High level lifting

[The Medway Handyman]

Starting to get more work installing patio awnings for a company.

The larger ones are heavy. Up to about 4 metres long is manageable by 2 people, above that, especially on the half cassette jobbies (the brackets need careful alignment) is a bit of a struggle.

Current method is me & Desmond & two step ladders.

Looking for a more controlled mechanical way of lifting to around 8' above ground.

No clearance behind awning to speak of, so it needs lifting from above or below.

I'm considering a ladder leaning against the wall, with a block & tackle to give a 3 fold advantage. Slightly worried that the base may slip away from the wall.

Looked at Farm Jacks, but they don't seem to have the height.

Any ideas?

[Peter Parry]

Would

you the stability and the ability to hoist the item up with a pulley on each end?

[Andy Burns]

Watch out that "Drummer" doesn't get his lead tangled round your ladders!

[John Whitworth]

Jeepers!! I'm sure that's safe as houses - but you wouldn't catch me going up it!!

[Housemartin]

I think the lsd ladder staging looks interesting, but possibly a simpler solution would be a couple of eye bolts inserted in the wall with block and tackle off them.

[Andrew Mawson]

One of those wind up jobbies that are meant to lift 8x4 plasterboard to a celing?

AWEM

[Andy Dingley]

No! Those ladder arrangements are really dodgy with suspended loads

- a slight swing sideways puts a horizontal force onto the ladder and the whole lot slides down the wall.

If I was doing this, I'd probably use a gin pole, on a very solid single trangular base. Then you just have to make the pole strong enough. Old lighting rig trusses used to be good for this.

[js.b1]

Genie Lift. There is one on Ebay, collection, going for about 1p currently.

You could make one yourself out of aluminium extrusions, block n tackle, quick assemble on site. Done right you can use it for other tasks too, builders tend to find them most useful re beams, RSJs etc.

[The Medway Handyman]

Can't find that. Got a link?

[js.b1]

Ebay UK Genie Load Lifter 5.5

300438603779

Ends in 7hrs, currently 1p but there is a reserve (unknown).

Should be possible to design & build something similar in alloy; some extrusions, a manual chain winch or electric winch can be had for =A369. Just cost out 2" x 0.25" L-angle, chunky enough to do handle anything.

[Me Here]

Oi Dave See

from CW Plant. Nearest one to you might be Sidcup

[Unbeliever]

Yes, your attitude to this sort of work and the risk of injury to Desmond - let alone yourself - seems a little blasé and I would suggest that you seek some professional help if you are going to get work like this. Especially as the scope for some real damage to persons and property is greater struggling to cut corners when working with heavy, cumbersome weight at height. A little knowledge is not good in these situations.

See the working at height regulations for further safety information 1.. Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: ?Every employer shall ensure that work at height is properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner which is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe.? 2.. Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: ?Every employer shall ensure that when work is carried out at height, suitable and sufficient measures are taken to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, employees falling a distance liable to cause injury.? 3.. Further information on how to prevent falls from height in the workplace and the Shattered Lives campaign can be found on the HSE website at:

the very least, you should invest in some of the quick-erect scaffolding systems and form a deck at a height that would allow you to safely manage these loads - btw, the concern is for Desmond and not you.

[Adrian C]

but real LSD will lift ye to a much higher level and in colour too ...

:-)

[Phil L]

Genie lifts are hireable and fairly cheap - used them myself to hoist huge steel girders into place, one notable one was almost a tonne weight and 2 of us jostled it into position using 2 of these contraptions

[Cicero]

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

If you can transport some scaffold poles (and clips) then this will work.

Two 'A frames' made from scaffold poles thus:

|\ | \ | \ | \ | \ |-----\

Join the two A frames with further scaffold poles and attach one or two gin wheels to the topmost horizontal pole.

Cic.

[The Medway Handyman]

Who woke up shit for brains?

What a good point. I'll ask the advice of the knowledgeable people on UK DIY. Oh. I already have.

Now do us all a favour and FOAD.

[js.b1]

Oh to add - there are fold-flat "razors". They actually exist in 2m form & 3.6m form, the latter is much harder to find but everyone (HSS, HireStation, Jewsons) carry the 2m one. Basically it zig-zags up into the air like an expanding hat. Quite expensive, but cheap to hire.

It seems HireStation & Jewsons are doing hire's for less than the website figures - about 30% less in some instances, so always check for a hire.

[Dave Osborne]

Properly speaking, you should go on an installers' training course provided by one of the suppliers of such awnings and get a certificate to say so.

As has been said, in the event of an accident you will be crucified by the HSE and your insurance company if you don't have a suitable risk assessment and method statement in place.

I would suggest that two lightweight ally towers (for people) and a Genie lift (for the awning) is the order of the day.

that the maximum weight this type of machine will lift is specified at the minimum reach and you will be balancing the awning at the end of the forks (maximum reach) so make sure that the lift with take the weight of the awning at the end of the forks.

Also, if you are using only one lift, you must ensure you can place the lift safely at the exact centre of the awning, otherwise there is a danger of over balancing. Either way, if using one lift, I would consider using a ratchet strap to fix the awning to the lift until it (the awning) is secure on the brackets.

HTH

[dom]

Please give a lot of thought to the risk of back injuries - I was about to write a longish post about my recent (and ongoing - now 2 months of virtually no work possible) experiences - with a view to us having a diy-faq entry about the risk and avoidance of back injuries.

As far as positioning goes, how about access towers to get the unit

*above* the required height - then lower it onto a pair of temporary timber blocks fixed at the correct position (e.g. multimonti a couple of wooden blocks onto the masonry).

[NT]

Whats being done now may result in you losing everything if it ever goes wrong, and ladder access is one of the highest risk parts of diy.

Time for a risk assessment and a new written game plan. Some thing more stable & guarded than stepladders could reduce your risks and exposure. Vans work as access platforms, with an employee you'd need to add the necessary bits to make it safe & legal.

NT