Acrow props

[John Whitworth]

Anyone know of a good how-to site?

I've borrowed a couple of Acrow props, so that I can safely get onto the top of the conservatory, and finally re-paint, and whilst I know the principle of where they go, and of putting timber on top to spread load etc, the mechanism of the Acrow is a mystery to me. These ones have a sort of collar with two handles and a grub screw, and a giant kind of chain link, which obviously fits into the holes of the moving strut, and is used for leverage, but I'd prefer some guidance before trying it for real.

Cheers

JW

[Tim Watts]

Hi,

Wind the collar down.

Extend prop as far as you can in the space allowed, then insert peg on chain into nearest available hole, right through the prop (ie in one side and out the other).

Wind the collar up to take up the remaining slack.

The collars may be stiff due to rust or previous abuse, use of a clubhammer is not an unknown requirement!

[John Whitworth]

Brilliant! Thanks Tim.

JW

[george [dicegeorge]]

The chain is to stop the peg getting lost. Oil/grease them and wind them up and down before putting a load on them.

I use a short bit of scaff bar to tighten them. There's huge leverage so dont go too far and burst the roof!

Some people put nails through the base plates to stop them turning round.

I have only used them a couple of times so I'm not an expert!

[g]

[John Whitworth]

Thanks for the extra tips. Yes, I could do without bursting the roof - and seeing as we will be replacing the floor covering, then anchoring the base plates may not be a bad idea.

JW

[Phil L]

You don't need to anchor the baseplates - these are only used when they are propping up entire buildings - IE several dozen tonnes - all you are doing is giving a bit of stability to a plastic roof so that you can walk on it.

Put a plank across 2 acrows and wind it up until the plank just touches the roof struts, then wind it up half of one turn, put your plank(s) on the roof and do whatever you want

[george [dicegeorge]]

and check theyre vertical with a weight on string, if theyre a bit sideways the huge forces could make them burst out sideways which could be painful!

[g]

[george [dicegeorge]]

and a plank under them too.

[Cicero]

=====================================================================

You might need a couple of wedges for the top of the props if the roof slopes significantly.

Cic.

[Steve Walker]

Yup, I've used them to jack up a roof prior to repair, where the previous owner had installed a Velux - cutting through two joists and providing no additional support! Oh, and he'd nailed the velux into place from the outer edges, nailing the window shut!

SteveW

[John Whitworth]

Thanks Phil. Will do that - will feel a bit like plate balancing until one of them is holding the plank in place though. Gawd knows if the missus will be able to support one/turn the collar. Another 'run the gauntlet' approaching... ;-)