Fork Lift Mast Makes Great Shop Elevator

2002 - Volume #26, Issue #4, Page #39

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The upper floor storage and work area in Stanley White's sawmill and woodworking shop is much more useable now that he can get there by elevator.
  White says he got the idea when someone gave him a couple of old forklifts. "I rebuilt one of them to use in my shop," he says. The other one wasn't repairable. But since he was looking for something easier than steps or a ladder to get to the upstairs sawmill, White salvaged the mast and hydraulic lift cylinder and turned them into an elevator.
  "The second floor is kind of a loft area around the outside of the lower floor. To make the elevator, I mounted the mast solidly against the wall," he says. "I made a platform out of aluminum that fit over the forks and mounted it solid to ride up and down on. It's about 4 1/2 ft. by 5 ft., so it's big enough I can load tools and lumber on it, too."
  White made a powerpack for the elevator from a 110-volt electric motor and a 2-speed hydraulic pump by mounting them both on a frame and connecting them with pulleys and a belt. He says he had to experiment a little to find the right size pulleys. He pieced together a hydraulic oil reservoir from scraps of stainless steel he had around the shop.
  "I bought the motor from a salvage yard for $25. The hydraulic pump was one I'd bought new and used for something else for several years," he says. "It automatically adjusts to slow or fast speed, depending on the amount of the load on it. So if the load is light, it runs on the faster speed. But if it's a heavy load, it shifts to the lower speed, where it has more torque."
  White rigged a rope control for the hydraulic valve. "I made a T to fit on the valve lever. Then I fastened a rope to each end of the cross on the T and ran it up through the elevator platform and over a pulley. When I pull on one side, it goes up. When I pull on the other side, it goes down. If I'm not pulling on the rope, the switch centers and the elevator stops. The electric motor has a switch that I can shut off from the second floor, so I can shut off the motor if I'm going to be up there for awhile."
  He says the only thing he bought for the elevator was the salvaged motor. "I worked on the elevator off and on for a couple of months before I got it the way I wanted it," he says.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Stanley E. White, 2177 Island Road, Mobile, Alabama 36605 (ph 251 443-7423).

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Fork Lift Mast Makes Great Shop Elevator MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Forklifts 26-4-39 The upper floor storage and work area in Stanley White's sawmill and woodworking shop is much more useable now that he can get there by elevator. White says he got the idea when someone gave him a couple of old forklifts. "I rebuilt one of them to use in my shop," he says. The other one wasn't repairable. But since he was looking for something easier than steps or a ladder to get to the upstairs sawmill, White salvaged the mast and hydraulic lift cylinder and turned them into an elevator. "The second floor is kind of a loft area around the outside of the lower floor. To make the elevator, I mounted the mast solidly against the wall," he says. "I made a platform out of aluminum that fit over the forks and mounted it solid to ride up and down on. It's about 4 1/2 ft. by 5 ft., so it's big enough I can load tools and lumber on it, too." White made a powerpack for the elevator from a 110-volt electric motor and a 2-speed hydraulic pump by mounting them both on a frame and connecting them with pulleys and a belt. He says he had to experiment a little to find the right size pulleys. He pieced together a hydraulic oil reservoir from scraps of stainless steel he had around the shop. "I bought the motor from a salvage yard for $25. The hydraulic pump was one I'd bought new and used for something else for several years," he says. "It automatically adjusts to slow or fast speed, depending on the amount of the load on it. So if the load is light, it runs on the faster speed. But if it's a heavy load, it shifts to the lower speed, where it has more torque." White rigged a rope control for the hydraulic valve. "I made a T to fit on the valve lever. Then I fastened a rope to each end of the cross on the T and ran it up through the elevator platform and over a pulley. When I pull on one side, it goes up. When I pull on the other side, it goes down. If I'm not pulling on the rope, the switch centers and the elevator stops. The electric motor has a switch that I can shut off from the second floor, so I can shut off the motor if I'm going to be up there for awhile." He says the only thing he bought for the elevator was the salvaged motor. "I worked on the elevator off and on for a couple of months before I got it the way I wanted it," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Stanley E. White, 2177 Island Road, Mobile, Alabama 36605 (ph 251 443-7423).

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