Suggestions for mounting hardware

cmbaker82

Member
Hello,

I need some advice on what you would use to mount speakers between wooden beams. I've attached an image of what I would be replacing. The new speakers would weigh about 100lbs. I was thinking of using this rigging and aiming system which weights about 40lbs: https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/08...peaker-rigging-and-aiming-system-66-500lb-wll and am looking for recommendations to attach that to the wooden beams. The existing mounting equipment is very old and I am not sure on its weight allowance so I would not want to use it.

Thank you for any suggestions.

imagejpeg_1(1).jpg
 
What is the distance between the two wood beams? How is the Unistrut currently attached to the wood beams?

Unistrut P1000 is pretty strong. A 5ft span has a max uniform load of about 600lbs. By the picture alone I would be only worried about the connection to the wood beams, mainly a lag screw through the Unistrut pulling out.

A church near me has similar wood beams that they hang truss from for a lighting rig. The connection points were custom made. It consists of a plate that wraps around three sides of the beam, and either through bolts or lag screws going into the side of the beam rather than its face. A ring was welded to the face of the plate where they attached chain motors to pull up the truss.

You should talk to a structural engineer about what would need to be fabricated to support your load, and then contact a rigging company to see about getting it made and installed correctly.
 
Hello,

I need some advice on what you would use to mount speakers between wooden beams. I've attached an image of what I would be replacing. The new speakers would weigh about 100lbs. I was thinking of using this rigging and aiming system which weights about 40lbs: https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/08...peaker-rigging-and-aiming-system-66-500lb-wll and am looking for recommendations to attach that to the wooden beams. The existing mounting equipment is very old and I am not sure on its weight allowance so I would not want to use it.

Thank you for any suggestions.

View attachment 21676
Unistrut; back to back, twin Unistrut if you want to sleep nights.
Manufactured and rated for structural use and fully documented for static load ratings.
As already posted, how you attach it to your beams is the major concern.
Through-bolting through the beams with rated hardware would be close to ideal.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
Unistrut; back to back, twin Unistrut if you want to sleep nights.
Manufactured and rated for structural use and fully documented for static load ratings.
As already posted, how you attach it to your beams is the major concern.
Through-bolting through the beams with rated hardware would be close to ideal.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
So using the unistrut and then possible use a mount like this and bolt it through the sides of the beams a couple times?
p2494-no-dimensions.png
 
So using the unistrut and then possible use a mount like this and bolt it through the sides of the beams a couple times?
View attachment 21677
Invest a little more time with Unistrut's catalog or site.
If you use their heavier strut comprised of two struts manufactured back to back, you'd be able to use four of their 90 degree brackets installed as pairs on the top side with one bracket on either side of each beam then through-bolting through a bracket, a beam, then through the second bracket on that end.
Reverse and repeat on the other end.
Rated bolts with fender washers, flat washers, and Ny-lock nuts would grip your beams and spread themselves out over a larger area of wood.

Snug is good; over-tightening compresses your beams and unnecessarily stresses your rated bolts.

You could use rated, shouldered, eye-bolts to come up from the underside then clear through both layers of strut, into more heavy-gauge fender washers, flat washers, and Ny-lock nuts.
In my opinion, over-kill's good and lets me sleep soundly.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
Invest a little more time with Unistrut's catalog or site.
If you use their heavier strut comprised of two struts manufactured back to back, you'd be able to use four of their 90 degree brackets installed as pairs on the top side with one bracket on either side of each beam then through-bolting through a bracket, a beam, then through the second bracket on that end.
Reverse and repeat on the other end.
Rated bolts with fender washers, flat washers, and Ny-lock nuts would grip your beams and spread themselves out over a larger area of wood.

Snug is good; over-tightening compresses your beams and unnecessarily stresses your rated bolts.

You could use rated, shouldered, eye-bolts to come up from the underside then clear through both layers of strut, into more heavy-gauge fender washers, flat washers, and Ny-lock nuts.
In my opinion, over-kill's good and lets me sleep soundly.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
Thank you, appreciate the suggestions. For running the eye bolts through the back to back it would be Eye bolt > Fender washer - > Flat Washer - > Back-to-back sturt -> flash washer -> fender washers - > nuts? And that would prove stronger it would seem then eyebolt into a channel nut
 
So using the unistrut and then possible use a mount like this and bolt it through the sides of the beams a couple times?
View attachment 21677
That would be a question for a structural engineer to specify and/or approve. If that's deemed too expensive, a representative from the facility should inquire of the insurer regarding the suspension of loads overhead of participants.

A lot of fast and dirty work is done all over... if the unistrut in the picture is attached to the beams in the manner I suspect, to say I'm not a fan would be a mind-bending understatement.

Many of us "know how we've seen it done" but very few of us are qualified to tell someone how to do it and put a Registered Engineer stamp on a drawing.

/nudge, nudge
 
Personally I would hire a good GC or Carp and get them to match the beams in color and hide your pick points in the cross beam with whatever method is suggested from a SE.
 
Thank you for any suggestions.
If you're unsure, you should bring in someone qualified to do it for you. Call up a local rental house, speccing some hardware and doing the hanging for you won't cost that much and the liability falls with them, their certifications and insurance. When (not if) you make a mistake and someone gets hurt, there's a lot more than just money on the line. Don't play the odds.
 
Thank you, appreciate the suggestions. For running the eye bolts through the back to back it would be Eye bolt > Fender washer - > Flat Washer - > Back-to-back sturt -> flash washer -> fender washers - > nuts? And that would prove stronger it would seem then eyebolt into a channel nut
@cmbaker82 Let me try this one more time:
If you use the back to back strut and cut it ~1' longer than flush with the far sides of your beams, you can use four 90 degree angle brackets facing upwards and positioned to snuggly grip the outsides of your two wooden beams.
This will give you substantial metal on both sides of your beams and preclude your rated bolts from compressing into your wooden beams.

Come up from the bottom with rated, flanged, eyebolts: Add heavy gauge fender washers to increase the diameter of the eyebolt's shoulder so it's not tempted to find its way into the strut.
Coming down from the top:
- Back to back strut facing up.
- Heavy gauge fender washer to span the strut.
- Heavy gauge flat washer to reinforce the fender washer.
- Nylock nut.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
If I were working on this the first thing I would check would be to see if the wood beam is real or is it a soffit around a steel beam. Based on that answer I would then develop my plan.
I'm not a fan of lagging into the bottom of wood structure, and much prefer using a bolt with a known sheer rating to go through the beam, using that to attached what ever other hardware I have selected. The advantage of hiring someone with experience with this type of installation is that they often have knowledge of past projects where the engineering has been done and they can apply those designs to current projects, which can save expense and time.
 
To @egilson1's point about what the beam is made of, from the screenshot below my money is on that it is not a wholly wooden beam -- and I would not trust that whatever attachment method a previous person used is acceptable for the new speakers -- it may not have even been suitable for those existing speakers.

Need to find the construction drawings for the building and have a structural engineer provide a recommended method of attachment. If reliable and accurate existing drawings are not available, someone's going to have to go spelunking.

1615748872675.png
 
I currently have people doing research on the beam construction. What would be a typical price range (wild guesses are ok) for mounting a speaker setup like this?

Few to several thousand. Hardware probably $1-2k, labor 2 guys, 2 days @ $85/hr, probably $3-4k plus whatever time is required for investigation/engineering. PE seal is another $1-2k, plus scaffold or lift rental at another $1-2k.

Lot of variables that can swing that price lower or higher.
 
Few to several thousand. Hardware probably $1-2k, labor 2 guys, 2 days @ $85/hr, probably $3-4k plus whatever time is required for investigation/engineering. PE seal is another $1-2k, plus scaffold or lift rental at another $1-2k.

Lot of variables that can swing that price lower or higher.
@cmbaker82 Makes ground support look attractive; or a whole lot of helium balloons.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 

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