raising trusses for pole barn

Kyle241 · Dec 8, 2012

I did this by myself for 12' walls on my garage using a 'man lift'. Reason I didn't rent a heavy duty forklift was the distance from the rental place. I could easily attach the man lift to my truck and get it home. My trusses were 'attic trusses' with a 12/12 pitch so I had to get quite high and let me tell you, I won't do it again. Took me a weekend to do it and the last few, especially the ladders were a real pain. I would rent a crane next time and get another couple guys to help. Installing trusses by yourself is challenging.

ray66v · Dec 8, 2012

Kyle241 said:
My trusses were 'attic trusses'

Those can be easy to damage.

The truss plates tend to want to bend on the bottom cord, where the center splice is, if they are picked up improperly.

JJZ 109 · Dec 8, 2012

Kyle241 said:
I did this by myself for 12' walls on my garage using a 'man lift'. Reason I didn't rent a heavy duty forklift was the distance from the rental place. I could easily attach the man lift to my truck and get it home. My trusses were 'attic trusses' with a 12/12 pitch so I had to get quite high and let me tell you, I won't do it again. Took me a weekend to do it and the last few, especially the ladders were a real pain. I would rent a crane next time and get another couple guys to help. Installing trusses by yourself is challenging.

I was kind of thinking the same thing. I own a 35' tow behind boom lift, but have never used it to set trusses. The bucket capacity is only 500 lbs., so I guess it would depend on the weight of a couple of guys plus the truss.
If that wouldn't work I'd suggest a snorkel type lift. I'm thinking much more weight capacity. Fasten the truss to it, have a couple guys in the basket and a guy on top of each wall to follow your layout marks and make sure it's OK for side to side fit.

pete59 · Dec 8, 2012

I used my 65 MF with a telescoping boom on it for 12' high walls and had 4 helpers, it went very fast.I think the boom might have been designed for a 3 pt. hitch but I put it on my front end loader. I borrowed it from a guy at work.