Modify a drywall lift?

[Merch1]

I’m insulating and cladding the interior of my shop. It’s 30 x 40 with a 13 foot ceiling.
I will be using OSB for the walls and ceiling. Not my first choice, but I can’t wait forever for the price of plywood to come down. My question is: has anybody ever modified a drywall lift to lift higher than standard? It seems most or all of the lifts that I see can only go up to 11 feet. I’m thinking that I could possibly lengthen the column by 2 feet, maybe widen the tripod footprint somewhat to help stabilize it. Any thoughts?

 

[wyo george]

I haven’t modified one, but I did put it in the back of my tiny little ‘83 Toyota to achieve the height needed to do the ceiling in a shop.

 

[bdbecker]

The quick and dirty solution would be to build a 2'-3' tall wooden cart with its own set of casters and use the factory caster bolt holes to secure the lift to the frame. Be careful about going too wide with the base - you still need to get next to the wall with your sheets of material.

 

[vavet]

There are extension kits available for the seemingly standard drywall lift.
I had to drive about 3 hours each way to buy a used one from craigslist, but they are out there and available.
I don't know if anyone actually buys a new drywall lift or if the market is saturated and we all just buy and sell them as we need them.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I had to add a few feet to my cheap drywall lift while working on a shop extension. I think I went 3'. The top frame work just slip fits into the pole so it was easy to fab an extension with male/female ends that fit right in between them. I didn't bother modifying the base and it seemed plenty stable for the polyiso sheets I was lifting. I think I used 3/4" emt and some black pipe but it's been a while. A couple pics. Ed.

 

[yatg]

Some premade extensions available on ebay,
Just remember if you have a 3' extension, you need to lift the sheet up an extra 3' to get it on the lift.

 

[Sweetcorn]

If you haven't bought your lift yet, look for one that goes to 16 feet. They're not that hard to find.

I bought one of those for my barn ceiling and walls. I think it was only like 20 bucks more than the standard height lift. Also, renting one for a week or so cost about the same as just buying one, so it was a no brainer. That was pre-covid craziness, so I don't know how it would be now...

 

[finn]

There are extension kits available for the seemingly standard drywall lift.
I had to drive about 3 hours each way to buy a used one from craigslist, but they are out there and available.
I don't know if anyone actually buys a new drywall lift or if the market is saturated and we all just buy and sell them as we need them.

Mine included an extension that will reach a 15’ or 16’ ceiling.

It’s just a generic imported (Chinese) lift, and wasn’t much more expensive that the hundred other imported lifts you see advertised.

I think mine came from a vendor located somewhere in Michigan that had an eBay store. It came with two masts, packed in separate boxes. One standard height and the other a few feet longer.

I would assume the extended mast is available separately, but don’t know how much interchangeability there is between the various manufacturers.

Worked well to install metal on my shop ceiling.

 

[ipgenie]

I used the handle from an old floor jack and a cat 1 three point pin to make a 21-22 inch extension for mine.

I tapped the inside of the jack handle and screwed the pin right in. Everything was the right size and it was stuff I had on the shelf or in the scrap pile. It's worked great to get a little more lift doing the ceiling in my shop. It's definitely higher to lift material up on the lift. Easiest to tilt the lift and load from the side.

My dad has a 12 inch factory extension for his. I attached a pic. I don't have a pic of mine with me.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

There are extension kits available to raise the maximum height from 11' to 16'

 

[The Cobbler]

repeating what's already been said, the extensions are often just a pc of tube that extends the height. which means you need to lift the sheet higher to load up

 

[Brly]

I rented a lift that went up to 15', no extension, just a different lift. They had the 11' model available also.

 

[Kaizen]

Surprisingly heavy duty. Bought to do my metal ceiling before all hell broke loose and metal went 10x

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07169HDLY/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Sturgeon]

Lumber is still dropping but I'm curious, why not sheetrock? In the same boat pretty soon. Thanks

 

[Bucko]

I will be up against a similar job myself as a 35x20 portion of my shop has 16' ceilings but I'm actually considering renting a scissor lift instead because it can lift me and the OSB at the same time. The thought of moving around a huge ladder and dealing with the footprint of the drywall lift will be a pain, not to mention climbing the ladder a couple hundred times.
I would prefer drywall but the time to hang, tape, sand, sand, sand at that height would also be a pain. I figure I will hang the OSB,caulk the seams, and run some 1x3 over the seams and call it done.

 

[The Cobbler]

..... run some 1x3 over the seams ....

I think it looks nicer with a thinner pc, say 1/4x3 . rip a sheet of plywood or something. less "BULKY" looking

 

[mike93lx]

Has anyone mentioned extension kits yet?

 

[Bucko]

I think it looks nicer with a thinner pc, say 1/4x3 . rip a sheet of plywood or something. less "BULKY" looking

My thoughts are that nothing is going to make the seams dissappear short of using drywall and at 16' up a 1/4" will look just like 3/4" on a ceiling but the 3/4" will give some rigidity. I plan to obviously stagger the sheets of OSB but I will trim it all out in 4x4 sections to give it that "tray" look.
After all it is a workshop and my father-in-law always says there's a big difference between an outhouse and a piano because I always tend to overbuild or detail things out that are not necessarily needed.
The main reason I want to caulk the seams and trim it out is because I would one day like to have the shop under HVAC and air leakage is worse than poor insulation and can also lead to condensation and mold.

 

[jasondavidmann]

FYI for my panel lift an ice auger extension worked perfectly to add a little more reach. Loading sheets with this style extension is more difficult because you have to lift it higher.

 

[Merch1]

I’m insulating and cladding the interior of my shop. It’s 30 x 40 with a 13 foot ceiling.
I will be using OSB for the walls and ceiling. Not my first choice, but I can’t wait forever for the price of plywood to come down. My question is: has anybody ever modified a drywall lift to lift higher than standard? It seems most or all of the lifts that I see can only go up to 11 feet. I’m thinking that I could possibly lengthen the column by 2 feet, maybe widen the tripod footprint somewhat to help stabilize it. Any thoughts?

 

[Merch1]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. It looks like I’ll get a lift from KMS tools here on Vancouver Island. 175.00 Canadian bucks + or - I’ll add an extension as needed, doesn’t look difficult.

 

[TractorJeff]

Guy who put 1/2" liteweight sheetrock on my 12 foot ceiling, put cardboard boxes on each corner of his lift to gain the necessary distance. Then set the sheetrock on top of the boxes!

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I will add that as a guy who works completely alone I found the DW lift super handy with and without the extension for quite a few lifting jobs. It's darn hard to hold and staple fiberglass insulation in place without help and getting everything lined up and fitted where it needs to be before fastening is a huge advantage. I used to hold full size rock sheets in place on the cieling and secure them without a lift. The hell with that now. I was younger then.