Personnel lift height

5030tinkerer · Jan 18, 2006

Spencer's pole barn project and personnel lift has me majorly tempted to weld a personnel lift like his, but tall enough to enable easy access to a second story roof. The preliminary idea is to build pretty well exactly what he did deckwise (albeit 48x72), but have the second deck 9' off of the ground. Of course, each deck would have a 42" safety rail all around above it. The plan would be to build as follows:

Deck frames: 2" square tubing frame, supported every 9" OC using 1.5"x1.5" angle 1/8" thick

Deck itself: 5/8" #9 expanded metal

Corner posts: 2" square tubing frame

Sides and back for 42" above each deck: 5/8" #9 expanded metal

Like Spencer's I'd have a ladder built-in to get to the upper deck and side doors. Also like Spencer's, I'd use a removable bar (the 1/2" galvanized pipe idea seems good).

In addition, however, I'd cross brace the entire unit with something, perhaps using that same 1.5"x1.5" angle, 3/8" flat bar, or 1/2" bar stock (open to ideas here) welded up in the middle of each cross, with cross braces every 3'.

Am I crazy? I have a Kubota GL3830 HST with 723 loader rated at 1870 pounds lift at the pivet pin. Total lift height at the pin is about 8.5', so the intent would be to enable someone to step off of the second deck and onto the roof of an average two story home. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Would this be wildly unstable? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

5030tinkerer · Jan 20, 2006

It has been privately suggested to me that I take one size larger tubing for the corners of the upper deck itself and weld short sections vertically to the 2" square tubing frame. This would enable the upper deck to slide over the 2" vertical corner posts. If 3/4" holes were drilled through the corner uprights at, say, 3', 6', and 9' heights (with corresponding 3/4" holes drilled through the vertical deck tubing), this would allow the placement of a pin through the holes and not always have to have the deck that I would be standing on so far from the pivet pin of the FEL. I'd have to come up with a new way to brace the corners if I did this, however.

Any comments on that idea or anything else here?

Still wondering if I am asking for trouble.