Guardian Fall Protection 2601 Portable Wall Jack, for Use with 1-1/2 X 3-1/2 in Fir Poles Or 1 in Od Steel Pipe, Malleable Iron, Red

This thing works great. I used it to single-handedly raise 13' high x 16' long 2x4 (16" c/c spacing) walls of an RV garage. I used only one jack. You just need to find balance point of wall and it works fine, but I wouldn't go any longer than 16'. I also did not sheath the walls, although they had three rows of blocking and some had headers and the extra framing for that.The instructions tell you the min length needed for your 2x4 that the jack climbs, per your wall ht. but it says that taller than 10' is not recommended. It states that 10' requires a 16' 2x4, which I didn't believe until I did my geometry! It's true. For the 13' high walls I needed a 20' 2x4, the longest my lumber yard has. I found all of this out after the fact and got lucky that I could even use the jack for my application at all.You need to be able to support a block right behind the jack pole (the 2x4) at just about 3" or so beyond where the top of the wall reaches on the floor. The pole is standing straight up at this point, with the wall slightly raised. I had raised mine by hand enough to slide a chunk of 2x10 under. You might be able to get by with a little less. Attaching that block would be pretty easy on a wood floor of course but I have concrete and had to devise something different. It was time-consuming but there's no room for error.I would say you can get by without the wind kit but I did try to order that. Couldn't get it for some reason. I wound up tying the jack to the wall to retain it at its peak but of course you need to retain the bottom as well, which isn't as easy since it leans more and more as you go. Best method I settled on was to tie the jack to wall and jack it to pretty near vertical and then use another block of wood and screws to retain bottom of 2x4 (on top side) from wanting to move forward without permission. I attached the retaining block too early on the first wall, which was only 12' long because I wanted to try the shorter wall first (2nd and 3rd pics). You can see that the 2x4 was pretty bowed and that was all because of the block I attached too soon and on bottom side of 2x4 pole. I later attached it to the top side of pole and when there was very little more jacking needed. Otherwise it will be really straight all the way up, with no bowing. If you do all of that right you basically have it braced in the middle for the time you have the jack attached. I still wouldn't do it in a wind though.I also used it to raise 15' long 9-1/2" LVL's one-at-a-time straight up to the 11' required ht. I goofed up on the first one and got in a bind. Just keep in mind the space it needs as it rises. You don't want to get way up there and have a problem because you can't just crank this down like a pump jack. It's basically one-way when it's got weight on it.Another poster said it's easier to take jack down after you're done and then pump it the rest of the way off the end, take back to the bottom, and remount than it is to try to lower it back down. Very true, especially when she's 20' long!You'll need a piece of 3/4" or 1" pipe but it doesn't need to be any longer than about 2' and could be shorter too.Good luck and be careful! Take your time and think it through.

I am building a garage. This tool was fantastic. I lifted a 24 ft fully sheathed 2x6 studded 10.5 foot tall wall using two of these jacks (buy two jacks for longer walls. you won't be sorry).This wall was framed on top of a 18" stem wall, so in reality the wall was 12 foot high. The limit for these jacks is a 10.5 foot wall. There is chart in the directions that tell you the correct length of 2x4 for the size of the wall. I had 16 foot 2x4 studs to attach the jacks to and it was not long enough. The jack ran out of wood to ratchet up. Luckily we had anchored the bottom of the wall and were able to straighten it to be upright using other means. For the second wall I used 20 foot 2x4s and it was fine, but I would not recommend this because it exceeds the maximum for the jack.Remember the jack will not go backwards. Once you start, you are committed to complete the task. One smart thing we did was to do a miniature practice run with a make believe wall and a short stud. This dry run prepared us for how the jack would function and react.EDIT UPDATE: In addition to lifting the fully sheathed walls, we used the jacks to lift the 18 foot 6x12 garage header into place. I have been thinking about how to use these jacks to get the plywood sheathing onto the roof. I will update if I am successful.

This wall jack is sturdy and reliable especially with the wind accessory once on. It takes a little effort some times to put the jack on but only a very little time. Works extremely well but take caution when working with any wall jack as they are all dangerous and require much attention to safety while working under them. It may not be the jack that gives out it could be the lumbar used so make sure the lumbar has no splits, cracks or knots.

I work alone, every so often I can cajole some help out of my son in college, but for the most part it is me vs the material. When it comes to partitions, walls, beams this may be a jack as handy as they come.These jacks are designed to be used in conjunction with a 2x4 - a huge plus as generally they are around and this powerful piece of equipment takes up the size of a large shoe box…no polls, rods or supports to have to pack, inventory and store. What’s more need to install a large ridge beam or glue lam beam - these can be used to help someone do the impossible. I use a ton of clamps - a good clamp is the single operator substitute for “hold this here, and don’t let it move.”. The 2601 can substitute for a crew of gus being asked to “help me lift this into place.” I am not against help, it is just hard to find. innovators like John Carroll in his book working alone, introduced the concept to me as an art. it’s the ability to employ tools or techniques to multiply your efforts. The 2601 plays a key role in my success. Even a simple stud wall begins to weigh a lot - these knock that out…but also allow you to run the siding while the wall is on the ground do you have any idea how much easier it is for one person to install plywood sheathing on the horizontal?The principle behind this jack is easily understand. but the number of ways you can uses these seems to be only limited by one’s ingenuity. If you work by yourself as a framer - you will most assuredly benefit from owning the 2601 jack from Qualcraft.