Shop elevator added for second-floor-access

Idea of the Month: Easy, safer elevator for second-floor-access

I built a second floor in my shop for parts storage. After two near-falls from the ladder, I decided to build an elevator,” says M.W. (Woody) Wood, of Lula, Mississippi. 

Wood planned to rewire a winch, but was told by a repair shop that if the power went out, the elevator would plunge; he needed a hoist, not a winch. According to Wood, “I swapped out my winch for a 1-ton P&H Zip-Lift, and that made all the difference.” 

Wood used the cage from an IBC tank to make a carriage. The vertical runners are 4×4¼-inch channel iron, and he used hospital bed roller wheels for the guides. He made frames to hold the vertical runners by using 3×3¼-inch channel iron. The carriage sits on two 3x¼-inch square tubes, welded to a 5×5½-inch support beam. This beam is attached to the bottom pulley, which is lifted by the overhead hoist.

M.W. (Woody) Wood lives in Lula, Mississippi on his farming operation Wood raised cotton and soybeans before retiring. Wood and his wife, Lynette, have been married for 53 years and have two sons. He used to love to hunt, although “not so much anymore.” He still likes to spend time out in the woods, enjoying what nature has to offer.

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