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Is it likely to be more or less heavy duty than the purlin you mentioned @Bobbo ? Is it held in by place by the uprights (rafters?) and their/pressure weight pulling down on it? Or are there usually some kind of interlocking cuts somewhere? Basically could it feasibly be pulled down by the weight of a winch and however many kilos of wood beneath it (suspect around 80 unwieldy kg?)
Yes, the ridge beam is at the top of the roof. It is also about the strongest part of the roof. Most pitched roofs are isosceles triangles, the sides are the rafters and the base is the joists that stop the bottom of the sides spreading under load with the added bonus of holding up your ceiling. Everything is nailed together to hold it nice and tight (nails being better than screws as they have MUCH greater shear strength). The purlins I mentioned before are there to add extra strength and stop the rafters deflecting under the load of the tiles and anything else that might sit on the roof (like snow). This means that the forces from hanging anything from the edge beam will be transmitted down the walls, however I'd check that the thread on whatever you are going to screw into it can take it.
TLDR yes but make sure the thread you are using to screw into the ridge can take the weight.
Edit: one other thing to check. Often ridge beams are joined together from multiple boards using a type of joint called a scarf (or scarph) joint. This is the weak point of the beam. You need to check that you are not trying to attach into an area where there is a scarf joint.
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Bobbo
Maybe I've just got very weak in the past 3 years (highly possible going from very active lifestyle to basically being sedentary and driving a lot) but I still feel 'country strong' and can hoist a fair weight if I'm careful. But this has utterly defeated me.
Thanks for all input everyone - think some combo of strappery and bit at a time will be the way forward. I'll do a few tests - not in a great rush though would be nice to have somewhere clear to work after nearly two years here.
One last (potentially/probably silly query). At the apex of the roof there is currently some plasterboard. Behind that I presume there's a heavy as fuck beam (would this be the ridge board?). Is it a VERY stupid idea to drill a mechanical winch into that so that it's (almost) directly above the loft hatch? Or is it just a slightly stupid idea? Is it likely to be more or less heavy duty than the purlin you mentioned @Bobbo ? Is it held in by place by the uprights (rafters?) and their/pressure weight pulling down on it? Or are there usually some kind of interlocking cuts somewhere? Basically could it feasibly be pulled down by the weight of a winch and however many kilos of wood beneath it (suspect around 80 unwieldy kg?)
Because I've at this stage thrown caution to the wind, I just did some pull-ups from the 'tie'(?) that held solid and I'm fairly sure I weigh nigh on 30 stone after trying every pasty in Devon since I've moved here.