Why didn't I think of this before?

[Josiah Bartlett]

I have a truss roof on my shop with a floor, so I use it to store small wood scraps and some of the SWMBO's boxes o' Christmas junk. I had small 440lb capacity electric hoist that somebody gave me a few years ago that I didn't know what to do with.

I built a bracket for it and mounted it over the access hole to the attic. Now I have a little freight elevator to haul stuff up and down. It's great, what a back saver. No more hauling stuff up and down the ladder. I just loop the cable around the box or bundle of boards that I need to move and push the button.

Now I just have to be careful not to overload the upstairs floor.

[David G Baker]

A friend of mine put a couple of 2"x10"x16' across his trusses during the construction process. The 2x10s are on their narrow side and fastened together. At the center point of the 16' length he placed a 1/2 inch thick piece of steel plate 2 inches wide and 8 inches long. A heavy duty eye bolt is in between the 2x10 and fastened through a hole in the steel plate with a couple of washers and a lock nut. The eye passes through the OSB ceiling and an electric winch is fastened to the eye. So far he has used the winch to lift 500 pounds of steel with out the slightest visible strain on the trusses. In cold weather this is where he hangs his deer to butcher.
As far as I know he does not store anything in his attic.

[Brad Townsend]

If you had asked me, I would have told you.:D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/btownsend/P9250013.jpg