It’s been a while since my last update here, but work hasn’t stopped that much. I did get employed, which sucks, but you know, cash flow and all that.
Anyway, I was kinda stalled out so I called in a “final” inspection on my two permits on the shop, got sign-off on the electrical, and 3 things left on the main permit: They wanted to see the eaves painted, a landing for the door, and the soil on the roof. I need all those things done anyway, but getting a good clean list got me organized.
A friend with whom I trade favors brought his kids over and they primed the eaves and built a landing out of some scrap treated lumber he’d replaced in a job for a marina, while I got busy building a way to get the soil to the roof of the workshop. Yesterday evening I tested the lift:
And I got distracted before work this morning and shoveled the first load, a half-yard of gravel to provide a filter on the edges, to the roof:
Next up, 4 yards of topsoil that arrive in my driveway tomorrow morning.
-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/
5 comments so far
Karson
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97 posts in 3685 days
posted 05-31-2012 02:38 AM
A great use for an electric lift motor. Very inventive.
-- Retired in Delaware
MsDebbieP
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629 posts in 3719 days
posted 08-29-2012 09:24 AM
that’s very cool
Must have felt good to check some things off the list AND to have this plan work
-- ~ Debbie, Ontario Canada
PaBull
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701 posts in 3652 days
posted 09-20-2012 07:19 PM
Very clever way of getting the gravel on the roof.
The video is done nicely too.
Pb.
fredrodriguez22
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4 posts in 2035 days
posted 11-05-2012 09:14 AM
Truly innovative and very smart too. Saves the hassle of manually carrying the gravel from the ground to the roof which could be quite dangerous at times too if not handled with proper care and the right equipment. Does the lift work like a pulley system and require professional expertise to build it or can we just follow simple step-by-step instructions? If we can, do you mind providing them? And can the equipment used easily be found in hardware stores?
-- Fred Bowman - http://www.lift-all.com
Dan Lyke
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338 posts in 3705 days
posted 11-05-2012 02:04 PM
Just 2 2×8 rails for the track, the cart portion is built out of 2×4s with some wheels on it that ride on the rails and the side rails of the cart extend into the 2×8 rails to keep it from going off either side. The cart’s carried by a sling of aircraft cable, that’s got a loop that hooks in to the winch cable.
Winch is a basic Harbor Freight 110v lift.
I’d draw up plans, but it’s not very complex at all and the first thing I tried worked.
So, yeah: It’s simple. I wouldn’t use it to lift humans at all, and I’d be wary of having anyone down below while it was lifting just in case, but it worked nicely.
-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/