I needed to lift a section of decking that had subsided a couple of inches, and I didn’t have a jack handy to bear the considerable weight. Instead, I made an A-brace, as shown in the drawing, out of a couple of short lengths of 2×4 and a 1x brace.
To make the A-brace, face-nail a pair of 2x4s at one end with three 16d nails through each side. The 2x4s should be 2 in. to 3 in. longer than the height you want to reach. Spread the unnailed ends of the 2x4s so that they form an inverted V beneath the appropriate beam and toenail one of the 2×4 legs to a secure 2×6 or 2×8 base. Forcing the legs together raises the load. Toenailing the other leg to the base, along with a cross-brace, secures it.
—Gerry Magid, Jamaica Plain, MA
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #53
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I see one slight problem with this method - assuming that the left diagonal 2x4 is fixed at the bottom, for every 1" that the bottom of right 2x4 is hammered toward the left, the top of the inverted "V" moves 1/2" to the left. This requires some consideration of the effect it might have on what you are trying to lift.
Just go buy a jack or get an old scissors jack from a wrecking yard. Much better control.
I could see using this in a pinch. Using a ratchet strap to bring the legs together would give a lot more control. A couple nails or screws or scrap blocks would keep the strap from sliding up. All that said, in the same situation I might also use my truck jack with a post on it, if I was far out of town. Fun problem solving scenario if nothing else.