DIY drywall lift

[MushCreek]

Well, I'm too old to hold 5/8 drywall over my head, but young enough to work a computer. I looked up 'DIY drywall lift', and found enough ideas to lash one together using my engine hoist, scrap 2X4's, and a little angle iron. In some ways better than a 'real' drywall lift, because it goes all the way down to load a sheet; not as good, because you have to keep leveling it as you go up. It works great, though! If a picture is worth 1000 words, here's 3000 words for you:

 

[SALIV8]

cool!

 

[dfiler2]

Very Slick!

 

[lakeroadster]

Yeah, there's an idea I can use. Thanks for posting!

 

[Jarhead0408]

Whoa.

That is awesome man! Thanks, I'll be stealing the idea.

You know man, if you actually had a layer (or even a few strips) of plywood on top of the framework, you could have about 4 predrilled holes with a few longer drywall screws to hold the drywall on the lift. Then you wouldn't have to worry about it falling off.

If you do that though, you might want to move the pivot point on the wood a little closer towards the pump end so it won't tilt. Once the far edge contacts the ceiling joists it will start to self level and when you've got it about an inch away you can finish sliding the lift into position. Then just back out the 4 "retainer" screws before you lower the boom.

 

[JRC3]

When I first saw the thread title I kinda laughed and said, "why not just go rent one..."

Looks like a good idea to get a small area or something like the garage done.

 

[MushCreek]

Plywood would be in the way of the drywall screws. I only made the platform 6' long, since that's what I had laying around. Should have made it 8', with a lip on one end to keep the sheet from sliding during the first part of the lift. I just put a clamp on it instead, which kept it in place until it was level. Then I just pushed up with a stick to keep it level while I pumped the jack.

It should be easy enough to come up with a horizontal fixture for lifting panels for walls, too. I'm just running my wall panels vertical, so don't need to do that.

 

[351cmach]

 

[Jarhead0408]

I hear ya man. A strip down the middle might work. To each their own though.

Either way, great job! One day (I hope!) I'll be putting drywall in the garage. I'll use your idea for the ceiling.

 

[depatty]

Great idea! Gonna have to steal this one.

Dave

 

[raddksn]

Sitting here drinking a beer thinking now I need an engine hoist! Great work thanks for posting

 

[srmofo]

Sooo, how bad does it **** pumping that hoist up? I'm sure it works good, I just imagine it taking longer to lift the drywall than to install a piece

 

[sublimate]

If you made the angle iron pieces longer with a counterweight at the end you could make it self-level.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Can you post another picture of the pivoting area ?

How high will it lift ?

 

[Beemer533]

Nice, very cool. I wouldn't have guessed an engine Hoist would reach that high for some reason. How high are your ceilings?

Bet it takes a bit of time to raise each sheet up!

 

[rburke65]

Ah, the ingenuity of man!

 

[OzarkMan]

That's genius!
I'll wager that it takes some time pumping that sucker up to the ceiling. Even so, You found a solution to a problem. Better than using your arms to hold that **** up!

 

[kingchevy]

If you made the angle iron pieces longer with a counterweight at the end you could make it self-level.

Now there is a good idea,

 

[skulldrinker]

and you can lift 2 tons of it.

 

[G McKay]

That is really ingenious!! Good luck!!

 

[MushCreek]

The lift will go about 10' as shown. My ceilings in the garage are 9'. The angle iron pieces are simply bolted on to the telescoping end of the lift. I'm sure it could be made to go a lot higher, but I would weld the angle iron pieces if I were going to make them a lot longer. Alternately, you could get a longer telescoping piece to get more height. The lift is overbuilt for the application, so it should handle it easily. The ceiling in my shop is 12'+, so I'm going to try to find a longer telescoping piece for when I do the shop. I'd rather not weld on my engine hoist!

I thought about renting a lift. They get $32/day here, but it's also a 25 mile round-trip, once to get it, and once to bring it back. Considering I have three separate projects (eventually) that would be 150 miles of driving, not to mention the rental cost. When I do my basement, and my shop I'll need it for much longer than a day, so it would actually pay for me to just buy a cheap one, but I already have the engine hoist.

Pumping it up doesn't take long. My cylinder is double-acting with a light load, moving the lift in both directions until it encounters a load. The drywall isn't heavy enough for it to go into single mode. Keeping it level is no big deal, either. I just keep a stick handy; level with one hand, pump with the other.

Another drawback is that it doesn't go straight up, so you have to reposition the hoist once you get close. I get it close, pump it up against the framing (lightly, and then shove the sheet into place before screwing it off.

All in all, it works great, especially for an old man working alone. A regular drywall lift requires lifting the sheet on to it, and I'm not sure I could anymore. 5/8 drywall is about 70# a sheet for a 4X8. I'll try to time how long it takes to pump it up, and I'll get a pic of the angle iron detail today.

 

[DonPowers]

Wish I would have seen this earlier, could have used my hoist. Ended up buying a lift last fall, $169 delivered from northern tool, figured it would be cheaper than renting, 75 mile round trip for me and this way I don't have to rush. Will put it on CL when I don't need it any more.

 

[MushCreek]

I timed it, and pumping it like a teenager with his first *******, it takes about 30 seconds. Probably takes a couple minutes when you factor in positioning it. It worked perfect for doing the garage, which was 12 sheets of 5/8 Fire-X. It's rather long, so it wouldn't work well in a small space, but for a garage, it's great, and most garage enthusiasts already have an engine hoist. Looking at it another way- Have you ever tried to pull an engine with a drywall lift?

Here's a pic of the end detail. I tightened the bolt holding it on the hoist very tight, and it never moved. I snugged up the upper bolt where the wood is, but still loose enough to move if you push it. The wood part wasn't as thick as the hoist part, so I made a couple plywood shims.

 

[lostmymanual]

What a great idea. I need to figure out how to boom out and make something like that work on my shop crane with 16ft ceilings. That would be a real wear, tear and money saver. The previous owner started with 1 row of 7/16 OSB and left the rest exposed.

 

[pofc]

Great Idea!! I can't wait to try my drywall lift as a engine puller.

 

[lakeroadster]

In some ways better than a 'real' drywall lift, because it goes all the way down to load a sheet; not as good, because you have to keep leveling it as you go up.

Yeah, there's an idea I can use. Thanks for posting!

I added a leveling board... worked pretty good. Thanks again for the inspiration Mush Creek.

 

[C_F]

What a cool idea, I'm definitely going to try this out some day.

 

[papabil]

I did the same thing about 5 yerars ago. I hung 2 pieces of rope front and rear to level it worked good. bill

 

[mike93lx]

Great work!