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Thread: Lifting spiral pipe for installation

  1. #1

    Lifting spiral pipe for installation

    Now that I have my DC in place it was time to get serious about the spiral pipe. I placed an order for all the spiral pipe and fittings today with Blast Gate Co. and it should ship out Wednesday. Since my ceiling is at 10 feet I need a way to lift it and hold it in place while I assemble the sections. What I'm thinking of doing rather than renting something heavy duty is to purchase a drywall lift and bolt cradles on the lift made of a couple pieces of plywood with a half circle cut out. I've been looking online, mostly Amazon, and reading reviews and I think I've settled on this lift Unihome Drywall Lift 11' which looks to be the same as this Vosson Drywall Lift 11'

    Before I pull the trigger on this idea I want to consult the SMC hive mind whether this is a silly idea or not or is there some other method of lifting and holding Pipe and fittings that some of you here have used?

    UnihomeLift.jpg

    FYI two guys and two ladders is out of the question for me because my ability to get free help is sporadic at best.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    Modesto, CA, USA
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    You should be able to buy a used one for about $100 and sell it after for the same price.
    Bil lD

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
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    Florida
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    I used 6” PVC and managed to get 10’ sections suspended all by myself but each took lots of effort and wrangling and the drywall lift would have made it much easier. I don’t think it’s silly if you have somewhere to store it and the money to buy it. Of course the used idea makes sense too.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    Lubbock Texas
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    931
    I am a retired sheet metal worker and have hung miles of spiral pipe. What we did was to first install the hangars, even tempooray ones, like a cradle and then just lift the pipe into place. This works doing it alone up to about 14" spiral pipe.
    No PHD, but I have a DD 214

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Wayland, MA
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    3,655
    I hang a loop of something (rope, metal strapping, etc) near one end of the pipe, stick one end through the loop, lift the other into position and secure it with a hanger, then go back to the loop end to secure a hanger. Never occurred to me to use anything more elaborate.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    West Lafayette, IN
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    Exactly as Jim & Tom said. Hang your furthest hanger, slip the far end through, and climb the ladder with the near end and hook it up.

    You seem to want to use the most expensive methods!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    I suspect I'd use the method that Roger and Jim mentioned...in fact, that's more or less what I did for my own ductwork over the years. I didn't use traditional hangers, but the principle is the same with the "loop of something", which in my case was either one of the heavy 24" wire ties I use to hold mine up or a loop of twine hooked to a screw eye if I needed the support in an intermediate place while putting up the duct. While my ceiling is at 8', I don't see why that would be any different at 10' other than needing a taller, stable step ladder. I did all my work by myself, too...no helpers.

    If you do go the drywall lift route, I agree with the "buy used" suggestion so you can leverage the fact that so many others have bought them for one-off projects and the sell them for less than they paid. For new, also look at Harbor Freight.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Day View Post
    Exactly as Jim & Tom said. Hang your furthest hanger, slip the far end through, and climb the ladder with the near end and hook it up.

    You seem to want to use the most expensive methods!
    I also used temporary hangers, for installing hvac ducts, one at the far end that was approximately in the right place.

    I bought one of those drywall lifts and it is excellent for lifting and holding all kinds of things as well as sheet goods. I used it to install 4x8' 1/2" ply ceiling in my 24x62' shop after putting up the first piece by myself. One thing - you almost need an empty shop or be prepared to move everything out of the way.

    I'm sure I could sell it in a heartbeat now but it's been handy to load to friends and lift and hold an occasional thing.

    JKJ

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    My trunk lines are 8" 26 gauge spiral & I had no problem hanging them myself from a 9' 8" ceiling. Support methods have been suggested above that will work. Using a lift would probably have doubled the time it took to hang it all. The stuff is just not that heavy & if you have some kind of temporary support on one end then you can secure the other.

  10. #10
    When I put my pipe system up, made sure it was square to the building, then I could just install the U shaped pieces of plywood to hang the pipe, and would cut a pipe to length, fit a fitting to it, then just slide the pipe up and put the parts together. Did a 45 degree offset, and I used a step ladder to set the pipe on to get things right.

  11. #11
    -LOL! You guys sure know how to let the air out of my "buy a new tool" balloon. Yeah, you are right about pre-installing hangers and that will work great for the main trunk which is perpendicular to the truss ceiling joists but I think the lift will really come in handy for the 45 degree angle pipe because I'm going to have to intersect the angle with the joists. They are under drywall so that will involve both some measuring and a stud finder to get the teardrop hanger aligned to the pipe center. Supporting the pipe while figuring that out seems like it will be worth the cost considering how much I'm paying for the pipe and fittings. I ended up ordering one anyway for $144 with free Prime shipping and I will decide when I'm done whether it was useful and worth keeping, or sell it on Craig's List and recover maybe half the cost.

    Now as far as pipe cutting goes I'm NOT BUYING this $1,200 saw: Exact Cut V1000
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=-d8DiwNmzVs

  12. #12
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    That saw would be great if your installing that stuff all day long. But I found a jig saw with an 18 TPI blade to work very well. Since installing the duct I bought a Milwaukee M18 6" metal cutting saw the would have worked almost as well as the Exact Cut, but for a lot less money.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Alberta
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    Tom I hung my suspended leg with cable and cable snuggers from the hvac outfit where I bought my pipe. I purchased all my fittings from spiral manufacturing in Minneapolis and bought the pipe locally. Here in Alberta the pipe was cheaper and the fittings non-existant and or two to three times more money.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Pratt View Post
    That saw would be great if your installing that stuff all day long. But I found a jig saw with an 18 TPI blade to work very well. Since installing the duct I bought a Milwaukee M18 6" metal cutting saw the would have worked almost as well as the Exact Cut, but for a lot less money.
    I bought this Eastwood Mini Metal Saw instead for $89. I've been eyeing it for a while for several future projects. My POS B&D jigsaw is very old and was very cheap and I don't trust it to make a straight cut. I have an idea for a roller jig that should make the Eastwood almost as good as the Exact Cut. I'll post some pics if the jig works as planned.

    EastwoodMMS.jpg

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Dixon View Post
    I bought this Eastwood Mini Metal Saw instead for $89. I've been eyeing it for a while for several future projects. My POS B&D jigsaw is very old and was very cheap and I don't trust it to make a straight cut. I have an idea for a roller jig that should make the Eastwood almost as good as the Exact Cut. I'll post some pics if the jig works as planned.
    Just how many cuts will you be making? I really don't see the need for a roller jig & think you'd have to make 100's of cuts to recover the time it will take to make the jig. Sometimes simpler is better.

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