Replies

1. 
   bobl | Sep 25, 2003 01:43am | #1

   what's that in American?

   bobl          Volo Non Voleo

1. 
   PenobscotMan | Sep 25, 2003 02:22am | #2

   Long and heavy

2. 
   WayneL5 | Sep 25, 2003 04:08am | #3

   12½" x 5½" x 23', 385 pounds

1. 
   jimblodgett | Sep 25, 2003 03:12pm | #4

   Could have safely put it up herself with a pair of wall jacks, and never broken a sweat.

1. 
   andybuildz | Sep 25, 2003 09:23pm | #5

   I don't have the need for wall jacks all that much so I use my aluminum pump jacks....sure beats lifting.True compassion arises out of the plane of consciousness where I "am" you.

   http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

1. 
   AJinNZ | Sep 25, 2003 10:20pm | #6

   Scuse my ignorance, but how do wall jacks and "pump jacks" work? ( apart from being used to jack up heavy stuff obviously ) :-)

   I have never seen such a beastie. We dont have them here at all. The usual method is to get 1 or more of your big hairy workmates to lift the steel beam etc in, OR if it is a real biggie, get a hiab truck to do it.

   Can see I would go into orbits of delight if I had such a gizmo handy. Climbing scaffold with a heap of steel just itching to fall and scythe a fellas legs off doesnt do my nerves much good. 

   Wood Hoon

2. 
   jimblodgett | Sep 26, 2003 02:08am | #8

   Do you see that orange device in the photo I posted?  That's a wall jack.  It rachets its way up a 2x4 post much the way a bumper jack jacks an automobile.  They are designed to lift walls from the horizontal to vertical after you frame, sheath and side them.

   To use them for lifting beams and such you just have to erect a post for the jack to climb and brace it diagonally so it won't tip over.  I've lifted lots of beams as big as the one the original poster described by myself.  Of course, back when I was smarter, I used to think life was a constant test of my manhood and I'd lift beams like that one end at a time, temporarilly blocking it up a ladder - a miracle my back lasted to 35 when I think about it.

   Anyway, a few different companies make them AJINZ.  Those in that photo of my son are about 150.00/pair.  Qual Craft makes cast iron ones that are much more common around here that sell for about 100/each.  I swear, you'll never believe you got by all those years without them.  I can't believe all the folks who poopoo them.  Tool Crib of The North sells them mail order - I think they are in the same section of their catalog as pump jack scaffolding, which is similar. 

   Just got a phone call, gotta run.

3. 
   jimblodgett | Sep 26, 2003 03:50am | #9

   Okay, had to go look at a job up the road, sorry about that.

   This is a photo of a scaffold jack, or "pump jack" as they are commonly called.  They climb up posts made by fastening 2 2x4s together face to face.  They sell for about 150.00 each if you buy all the brackets, feet, and tool bench supports.  I rescued this one and it's brother from a field about 20 years ago for $75.00(U.S.) and have added 4 more through the years as the need arose and I had a little folding money to invest. 

   Lots of guys cuss them left and right, but that's because they don't use them right or they don't take care of their posts and the jacks stick on the way down.  I think they are a gift from the building Gods to small companies like mine. 

   Nowadays lots of guys invest in the Alumipole models that evolved from this type - but that's the rich guys, I could buy enough of these to encircle an entire house for what they sell those Cadillacs for.  Chevy trucks.  That's what I drive, and that's the quality tools I invest in.  

   Geez, what a knucklehead.  Forgot the picture...okay, this will be an adventure...crap, now there's no way to attach a file to an edited post.  Now I'll have to post three in a row...this is embarassing...

   Edited 9/25/2003 8:52:40 PM ET by jim blodgett

4. 
   jimblodgett | Sep 26, 2003 03:55am | #10

   Okay, here's the photo...don't tell anybody about this three consecutive posts thing, okay?

   
5. 
   andybuildz | Sep 26, 2003 04:25am | #11

   Hey Jim

                You sorta look like that guy I saw in a magazine.

   No aluminum pump jacks yet? Dem rusty things remind me of the old days.

   I think I have about a dozen of em in my shed. Got sick of storing those shaky wood 2x4 poles after each job so I scored aluminum poles and jacks.....what a breath of fresh air that was...I have four of em with extensions.....

   By the way, before I got the aluminum poles and jacks while I was still using my rusty ol' jacks I decieded to use the poles after I sided for part of corner posts when I framed.

   Boy, those were the daze!

   BE old.......

            andy

   PS. I spent about three years doing nuttin' but "aluminum siding" when I first started out.....Member aluminum siding?True compassion arises out of the plane of consciousness where I "am" you.

   http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

6. 
   AJinNZ | Sep 27, 2003 05:29am | #12

   Thanks for the info and the pic Jim.

   Thing is though, even though I understand all that you said, and found some big close up pics of the wall and pump jacks.........I cant visualise how the "up" mechanism works.  I know how the car jacks operate. All the ones I ever saw had a toothed "vertical" for the jack to climb. Does the pump jack have a toothed jaw that grabs and does the bizzo too?

   How doya make them go down?. Also, the doohicky that is located above the pump jack, that a different shaped thingy to put a workbench type arrangement on?

   I WANT some of these things anyhow. even if they never got used except for lifting beams it would be worth it.

   So many houses here are getting steel beams in them compared with a few years ago. Also I am seriously considering going out and working for myself. Couldnt figgure out how to stand bigger walls on my own though. Things are so damn busy here you cant hire competent help for love nor money. Figgured to work on my own and worry about the tough bits as I get to them. A couple wall jacks and pump jacks...........now that really would be the berries. <G>

   Had a thought about asking an enginer type mate to make some for me once I get the workings sorted in my head. What ever you pay there i have to double for exchange rate, then add freight. can get pretty pricey at times.

   For sheathing high gable ends etc, standard here is to hire scaffold, or erect something yourself. Recent laws with occupational safety means they expect scaffold put up by pros if you get any higher off the ground than 4 inches. ( exageration, but it is ridiculous ) 

   All time consuming and a real pain to get round lower down. Any help be appreciated. 

   Wood Hoon

2. 
   kostello | Sep 25, 2003 11:08pm | #7

   wouldn't have worked it was 7metre total span and only 4.5 metres between the supporting walls.

   its sitting on masonary so i couldn't frame the wall underneath it.

   any how like i said the DW was there to help.

   aleks