PSA:Be careful with homemade elevators and materials lifts!

[almostnative]

Hello all! Just a heads up: I built a new 2 story garage 4 years ago. Sixteen foot ceiling with a storage loft on top. i wanted a materialist to store stuff in the loft. After looking through here and all over the internet, I made a 4’x6’ platform lift using a harbor freight 2000# hoist. Added a pulley, so 4000# capacity. Everything on it was way overbuilt, and since the HF remote cord is short, I would ride up with the load. Big mistake!
This system worked great 4 four years. Never a problem. Always very careful to load light, balance load, and constantly check cable and runners for any problems.
Last week, I am br up a transmission. We get to the very top and the cable completely parts, allowing me, the platform and the transmission to drop to the concrete floor below. Today I’m sitting in my recliner after having broken both heels as well as a couple of other lower extremity breaks. Lucky to be alive. Could have been much worse. Never saw it coming.
Upon healing, I will lengthen remote cord, install a mechanical lockout at the top of the lift, and not ride. Thank you.

 

[Shiftless]

Thanks for sharing. As bad as your injuries are, like you said, it could have been worse.
Too many guys hide their mistakes instead of sharing them so that maybe others can learn and prevent a catastrophe.

Thanks again for sharing your story.

 

[rlitman]

Ouch! Wishing you an easy recovery, and yes, thanks for sharing!

I had a HF cable hoist, but was never happy with it, even for just lifting stuff, and would NEVER consider riding it. The on/off control puts a lot of shock loads on things and the cable is prone to crossing, causing all sorts of dangerous situations, from cable to trolley failures and more. Imagine if the hoist broke off the trolley, or the track failed. You'd be dropped, AND the hoist would fall on you too.

Elevators are complex things, with serious safety systems involved. Residential elevators do pop up for sale from time to time too.

For my part, I'm loving my pneumatic chain hoist. Pneumatic is variable speed by nature, and chain does not cross or tangle. The brakes on a chain hoist still aren't rated for human lifting though.

 

[driftpin]

I have a cherry-picker and a HFT 2000 lb hoist motor for picking things up and depositing them in my garage loft. I do not ride the lifting mechanism. I spoke with a P.E. before I built it, I showed him my drawings and he made some suggestions. The friend who did the welding for me, made other recommendations and I installed it myself. I never lift anything above 1/4 of the rated capacities, and in operation, I'm nowhere-near being on or beneath the machinery.

Do you have any pictures of the broken parts?

If you called Boynton Beach fire-rescue to take you to Bethesda, they were friends of mine, as I'm retired from fire-rescue locally in so. FL.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Ouch. Glad you're not in worse shape, that sounds like a pretty crazy failure for the cable to just let go like that.

 

[NUTTSGT]

16 or 8 feet drop ? Either one can kill you. I'd say without a doubt you got out of that accident lucky to be here, walking and talking. Honestly, probably foolish to ride that thing but you atleast came here to warn others. Props for bringing this to light.

Speedy recovery. . . . and since you're laid up, I expect that you'll be spending plenty of time here enjoying GJ and increasing that post count.

 

[My Old Tools]

I have lifted over 1800# with my HFT 2000# hoist, but I never get under or on the load. The first thing I did to mine was lengthen the control cord. Easy to do since its just 4 wires. I used 20 amp twist lock male and female plugs on both ends and it doubles as my 3 phase extention cord.

 

[Barnabas]

Thanks for sharing. We can all learn from each other's mistakes.

 

[TMcCay]

Hope you get well quickly. I bruised both of my heels once and it seemed like it was forever before it didn't hurt when I walked.

 

[CoogarXR]

...the cable completely parts...

What does this mean? The cable broke?
Not trying to be a douche, that's just an unfamiliar term to me.

 

[RPH]

What does this mean? The cable broke?
Not trying to be a douche, that's just an unfamiliar term to me.

Yes, the cable snapped in two.

 

[The Cobbler]

yikes, so lucky you weren't hurt worse. thanks for sharing .
This is a good thread to use to remind people why codes & safety features are important!

 

[Itsjustdirt]

Thank you for sharing and sorry to hear you'll be laid up for a while. At least you survived... What exactly happened with the cable? Did it have a rusty spot that snapped? Did the cable crimps fail?

 

[rburke65]

Wishing you a speedy recovery

 

[rawen2]

almostnative, Thanks for posting this. It's easy to become complacent working around machinery on a frequent basis. I could see myself doing exactly the same thing you did. Hope you heal quickly.

This guy in this video had cable that was corroded on the inside but it looked good from the outside. (Wonder if that was so in your case) He was lowering about a 12 ton radial drill after lifting it off of his trailer. Everything he used was rated for that load. Video gets interesting at about the 6 minute mark.

 

[PugetDude]

Too bad HF quit their mailers, you could have scored a coupon for 20% off a Personal Injury Attorney. (Compare to Goldberg and Osborne!}
Glad you weren't hurt worse than you were. Take it easy on the recovery.

 

[Dogmeat]

Stupid is as stupid does......but Seriously, GLAD U didn't get hurt!!

 

[matt_i]

Two things from working with the HF cable hoist...I use it for raising and lowering a tilting staircase. I don't like the way the cable doesn't "spool" very well into an organized spiral and the strand is jumping all over the place as additional cable is wrapped around the drum.

Also when using a sheave (****** block) that puts stress on the individual strands, no problem for a cable built with quality steel and fine strands to make it flexible. My guess is HF is using a cheaper cable with fewer strands which is marginal for the job.

Based on this info I'm considering ditching the OEM cable and going with a cable from McMaster Carr.

Radial drills (Ive moved two) are always a puckery job, a lot of mass up high and lot to go wrong.

 

[dave_dj1]

Wow, glad it wasn't worse. Can you provide a pic of said lift? I'm wondering if there is a way to add an automatic brake system for just such events as the cable breaking. My 4 post lift basically has a rod inside each column with a spring, washer and larger washer type thing, in the event of a hydraulic failure if the lift were to fall too quick they would grab the rod and stop the descent.

 

[ROBZ71LM7]

Hello all! Just a heads up: I built a new 2 story garage 4 years ago. Sixteen foot ceiling with a storage loft on top. i wanted a materialist to store stuff in the loft. After looking through here and all over the internet, I made a 4’x6’ platform lift using a harbor freight 2000# hoist. Added a pulley, so 4000# capacity. Everything on it was way overbuilt, and since the HF remote cord is short, I would ride up with the load. Big mistake!
This system worked great 4 four years. Never a problem. Always very careful to load light, balance load, and constantly check cable and runners for any problems.
Last week, I am br up a transmission. We get to the very top and the cable completely parts, allowing me, the platform and the transmission to drop to the concrete floor below. Today I’m sitting in my recliner after having broken both heels as well as a couple of other lower extremity breaks. Lucky to be alive. Could have been much worse. Never saw it coming.
Upon healing, I will lengthen remote cord, install a mechanical lockout at the top of the lift, and not ride. Thank you.

How bad are you heel breaks? I broke my heel bone almost 5 years ago and required surgery, a plate and multiple screws. If that's your case you have my sympathy as it's one of the worst bones to break and one of the more painful surgeries. Feel free to reach out if you need help with any questions or concerns.

 

[Mandres]

That must have been scary as hell. I hope you have a quick, full recovery. Thanks for the psa

 

[glentre]

I had the same concerns when building my HF winch powered lift. I added a separate retractable restraining belt. It is a Protecta Rebel rated at 350 lbs with an arresting force of 1,350 lbs. Not entirely foolproof but certainly better than using the HF unit alone. If the cable breaks, the belt should stop the platform. While I don't often ride it, if I do and have a cable failure, I may be stuck ten ft up but still alive and capable of shouting or phoning for assistance.

 

[glentre]

Sorry, forgot to add photo of the retracting mechanism in the attic.

Glen

 

[ludakris04]

wow, a broken heel sounds horrible, let alone both!

 

[Old Man Roger]

Thickest strongest bone in your body, can’t imagine the pain. Heal up quick. Too soon for that pun?
Seriously though, my brother broke his heal and said it was the worst break he ever had.

We’re almost neighbors, I’m just a little north of you, off of Southern blvd.

 

[472scout]

Surprised a person would trust their life to a winch made in China not rated for man lift from harbor freight. Speedy recovery all the same.

 

[sca037]

Very informative, thanks for posting and here's to a speedy recovery!

 

[Lefty's Garage]

Glad you survived and posting your hard-learned lesson. I will be scrapping my thoughts about doing a very similar project down the road.
I'm considering myself to be schooled by your lesson. All the best on a full recovery and thanks again for posting.

 

[PCMusicGuy]

Glad it wasn't worse than what it was. I've never ridden mine and never plan to. I did add a wall switch in addition to the pendant so I can send it up or call it down from the floor or standing in my attic. Makes it way more convenient.

 

[Walkers]

While you have some down time start looking for a decent used forklift. Once you have one you will wonder how you ever got along without it.

 

[jmarkwolf]

We get to the very top and the cable completely parts, allowing me, the platform and the transmission to drop to the concrete floor below.

Glad it wasn't worse for you.

Did the cable unravel, break clean, or what? Any pics of the cable failure?

 

[Mainiac Mat]

I saw a YouTube video detailing a very similar setup (was it the OP?) and though I admired and envied the setup... I thought to myself, I'd never ride up on, or stand underneath a home made elevator.

 

[pizza]

pics of your setup and failure mode?

 

[mike93lx]

Trusting your life to something from harbor freight, plus no safety? You making it to adulthood is amazing

Hope you change your approach on stuff involving your life

 

[hampster]

I know this is about home made elevators, but I've never been quite so trusting of building elevators after watching this talk by an elevator inspector:

He's got a story where a customer told him that the elevator ropes were replaced because a previous company told them they were old and needed replacing... but when he checked the date code, he saw the ropes were ancient, the previous company just charged the building owners for new ropes but didn't actually swap them out.

The whole video is worth a watch, I also never think about security the same way after watching lectures by physical pen-testers.

 

[zintwins]

The last post is 722/21. I'm assuming this is dead however I'm about to build an elevator and was just looking for as much info as I can get. I have a mobility issue and the stair chair it's not an option due to cost so I'm working my way through it so is this thread still viable

 

[DGersic]

The last post is 722/21. I'm assuming this is dead however I'm about to build an elevator and was just looking for as much info as I can get. I have a mobility issue and the stair chair it's not an option due to cost so I'm working my way through it so is this thread still viable

I believe that personal lifts rated for actual people to ride can be purchased. I’d strongly consider buying one if I was planning to ride it.

If you’re determined to build your own, pay a lot of attention to safety and what will happen when something on it fails.

 

[pbon]

If it is just one floor, maybe it is possible to integrate a track with locks sort of like 1 post of a 4 post lift, or even 2 posts.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I have a friend with a lift. He is using a 4 post with extra height. He can drive in, raise the lift and drive out on the second level. The 4 post can be loaded from the sides or an end. The lift has built in safety catches. He told me that he could not buy the materials for a DIY build for the price of the lift. Think about it.

 

[whateg01]

There's a reason they say it's not meant for people. Elevators have their own section of the building code, iirc. The safety mechanisms that go into it are there for just such a failure. I want to install a large dumbwaiter in my house. I'll add some sort of braking mechanism to it though.

An 8ft fall isn't necessarily going to kill you, but had the stuff on the lift with you shifted, you could have suffered a worse injury for sure. Hopefully lesson learned.