Replies

1. 
   vintage1 | Jan 17, 2007 08:33pm | #1

   I have a pair of these jacks and they work well for me.  I paid around $95/ea

   I have used them to:

    lift up to 24' sections of sheathed walls, working with one other person

   raise a sheathed gable truss for a garage addition

   lift a 20' W12x19 beam into place

   lift a 30' dbl microlam beam

   jack up a sagging porch

   I think they are fairly versatile and are inexpensive, relative to other products available. 

   The one drawback I see is at some point when raising a wall, you will be working off of a ladder and you may be under the wall.  This is a safety issue if something fails and the wall comes crashing down.   

   I always keep saw horses under the wall to prevent it from coming completely down to the deck, if something went wrong. 

   Having said that, I haven't had an issue/failure and the cost was easier to absorb, considering I don't use them everyday. 

1. 
   mackllm | Jan 17, 2007 10:13pm | #3

   Is it possible to stand on the ground and use the jack with a long pipe?

1. 
   dovetail97128 | Jan 17, 2007 10:23pm | #4

   I can answer that .
   That doesn't work very well because the jacks require that the handle be raised all the way up to gain new purchase on the 2 x 4.
   There was a recent thread here at BT on "Wall Jacks" that discussed using a "jojnted" handle. two pipe handles joined with an elbow (my guess is a 45 deg. ell) , I have never done that , but sure seems it would work alright.
   One other item is to be sure that the 2 x 4 that you use as the pole is at least 2' longer than the diagonal measurment from post base to top of wall when erected. The jack needs a bout a foot over the wall top to function , and the extra foot is insurance against getting the lift almost there but not quite.

1. 
   mackllm | Jan 17, 2007 11:15pm | #5

   OK.  Next question.  How do you go about lifting a ballon framed gable wall with no plates?  What do you hook the jack onto?

   Edited 1/17/2007 3:26 pm ET by mackllm

1. 
   dovetail97128 | Jan 18, 2007 05:38am | #6

   Raising rake walls with these style jacks is problematic, no matter if the have plates or not.
   Different people do different things with this problem
   Some angle the jacks slightly and grab the edge of the rake plates at equal distances from centr.
   Some build a strong back out of 2-2x and spike it to the wall on the sheathing side, allowing it to hang out beyond the rake for the jacks to have a place to grab.
   Some leave sheathing off near the top of the wall or cut holes thru the wall sheathing and grab blocking or framing members (headers).
   I have a buddy who uses short hoisting straps that he loops thru a small hole in the sheathing and around a framing member and then hooks the "eye" of the srap to his jacks.
   This is definitely one area that Proctor jacks outshine the Qualcraft.

   Edited 1/17/2007 9:40 pm ET by dovetail97128

2. 
   dovetail97128 | Jan 17, 2007 08:51pm | #2

   I own a set. Agree with what "vintage" said above in his post.I have done all the things he has done with them.
   I like them , very versatile tool. Just hand select the 2 x that you are going to be using with them, I have never had a 2 x break but don't want to either.
   the one thing I did have to do to mine was take a file to the "shoe" that grabs the 2 x 4 . The edges were so sharp that the jacks wouldn't walk down the "pole". I just filed a bit off the inside edges to allow them to release and slide a bit easier.