I just did my first raising with a gin pole last week. Much thanks to the gin pole thread on the forum and the US Army Field Manual! It all went very smoothly for the first go around.

So, how did you like using a gin pole?

Fun isn't it....?

Jim Rogers

PS post some more photos....

I'll be doing as many as I can with a gin pole. I'm hooked, and the customer loved it! It's a little less pressure than having a crane sitting there at $100+ per hour. I'll try to post a video when I get a chance.

Here are some more...

Here is a video... http://youtu.be/zrlz9CYErBQ I wish I could just add to a previous post instead of posting so many times...

Having just finished lifting the best part of my frame single handedly with an A-Frame (sheerlegs) I'm also a huge fan of simple, cheap raising techniques. I'd have loved to use a block and tackle for the last few lifts (vertical lifts of ridge beams into place), but perversely a 1T manual chain hoist here costs about 1/4 of the price of a 6-way block and tackle and appropriate rope. I'll post some videos in a few days when I've finally managed to get everything pegged together.

Congratulations on the raising. If you have some more video I'd love to see it. If a picture speaks a 1000 words, then a video is screaming through a megaphone! :-)

Hey,

Just here jumpin' on the gin-pole video "band-wagon"!

Rooster


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeHHbYWIHXY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yCiDw3_KmY&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpmV-ndYtt4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UucmZrk7EbY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdd9PiYqshc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG0MYCKcN-g&feature=related

Better late than never, here are a few videos.

Ridge beam - Stage 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5f8KPUATv4

Ridge beam - Stage 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzFW9cIs_fE

North wall plate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOAWiXIiBuY

By way of explanation. I had 1 5m hoist and 1 3m hoist. The plan was to use them linked together by a rope to get a full 8m lift. The "pulley" at the top of the sheerlegs was a shackle (couldn't source an appropriate pulley locally) and the connecting rope bound against it once under load forcing me to put the ridge beam down on the first floor deck. I had hoped to lift it right over the outside of the frame as riding it against the frame gave me a little more control. In the end (as seen in the Stage 2 video) I had to lift it diagonally to clear the various frame members.

Using this technique I was able to lift these beams completely solo. Earlier lifts of bents were also carried out solo using a smaller sheerlegs made of timber. I'm sure that with some extra thought I can market a one-man lifting experience... now I just need to find French timber framers who actually think it's a good idea!

Hello,

These French carpenters also think the technique is a good one.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff