# Homemade Wall Jacks



## john5mt (Jan 21, 2007)

Thinking about buying some proctor wall lifting jacks.

Ran into this guy's setup while researching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b79jvUl1MW4

Made me start thinking about how one could retro fit an electric winch on a proctor so you dont have to do the back and forth dance between the two jacks.....

Then that led me to think why cant i just bolt two electric jacks to some 16' 4x4s and add a hinge at the bottom and some pulleys to guide the cable at the top? Seems like the winches and everything would only run me $500...Is there something im missing ?


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Not really, but those winches don't stop on a dime, and if the wall goes past vertical, it will try to keep going.


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

Cool, but 3-4 guys could just lift it.


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

Morning Wood said:


> Cool, but 3-4 guys could just lift it.


While interesting... They'd probably have 3-4 walls up by the time the first one was setup with the device and raised...

But If you're by yourself... could certainly be a benefit as a second and third hand... 

Don't know if I'd rely on drywall screws to anchor it though ...  :laughing:


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## Big Johnson (Jun 2, 2017)

Build smaller sections.


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## Texas Wax (Jan 16, 2012)

john5mt said:


> Thinking about buying some proctor wall lifting jacks.
> 
> Ran into this guy's setup while researching:
> 
> ...



Don't listen to these 'Know it alls above". They've never really 'USED' wall jacks. Had a pair of 20's and 24's. Lifted some big arse gable walls, with windows siding and eaves. Done 40' long walls by myself. No need for coffee those mornings. Always a thrill working one end to the other and snugging to the stops, especially with 24" overhangs attached. Sometimes the last two lacks don't need pumping  Thank god for proper set stops.

Always thought about attaching winches tho. Never went too far beyond that. Were often maxing the approved weights for the jacks. Failure due to modifications and weird torques scared the crap out me. Never had a wall come down during a lift and never wanted to experience that. 

I suppose if your just sheathing and lifting a good Doug Fir 4x4 might work with a winch. Fab a metal foot, use a bushing in the 4x4 for the bolt to go through and a good strong stop... probably work OK.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

I've actually lifted walls this way. Depending on how heavy, you can use 2X4 with strong backs, or build a box beam.

Box beams are lighter and almost as strong as solid timbers.
This is really just a gin pole set up.

I'm not kidding about tbe winch not stopping on a dime. You don't want to have stops on your pole, you can accidentally mess it up if you don't stop in time. Just hook a line onto the top plate so it won't go too far. The worst that happens is you bust that line, but you don't wreck your setup. The faster your winch speed, the trickier it gets, 1-2 ft per second is plenty.


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## Texas Wax (Jan 16, 2012)

hdavis said:


> I'm not kidding about tbe winch not stopping on a dime. You don't want to have stops on your pole, you can accidentally mess it up if you don't stop in time. Just hook a line onto the top plate so it won't go too far. The worst that happens is you bust that line, but you don't wreck your setup. The faster your winch speed, the trickier it gets, 1-2 ft per second is plenty.


Load Limit switch would solve the overloading on the pole stop.

In the end all more layers of gyrations to the already streamlined Proctor Wall Jack method. All to save, what? extra ten minutes of cranking if you really take your time?


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

I didn't find it a big help, plus the winch is pretty heavy and you have to have a base for it and assemble the whole thing.

The last time I used a gin pole was to lift a 32 gal trash can of concrete the ho was going to use, but it set before they could do their project. It was excess from a pour I had formed and was finishing, and the truck mix set a little fast. Got it up onto a trailer and hauled it off.

If you're hanging sheetrock and you really can't spin the wheel all day (like me sister when they built their house a few years ago), you can make a decent winch powered drywall lift. No set up time, since it gets assembled once and just gets wheeled around from there.


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