Lifting sections of ductwork high in the air???

[sen2085]

The general question is this. What is a good way to lift 20- 25' sheet metal sections of ductwork pre fabbed in the shop and shipped to the field rather than installing small sections by section? The duct must be lifted 20-30 ft in the air. Any help would be appreciated? Thanks.

[maustin]

I used to use 2 scissor lifts

[Lash]

We use these a lot to put large sections of TDC ductwork up in the air as it is easier to put the sections together on the ground. On longer sections we use two lifts.

http://www.toolfetch.com/Brand/Genie_Lifts/Material_Lifts_Handling/sla-25.htm?per=25

I think 25' is as high as they make them though.

[Tech Rob]

There's a couple different methods I've used before, but I always tried to use the duct jack(s) whenever I could.

Two scissor lifts back to back with 2x4s laid across the top rails

two chainfalls with rigging straps (if you have room to hook them up to the joists)

And in extreme cases, a forklift or "Lull", if you know what that is... I'm sorry I don't know it by it's actual name...

[Mstrav]

2 scissor lifts with blocks of wood and either material lifts or high reach forklifts to get it on the scissors (unless you have 6 guys on the job). I usually go with 12'-16' max, anything more you can damage yourself or the duct. For spiral if using couplers sometimes 2 sticks if its a wherhouse and I have a forklift.

matt

[Tech Rob]

2 scissor lifts with blocks of wood and either material lifts or high reach forklifts to get it on the scissors (unless you have 6 guys on the job). I usually go with 12'-16' max, anything more you can damage yourself or the duct. For spiral if using couplers sometimes 2 sticks if its a wherhouse and I have a forklift.

matt

12'-16'?! Ever done shopping mall buildouts? You have to sling 40' at a time just to keep up with the other trades on those jobs!:eek:

[amickracing]

We did a fairly big job kinda like that.

12'-16' is the normal longest I ever went, but for the most part, I was solo.

One big building we did (there was 5 of us there) was awesome. From the drops it was a straight run out 2 ways, and I think there were like 7 or 8 drops.
1 guy was the ground monkey, running around helping everyone. One guy ran the lift, one guy putting hangers up and 2 guys in man lifts installing the duct. I dunno how long of chunks we put up, but they were close to 30' I bet.

I think we spent 2 days putting duct together and getting everything ready, then we started hanging. Man that job went insanely fast, I miss those kinda jobs. Unfortunately I always got stuck on those jobs where you'd spend all day hanging 20' because of all the crap in the way.

[airon]

Try these guys. They may have something to meet your needs.

http://www.ur.com/index.php/equipment/rental/browse/?category=Aerial+Lifts&page=1