A lift is over $1k here in Baltimore and I know for a fact that a crane is well over $2k

I am a mechanical engineer and want to compliment you on your work. I have watched many of your videos. You are calm and articulate. You speak carefully and accurately. Thank you. This particular project is great. Nice job.

Securing the feet of the ladder ,from slipping at all would be a KEY point to mention !!!! SAFTY first !!

Well done, consider adding a light angle brace to the top channel and the arm just before the winch is attached. That will spread the stress across winch arm and the top channel. You could even drill lightening holes in it to reduce the weight.

In the 90's, after humping up bundle after bundle, working roofing job; I saw my first laddervator. Amazed, now seeing this reverse laddervator as a crane, equally amazed.

I'd lean a second ladder up to the roof, in case something goes wrong with the crane ladder. Just so there is another way to get down. At a sufficient distance so one ladder can't fall and knock to other one down.

When starting out tig welding aluminum remember these tips. Clean everything with a stainless brush just before to weld it. Thicker metal preheat with a propane torch to at least 150 to 200 degrees. And most important practice, practice , practice !

This is genius if you ask me. Way easier than dealing with a crane, and obviously way way cheaper.

Sir, this is pure Genius!! I raise my hat to you ! Best wishes from Germany.

For my welder, I didn't have access to a 220V outlet anywhere, so I bought a Y splitter cable for my 220V dryer outlet and then bought an adapter to go from the dryer 10-30P style outlet to a 6-50R welder plug. Works great, just gotta be carful not to run the welder while the dryer is running or it trips the break lol

Good job. I’m retired now. But a few years ago I would have loved this . OSHA might not like it. I have always avoided those guys.

One of the truest sayings I've ever heard is "Necessity is the mother of invention" You have proven that point once again.

Nice job. I'm going to adapt this for getting heavy gear in my pickup truck.

It is best to know the limit of weight your ladder can take and how much you can support yourself once your obstacle is off the ground. Making sure your ladder is secure to the area it is lifting from. Safety is a must or you can get into trouble.

The ladder crane looks like a very good way for me to get a budget ac unit that has only been dropped once. That's the nice thing about roof mounted ac units the owner never goes up to lookb at the unit......

Did not notice or read in comments, when welding aluminum green tungsten you should put a ball on the tungsten electrode for aluminum AC only, sharp point for stainless or steel on DC. Study more on aluminum welding to put a ball on electrode realize this benefits for a great weld, btw great contraption you built.

Cool Idea, you could use this to bring shingles up to the roof instead of carrying single bundles.

That’s ingenious! The only dangers I see is that the aluminum needs a triangle between the bottom rung and the handle and mount the motor on the hypotenuse. Also, when working on a single story, the base of the ladder is too far away from vertical. Could slip out while on the ladder.

Amazing. I had no idea a 18 volt drill battery could operate a winch. I saw it goes through a converter. Amazing job thanks

Partly because of this channel my son and I just replaced the capacitor on our AC condenser. Cost $12. Saved ???? Thanks so much.

Good job. Innovative thinking. One thing to be aware of, when designing a project requiring welding of aluminium, is that it depends on the alloy, and its state of heat treatment when you start, what the effect of the welding might be. 6000 series alloys for example are precipitation hardened, and are mind blowingly strong ... unless you weld them. Then (unless you made something small enough to heat treat, and you have the equipment and knowledge to re-heat-treat, and you go to the trouble to do so) you probably reduced its strength by 2/3rds, not just at the weld, but in all the areas that exceeded the critical temperature. So long as your design allows for this, great, but otherwise it may lead to catastrophic failure. In the case of this project, the weld at the bend in the main beam near the winch attachment would be a likely point of failure. You could add a steel strap on the tension side (underneath) secured by some big rivets, as insurance. This would (hopefully) help to ensure you don't drop everything and fall off the roof if it cracks , ... instead you'd hope to see it start to bend or twist etc as the load moves into the steel brace, and you could lower the load quickly before it fails completely and you lose control of it. A little bit of steel, used at critical places, would add a negligible amount of weight.

That's awesome. You might want to look into Lanthanated tungsten (blue), it's kinda a jack of all trades, you can weld steel, stainless, and aluminum with it.

I love inventors compelled by necessity. Well done.

That is a million dollar idea 😊Saludos!! ! señor Dave we did something like that but with a manual winch cable we just had to pull the small transformer about 400 lbs and it worked perfectly the master electrician was very impressed by our smart thinking and we accomplished to install the transformer up on the roof 😊

You just made my day. Building a carport and needed a way to lift a few hundred pounds to 10 feet. AWESOME.

This was awesome man. Nice work! Just a diy guy, not in hvac but I appreciate the way you solved this annoying problem. Never heard of ladder cranes before.

Great video and idea. I am 66 YO and retired after military and 35 year as DOD welder. We had some leaks in house roof(2800 sf) and shop roof(1800sf) so I decided to reroof both by myself(I have time). When purchasing shingles at Lowes they told me that they do not put them on roof so I had to manually. I am done with both but this would have worked great getting them onto roof. I still have a 2 car carport to reroof so I will make this and use it to carry shingles onto carport roof. I dont have an AC HF aluminum welder any longer just a Miller Master 140 ST(stick, TIG) so I will probably use mild steel.

Good job DIY Dave! I've seen you use the old one before and this is a big improvement. I like the self-contained battery pack Idea as well as the lighter weight. Good job with the aluminum tig also.

Enjoyed your sense of humility - "not the prettiest". This attitude speaks a lot about your character, especially the curiosity to learn things that you don't know. Keep rocking!

Retired HVAC guy here... wish I had thought of DIYing the crane. Dang! Good job, bro!

We used the hand crank version but we’d have the ladder resting on the roofline and the unit sitting on the ladder. Seems a little safer than pushing outward on a ladder from the roof

He is a genius gentleman. Smart.

Your a Rockstar!!! Love your ability to explain your project to the average DIY'r and not to overcomplicate the project. A for execution, A + for your ingenuity.

That’s super cool would probably be very helpful for stuff like that I know when we had to raise and lower some big roof vents up and down on a commercial building it was really difficult doing it with just rope and man power. This would’ve made that so much easier as well as making lifting rolls of roofing rubber and tools and such man this would’ve been nice.

That's friggin amazing, never seen a ladder crane b4. You improved the design and made it yourself, no more crane for "light" stuff👍

3 points...did commercial/domestic hvac 20 yrs..fabritcated a lift such as you show..1st point; as unit raises so does center of gravity making it extemrely unstable as it approaches hight you show; put out riggers on ladder base extending foot print to at least 6 feet....holding ladder out and pulling on rope extremely complex; so point 2 ;install brace to hold ladder away from roof edge...point three; use a boat winch (hand operated) it auto locks as unit raises...should really wear harness

I like mine… The pulley mounts at the top with a long handle to tilt the ladder, and the winch is at the base of the ladder, controlled either wirelessly, or by a helper.

i bought myself a Yeswelder Mig-250 Pro approx 6 months ago and just recently started to use it yesterday. I have an older 120VAC type mig welder by Century using flux core .030 wire made a lot of things with it like a Boat guide with a side ladder out of a 1/4" metal channel, and square hollow bars, and had it galvanized once done with welding.. I'm not a welder by profession but a Network Eng and working with metals, creating projects around the house and for vehicles (push bar, front hitch, etc) just to keep me busy on the weekends.

Good job on your first time TIG. You did very well for a newbie. I'm still practicing and would be thrilled to have beads like that. Helps to be able to see too. My welding distance is just at m out-of-focus point for this old-man. ;-P

Great idea 👍🏼 respect from across the pond 🇬🇧

Nice job! Necessity is the mother of invention. I used rope and ladders to slide electric powered drain augers up to the roof to rod out stacks clogged with leaves at my house. Sometimes you can only count on yourself to make things happen. 😊

Great idea! Can you add links or descriptions to the actual parts?

The guy has solid skills and training in a high demand trade. He's managing a profitable business. He shows innovation in creating a solution to an existing problem, and learns a new skill to top it all off. When you hear another woman say they don't need men, show them this video. Their heads will explode.

Reminds me of when I owned a vending business and had to move vending machines up the stairs. Some of them were very heavy so I bought an electric stair climber. Half way up the battery died. I had to hold it while my helper (my wife) got the spare battery from the truck.

Thank you for this video ! The day after I watched it, I had to put a 1T mini split 7' up a wall, and no helper. I ordered the winch (6am delivery) , and had some 2" steel tube , and welded up the same basic thing ( yeah, its a lot heavier, I'll order some aluminum, or some 8020 for this ) !

That’s a genius idea. Thanks for sharing ❤

Sparks aren't a problem, but Ultra Violet light is, it will bleach out your cloths, and you can get a serious sun burn right through your shirt.

Excellent idea, well done from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

You are a great thinker! Maybe you can put a patent on it? A couple things though: the bottom of the ladder should be braced to keep it from sliding out on the different surface types. Also the wench needs a fail safe encase it fails during mid lift.

Awesome design. I would suggest something like a telescopic shoulder support instead of holding it with your hands. That would free up both hands to control the telescoping shoulder supports and free up your back from hunching over when lowering the load.

This project was amazing! It's such a reward to think creatively! Make things better, with design, materials, ease of use, and lightweight choice of parts! You saved right from the start! It would be neat to design a lift that would safely lift heat pump systems for residential rooftops! How do you feel with the workings of this unit with this girth and weight?

Can you add a link to the winch in your description ? That looks so nice !

Great idea and tool, I recommend you put an eye bolt on the frame above the top step rail to snap the spools lifting hook into to keep tension on the reel while not in use.

I get it. You’re grateful to Eastwood for the welder. But you could have spent more than 10 seconds telling us where you sourced the winch parts along with your welding tutorial.

Minimum $900 in the bay area and most start charging when they leave THEIR shop so it could be over $2500 for the day

Man this is amazing really appreciate your content. You should start actually producing them ladder cranes. That thing is amazing.

Put a bevel in each area you going to weld . You will get better penetration and a cleaner look. Good luck.

You are so practical excellent product innovation

Well done you need to patent your concept. I'm a firefighter and I can see how quickly that concept can work for getting equipment up and down

Awesome project. Great job

Ya OHSA sees that and the fine will pay for 10 cranes. 20 yrs ago we had those for compressors then we got fined and scraped them. Factor in the crane and everyone wins.

It may have already been said, but red and green are traditionally used with older transfer type welders. Inverter type welders like that have more appropriate options like blue and gray. Look into it closer.

You should have welded a pair of mc handlebars with hand grips.

Mad props bro!

Use a aluminum ladder jack, bolt on some handle from an old push mower. seach ebay for an 18v to 12v power converter. they have them for Milwaukee and others.

Thats really cool, that looks like a latter i can trust to stand or climb, ive have extensive latter break while working on stuff up high.

saw a guy pre-heating on the propane BBQ. Harbor Freight sells low temp aluminum rod really work well.

Hi, great presentation! Do you have a schematic and parts list for how you hooked up the hoist to the Milwaukee battery? Thank you.

great build,I have 4 different cranes,for different ladders,and to lift condenser on the truck,by myself.

your danger is the ladder legs kicking out when under load. I drive a crowbar into the ground in front of the ladder rung till the hook part of the crowbar touches the rung. Those legs are going nowhere. It pins the ladder to the ground. I think this product needs some specialized "slings" something to hold brick for the chimney guys. Sling for 3 tab shingles for roofers. Sling for solar panels for the solar installers. Sling for rafters for the carpenters. Some of these can overlap but without a safe way to attach materials it will be a danger in the wrong hands. Most people dont have that experience so you need to hold their hand all the way. Cant say i have seen a condenser on a roof for residential.

Your underestimating yourself! This is genius, get it patented or sell it to black&decker 😊😊😊😊❤fabulous

Safety of using a structure is measured not by the number of successful uses but objective calculations and further testing that accounts the load, conditions of use and wear-tear of the structure over time. A metal just gets weaker. Good luck with safety inspectors if you have such in your country, state, etc.

I got a ten ton crane to lift my shed over my house for $125. It took about 45 minutes.

Put a couple gussets for ultimate strength.

Awesome man !

Great upgrade,I will add bolts and nuts on each joint, if any joint cracks, you be ok, what model and brand is the Hoist?

I built something similar using square tube, and the harbor freight wench.

Very cool! Maybe a wide foot ladder would be advisable..

Excellent, outstanding. Freaking badass

What did you use to convert 12 volts to 18 volts? What winch did you use?

That's badass man. Awesome job!

I would ask the ladder company about the shear force this puts on the two ladder rungs this is hanging off of. The angle of force is quite different than what the ladder is designed for.

Gusset that miter near the winch.....strengthen that joint....its where all the weight and stress is

Great idea, well thought out, great video!

You have a stainless brush to clean the aluminum? It helps to get the oxides and scuz off.

Make sure the battery is charged! A failure of the winch or a dead battery halfway up could get interesting. But well done, I’d use that any day.

Welding outside will mess with cover gas, you may want to shield it from wind.

Can you provide the link for that inverter. Seems like a great idea!

For a one time event, this is a very good idea..

I can barley stand on a roof ..😂 Let alone do all that maneuvering and moving heavy things around .. 😂

And then you pray 🙏 that your ladder doesn’t kick out 😅

You can add a few bolts to secure the pieces together just for extra security .

Good job..... I think it would be a good idea to anchor the bottom some how so it won't have the tendency to push away or slide away.

Dam I need that I have a portable winch I could use if I can just get the arm I can make it myself

Two thumbs up. Great idea and execution!

Genius 👍 Thanks for sharing.

That's very handy tool to have around. Is the new winch a 12v winch but you find it works OK supplying it with 18v? The peak load you could safely lift depends on the strength of the parts - what are the dimensions and thicknesses of the aluminum parts?

Love your project.. the battery wher did you get the to hook up battery?

Looks great! How do you recover from a winch failure if you are mid-lift? Is there a way to set the load down easy?

Can you post links to the voltage converter? I want to make this but im not sure if the adapter that is rated for 15A is good enough for this wench.