Miles Davis

Scaffolding Wall Lift

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• published: 12 Apr 2015
• views: 848

Here's some backyard engineering I did to lift 2X6 walls that are 16 feet long and 16 feet high by myself. I apologize for the shaky video. I didn't think I was shaking that much but I was more interested in getting the last tall wall up than making a quality video :) I researched using wall jacks but the floor is concrete so there wasn't an easy way to attach them. For those who are going to tell me I could have bought brand new scaffolding for what I paid I actually got 5 sections (two with wheels). This contraption only uses 3 of them. And, this way I can use the scaffolding for lifting trusses, attaching OSB, etc. without having to keep renting them. They also probably wouldn't have appreciated me welding the plates on their scaffolding where the winches attach. I also notice I said Harbor Freight. That's not true. It was Northern Tools. My wife and I tried to lift a section and it was all we could do just to lift a section off the ground. Then, the more vertical the wall gets the less leverage you have and more load because you have to start walking in. That definitely wasn't going to work. It doesn't actually pull down on the back like I said but puts force on all the scaffolding joints so the sections can separate at the back (it's bolted but just to make sure). I contemplated putting bags of cement on the back but found it wasn't necessary. When I'm pulling on the scaffolding in the video it's where the bolts are sticking out that fasten the scaffolding section together. I'm just pulling the scaffolding back so the wall doesn't catch on the bolts as it passes them. Where I stop and climb up the scaffolding I had some planks on the top section to walk on that were sticking out to far. The wall was going to catch them so I just pulled them back a bit. Toward the end where you hear the squealing noise that's the wood sliding up the trusses because I'm using the boat winch for the last little bit. You'll see me checking the tension on the cable a couple of times just to keep it snug. Once the wall is up I use standard motorcycle/ATV tie down straps to strap the wall to the scaffolding. This hold it rock steady while I put the top plate on, anchor the wall, and attach temporary bracing. Using this I did have to put the walls up in a certain order as you always have to have room on the slab for the wall laying flat as well as the scaffolding and you're not going to get the scaffolding under any cross bracing without disassembling it. Now that I'm done feel free to tell me how unsafe this contraption is :)