamps run the width of the beam and hook on over the flanges. Very safe and as strong as the beam.

I did not mean to imply that you SHOULD drill holes in your I-beams. That would NOT be a good thing to do and I don't advocate doing it. In fact, whatever you do, do NOT drill holes in your I-beams...

The idea of the holes was for illustrative purposes only, demonstrating the use of rope loops, and was not intended as a solution for the aluminum I-beam mounting problem stated above.

Is this enough of a disclaimer yet ?

[CajunHiker]

I'm not sure a hanger would work for this beam. At what part if the beam's cross-section are the forces applied? Too late on the holes part, btw.