I get a crane for compressor and house units to my jobs for less than a grand. Often I get it for $600 if he is close to my city in Eastern North Carolina. He's even called me on occasion to drum up work and I get him for $350 for a quick lift...I don't understand how there is such a shortage of AC cranes in some areas but there is. My buddy in San Diego regularly pays $1500 per job.
11 Western States and anything West of the Mississippi can use evaporative coolers, so A/C is somehow considered a redundant/necessary luxury. So, cranes are a luxury item as well. Most big crane services on tracks are starting at $8K in Utah for tree removals. The little spider cranes pulled by pickup trucks limited to 50' are around $500. Anything bigger is self-propelled and has to be delivered on trailer and could get stuck in soft soil, resulting in more delays and costs to remove leaning Elms that regularly drop 300+# branches. Insurance won't pay for preventative pruning, so nothing can be done until something is crushed or someone is killed. That's the world we live in.
I am a mechanical engineer and want to compliment you on your work. I have watched many of your videos. You are calm and articulate. You speak carefully and accurately. Thank you. This particular project is great. Nice job.
As a mechanical engineer, how do you determine the strengths required to lift a load of the aluminum? Is there a reference that we could look at based on metal gauge?
Well done, consider adding a light angle brace to the top channel and the arm just before the winch is attached. That will spread the stress across winch arm and the top channel. You could even drill lightening holes in it to reduce the weight.
A large foot pad for the ladder on hinges so it can pivot 1m2. Have holes in it so you can drive sharpened steel rods to secure on soft ground. In some situations you could back your pickup to the building and secure to the floor of the pickup. Outstanding idea well done this is a life and back saver.
The angle of pressure on the feet while lifting a heavy object provides all the securement that's needed. But feet that have a rotational axis and rubber pads is preferred
In the 90's, after humping up bundle after bundle, working roofing job; I saw my first laddervator. Amazed, now seeing this reverse laddervator as a crane, equally amazed.
When starting out tig welding aluminum remember these tips. Clean everything with a stainless brush just before to weld it. Thicker metal preheat with a propane torch to at least 150 to 200 degrees. And most important practice, practice , practice !
Yes and the key is just before you weld it. I used to weld no more than a foot in length and then stop to wire wheel it again as aluminum oxidizes very quickly
Great ideas, when I was qualifying AL TIG 30 years ago test plate was thick, .375". I cleaned with ss wire brush, used largest tungsten available, turned amps to max but you could see ball dancing around. I failed 1st x-ray because of tungsten inclusion. So I grabbed oxyfuel torch and next X-ray was fine
For my welder, I didn't have access to a 220V outlet anywhere, so I bought a Y splitter cable for my 220V dryer outlet and then bought an adapter to go from the dryer 10-30P style outlet to a 6-50R welder plug. Works great, just gotta be carful not to run the welder while the dryer is running or it trips the break lol
I'd lean a second ladder up to the roof, in case something goes wrong with the crane ladder. Just so there is another way to get down. At a sufficient distance so one ladder can't fall and knock to other one down.
Did not notice or read in comments, when welding aluminum green tungsten you should put a ball on the tungsten electrode for aluminum AC only, sharp point for stainless or steel on DC. Study more on aluminum welding to put a ball on electrode realize this benefits for a great weld, btw great contraption you built.
The ladder crane looks like a very good way for me to get a budget ac unit that has only been dropped once. That's the nice thing about roof mounted ac units the owner never goes up to lookb at the unit......
It is best to know the limit of weight your ladder can take and how much you can support yourself once your obstacle is off the ground. Making sure your ladder is secure to the area it is lifting from. Safety is a must or you can get into trouble.
That’s ingenious! The only dangers I see is that the aluminum needs a triangle between the bottom rung and the handle and mount the motor on the hypotenuse. Also, when working on a single story, the base of the ladder is too far away from vertical. Could slip out while on the ladder.
Good job. Innovative thinking. One thing to be aware of, when designing a project requiring welding of aluminium, is that it depends on the alloy, and its state of heat treatment when you start, what the effect of the welding might be. 6000 series alloys for example are precipitation hardened, and are mind blowingly strong ... unless you weld them. Then (unless you made something small enough to heat treat, and you have the equipment and knowledge to re-heat-treat, and you go to the trouble to do so) you probably reduced its strength by 2/3rds, not just at the weld, but in all the areas that exceeded the critical temperature. So long as your design allows for this, great, but otherwise it may lead to catastrophic failure. In the case of this project, the weld at the bend in the main beam near the winch attachment would be a likely point of failure. You could add a steel strap on the tension side (underneath) secured by some big rivets, as insurance. This would (hopefully) help to ensure you don't drop everything and fall off the roof if it cracks , ... instead you'd hope to see it start to bend or twist etc as the load moves into the steel brace, and you could lower the load quickly before it fails completely and you lose control of it. A little bit of steel, used at critical places, would add a negligible amount of weight.
That is a million dollar idea 😊Saludos!! ! señor Dave we did something like that but with a manual winch cable we just had to pull the small transformer about 400 lbs and it worked perfectly the master electrician was very impressed by our smart thinking and we accomplished to install the transformer up on the roof 😊
That's awesome. You might want to look into Lanthanated tungsten (blue), it's kinda a jack of all trades, you can weld steel, stainless, and aluminum with it.
Great video and idea. I am 66 YO and retired after military and 35 year as DOD welder. We had some leaks in house roof(2800 sf) and shop roof(1800sf) so I decided to reroof both by myself(I have time). When purchasing shingles at Lowes they told me that they do not put them on roof so I had to manually. I am done with both but this would have worked great getting them onto roof. I still have a 2 car carport to reroof so I will make this and use it to carry shingles onto carport roof. I dont have an AC HF aluminum welder any longer just a Miller Master 140 ST(stick, TIG) so I will probably use mild steel.
We used the hand crank version but we’d have the ladder resting on the roofline and the unit sitting on the ladder. Seems a little safer than pushing outward on a ladder from the roof
i bought myself a Yeswelder Mig-250 Pro approx 6 months ago and just recently started to use it yesterday. I have an older 120VAC type mig welder by Century using flux core .030 wire made a lot of things with it like a Boat guide with a side ladder out of a 1/4" metal channel, and square hollow bars, and had it galvanized once done with welding.. I'm not a welder by profession but a Network Eng and working with metals, creating projects around the house and for vehicles (push bar, front hitch, etc) just to keep me busy on the weekends.
This was awesome man. Nice work! Just a diy guy, not in hvac but I appreciate the way you solved this annoying problem. Never heard of ladder cranes before.
I like mine… The pulley mounts at the top with a long handle to tilt the ladder, and the winch is at the base of the ladder, controlled either wirelessly, or by a helper.
3 points...did commercial/domestic hvac 20 yrs..fabritcated a lift such as you show..1st point; as unit raises so does center of gravity making it extemrely unstable as it approaches hight you show; put out riggers on ladder base extending foot print to at least 6 feet....holding ladder out and pulling on rope extremely complex; so point 2 ;install brace to hold ladder away from roof edge...point three; use a boat winch (hand operated) it auto locks as unit raises...should really wear harness
Enjoyed your sense of humility - "not the prettiest". This attitude speaks a lot about your character, especially the curiosity to learn things that you don't know. Keep rocking!
Your a Rockstar!!! Love your ability to explain your project to the average DIY'r and not to overcomplicate the project. A for execution, A + for your ingenuity.
Good job DIY Dave! I've seen you use the old one before and this is a big improvement. I like the self-contained battery pack Idea as well as the lighter weight. Good job with the aluminum tig also.
Reminds me of when I owned a vending business and had to move vending machines up the stairs. Some of them were very heavy so I bought an electric stair climber. Half way up the battery died. I had to hold it while my helper (my wife) got the spare battery from the truck.
That’s super cool would probably be very helpful for stuff like that I know when we had to raise and lower some big roof vents up and down on a commercial building it was really difficult doing it with just rope and man power. This would’ve made that so much easier as well as making lifting rolls of roofing rubber and tools and such man this would’ve been nice.
Nice job! Necessity is the mother of invention. I used rope and ladders to slide electric powered drain augers up to the roof to rod out stacks clogged with leaves at my house. Sometimes you can only count on yourself to make things happen. 😊
Good job on your first time TIG. You did very well for a newbie. I'm still practicing and would be thrilled to have beads like that. Helps to be able to see too. My welding distance is just at m out-of-focus point for this old-man. ;-P
You are a great thinker! Maybe you can put a patent on it? A couple things though: the bottom of the ladder should be braced to keep it from sliding out on the different surface types. Also the wench needs a fail safe encase it fails during mid lift.
Awesome design. I would suggest something like a telescopic shoulder support instead of holding it with your hands. That would free up both hands to control the telescoping shoulder supports and free up your back from hunching over when lowering the load.
Thank you for this video ! The day after I watched it, I had to put a 1T mini split 7' up a wall, and no helper. I ordered the winch (6am delivery) , and had some 2" steel tube , and welded up the same basic thing ( yeah, its a lot heavier, I'll order some aluminum, or some 8020 for this ) !
The guy has solid skills and training in a high demand trade. He's managing a profitable business. He shows innovation in creating a solution to an existing problem, and learns a new skill to top it all off. When you hear another woman say they don't need men, show them this video. Their heads will explode.
and when you see the "intellectuals" promote overpriced college education, show them this video and then ask them to duplicate what he has done this is the kind of guy that destroys the "gatekeepers" of society. ya know the m,iddleman grifters that shave off a few points for themselves for doing NOTHING
This project was amazing! It's such a reward to think creatively! Make things better, with design, materials, ease of use, and lightweight choice of parts! You saved right from the start! It would be neat to design a lift that would safely lift heat pump systems for residential rooftops! How do you feel with the workings of this unit with this girth and weight?
I get it. You’re grateful to Eastwood for the welder. But you could have spent more than 10 seconds telling us where you sourced the winch parts along with your welding tutorial.
Great idea and tool, I recommend you put an eye bolt on the frame above the top step rail to snap the spools lifting hook into to keep tension on the reel while not in use.
It may have already been said, but red and green are traditionally used with older transfer type welders. Inverter type welders like that have more appropriate options like blue and gray. Look into it closer.
Use a aluminum ladder jack, bolt on some handle from an old push mower. seach ebay for an 18v to 12v power converter. they have them for Milwaukee and others.
Ya OHSA sees that and the fine will pay for 10 cranes. 20 yrs ago we had those for compressors then we got fined and scraped them. Factor in the crane and everyone wins.
Safety of using a structure is measured not by the number of successful uses but objective calculations and further testing that accounts the load, conditions of use and wear-tear of the structure over time. A metal just gets weaker. Good luck with safety inspectors if you have such in your country, state, etc.
your danger is the ladder legs kicking out when under load. I drive a crowbar into the ground in front of the ladder rung till the hook part of the crowbar touches the rung. Those legs are going nowhere. It pins the ladder to the ground. I think this product needs some specialized "slings" something to hold brick for the chimney guys. Sling for 3 tab shingles for roofers. Sling for solar panels for the solar installers. Sling for rafters for the carpenters. Some of these can overlap but without a safe way to attach materials it will be a danger in the wrong hands. Most people dont have that experience so you need to hold their hand all the way. Cant say i have seen a condenser on a roof for residential.
I would ask the ladder company about the shear force this puts on the two ladder rungs this is hanging off of. The angle of force is quite different than what the ladder is designed for.
