Customer Reviews

Qualcraft 2200 Pump Jack Steel Scaffolding

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a homeowner I own several of these pump jacks, along with the guard rails, several braces (to be used every ten vertical feet, per OSHA), the spiked foot pole anchors, roof anchors, etc. I made the poles of douglas fir (not pine stud grade) and glue laminated them with polyurethane construction adhesive before power nailing them countersinking them every few inches.

I also bought planks of scaffolding grade (per OSHA - these are about $39 for a thirteen footer, bought locally, not through Amazon) and spaced the poles about eleven feet apart, giving me about a foot of overhang on each side (OSHA: 6 inches minimum per side). These planks are **not** supposed to be the nominal 2X12's, by the way. If you have the cash or have a longterm job to do, or have an understanding significant other who is safety conscious (use the guilt trip card), invest in an aluminum plank, as it's adjustable in its over length (width?).

I screwed the QualCraft braces and anchors into the poles after assuring the verticals and braces were all plumb and level. I personally feel that paying attention to these details when building the scaffold makes a difference in the overall dynamics of the assembly. But then again, I also feel you should not store those spiked foot pole anchors upside-down on the seat of your pick-up when not in use. All kidding aside, you really don't want this baby collapsing under you.

Perhaps a few reasons why other reviewers are having trouble cranking the pumps down: (1) clean staight douglas fir wood must be used (you gotta pick through the pile), and, (2) I found that when I leave a heavy plank on the outermost area of the work bench section of the guardrail (another QualCraft add on) while trying to lower the pump, it makes for added upper counter weight. This apparently doesn't allow the crank mechanism to bite into the wood, and thus lower the scaffold correctly. Removing the work plank before lowering the jack (careful, now) allows the pump to crank easier, IMHO. Incidently, the 2200Q differs from the home improvement store (HD) versions in that the Q has some stainless steel parts (the crank, etc.; check the photo).

Incidently, as a paralegal, I agree with another reviewer, Mr. Larsen, that Amazon's removing of the direct link to OSHA is somewhat reckless, as it may leave them open to litigation should one of their customers take a header after purchasing their equipment online from them. Has common sense also been outsourced to Bangladesh?

Do yourself and your dependents a favor, and do a web search for that OSHA gov site, then download and study their manual before buying and assembling and playing with your shiny new pump jack and scaffold. Be a nerd - like me - and follow OSHA's directions to the letter. They also have alot of photos of do's and don't's in a nifty downloadable powerpoint presentaion which makes it easier to understand their drift. For some odd unexplained reason, OSHA is a government agency that actually seems to know what they're talking about.

I'd also suggest tying yourself in, and Amazon sells the QualCraft roof and roof peak anchors along with a body harness for this very purpose. $pending a couple'a buck$ now may save you a few medical co-pays later, get it, Spider-Man??

I gave the 2200Q four stars intead of five because of the crappy slap happy paint job Qual-Craft puts on these devices, whereas they begin to rust within days of being up. I wind up buying several cans of red oxide flat rust primer spray paint to repaint them as they rust (mask off the stickers - they're all that is supplied for instructions). Also, the cheapo cotter pins that are supplied on the assembly pin thingies are garbage - go to HD and get some stainless hitch pins to replace them ASAP. They won't snap, probably are alot safer, and they're alot easier to remove upon disaasembly.

My wife and I just purchased a 1925 craftsman style bungalow in old Vancouver, WA that is badly in need of paint. The house has a roof peak of 28', and a lot of decorative millwork and carpentry that presents a problem in old paint removal and new paint application. The Qual Craft pump jack system handled my concerns with safety, stability, ease of set up and relocation, vertical and horizontal mobility, work space (work bench feature), cost, and ownership. Splicing together 30' vertical supports out of (2) 2x4x20' studs and (2) 2x4x10' studs took about 10 minutes each. Attaching the vetical supports to the house took another 10 minutes per support. Setting up the pump jack took about 20 minutes first time out. Because of the design of the work platform I am able to recover most of the paint chips via a plastic apron tacked to the house and platform. As I move around the house the vertical supports remain in place making work platform relocation quick and easy for paint removal, final prep, prime, and finish coat. I am well pleased with this equipment and consider it an excellent solution to my scaffolding requirements on this project.

I am completely satisfied with this unit. I also bought the guard rail work table combo. The units arrived promptly and in excellent condition. Once I purchased the lumber, it only took me about 20 minutes to have the whole thing assembled and ready to use. You do need some bracing, I used 2X4's instead of the optional bracing system, as it does not let you adjust the distance from the work area. I used 16' 4X4's and the pump jack works great, I used 2 16' 2X12's for the platform, backed with 3/8" plywood and is very sturdy for the entire span. I will try for a taller setup once I reach the back side of my house. The manual explains how to splice 2X4's, and I would imagine that you could go as high as you wanted. All in all I highly recomend this set up for any work that you would normally do on a ladder, it sets up quickly, and sure is better(not to mention safer) than leaning off a ladder and moving the ladder every few feet.

I purchased a set of these months ago and have used them extensively with excellent results. I had similar problems with lowering the pump jacks until I studied the problem and came up with a solution. The trick is to ensure the foot lever you use to raise the jacks is completely in the up position and as much weight as possible is off the rig (I grab on to the pole when I release the mechanism). If you don't do that the jack will dig into the pole and basically get stuck requiring you to use a ladder to lower it as another reviewer had mentioned. As far as ease of setup, it took me about 2 hours to set them up initially and at this point I can move the jacks to a different position on my house in about 25 minutes. The guy that said it took 4 men 2 and a half days to set these up is exactly why I don't hire "professionals". The one thing I would recommend is adding cross bracing between the poles after the jacks are up over 10 feet - that will eliminate most of the side-to-side sway. All and all these are an excellent value for a DIY'er if used correctly.

I bought these to use as scaffolding when replacing the siding on my house and have been pleased. They perform exactly as advertised. They're fairly quick to erect even though I had no help. They're quite stable with the recommended bracing and the 2204Q handrail makes them MUCH safer than a plank alone. I hate heights, so that was important for me. The only real inconvenience is the necessity of having to move the braces to work directly where they're attached or move the pump jack past a brace. Extra braces have to be used so you can attach a new brace before you remove the existing one. Since I had a lot of work to do before having to move the braces, I feel it's still a good scaffolding solution. The best advice I can offer is to think through how you plan to move or work around the braces before you put them up.

Go to the OSHA web site and see their briefing on what to do and not to do. Amazon edited out the URL.

Pump jacks use 2 2x4 nailed together with the seam perpendicular to the house when upright. 2x4 joints should have a reinforcing plate. Base should be fixed (see pole anchors). Top is secured by a brace screwed to the wall or roof. So, you have to set a ladder to set the poles.

Need guardrails.

Walk boards should secured and overlap 6 inches on either end. Walk boards should be off the wall no more than 14 inches. Anything over 10 feet 'requires' a fall arrest system.

The reality is that wood pump jack poles have very poor lateral strength. I picked mine up off the ground and it snapped in two. If I ever was crazy enough to do pump jacks again, I'd try a wood-plywood-wood sandwich to stiffen them up.

I also tried microlam poles which were dramatically stronger, but they were too hard for the jack to grip. Might be possible to face the microlam pole with wood. You'd have to experiment.

Aluminun pump jack systems are much stronger and more expensive.

I moved on to scaffolding. Scaffolding gets pretty loosey-goosey at 3-4 sections high. I bought interlocking scaffolding pipe and ran them out at 45 degrees. This stiffened them up a LOT.

Good luck. :)

I too have had problems lowering these pump jacks. I used conventional 2x4's that were not douglas fir and I was told by Qual-craft that that was the problem. However, I also had access to a set sold by Lynn Ladder from a different manufacturer that worked fine with the same poles.

Jacks were painted after assembly - which led to the parts jaming. Very difficult to get to work properly - often jammed and either wouldn't go up or wouldn't go down. Only instructions were on a sticker in micro font on the jack - could have used some pictures.

Having never used or purchased a pump jack system before I bought the system in pieces. Nowhere that I saw are needed quantities listed.
I called the vendor to ask if the jacks themselves were priced per pair.

After they arrived I figured out that you need multiple braces. Then, I found out there were local vendors and I bought additional braces at a lower price than I paid online. The system works but after buying the jacks for $75 each, I saw Lowes has Werner jacks for $49. Oh well.

As mentioned in other reviews, the heavy red paint on the Qual-Craft parts immediately flakes off all over the place and the cotter pins are a pain.

Homeowner review.

I have three of these set up on 24' long double 2x4 columns and have been using them for a week now. Here's my first impression:

- toss the included cotter pins into your parts bin and use removable clips. The whole system is designed to be put together onto the column - why they include cotter pins versus removable pins is anyone's guess.
- MAKE SURE your joints along the 2" sides of the 2x4 are smooth and without offsets. I had a 2x4 that wasn't cut perfectly true (from the factory) and the system kept hanging up on this when lowering it. It was only jutting out 1/16" too - nothing of concern when I built it. Next time I build the columns or before I use these again I'm going to run a belt sander along the edge to true it.
- The release mechanism to lower it is a pain in the butt to get to. No position you get into to be able to lower the unit is comfortable. But, it does work and I feel safe lowering it.
- Plan to tap the lowering level with a hammer to release it from the locked position. It's not always easy to move it from locked to unlocked for lowering, and more than once (but less than 1/3 of the time) I had to use a hammer to tap it out into position.
- The twist design needs updating. It's a VERY jerky ride down as the handle turns.
- The pumping process works as designed. However, as with lowering, make sure the column edges (where you can see the double 2x4) is smooth.
- The system needs guides to keep it centered. One of my columns (which were perfectly level when I set up) is gouged on the side because the pump jack "rivets" dug in when raising. It has about 5/8 of a gap on the sides of the jack, but nothing is there to maintain it in center. I am studying this now to see if there is something I can have fabricated to maintain center on my set.

I am raising my system within 40" from the top of the 24' columns. I didn't feel very comfortable with this height (my land slopes downward, so I had the height and the slope to look at, which compounded the height aspect a lot). Right now, I feel very comfortable at this height on this system, because:
- I added 2x4 "X" bracing to the bottoms of the columns. I don't lower the whole way down - I stop about 12' from the bottom and use a ladder to get me to a deck that's next to my work area.
- I added steel conduit channel (12 gauge) horizontal bracing above the "X" bracing. Overkill to be sure, but I'm not fond of heights and this added even more support to the "X" bracing. (this may be a mental stability thing - the "X" bracing was adequate, but.....)
- My scaffold is sturdy. I have two 2x10's, 12' long, with 5/8" plywood on the bottom side (to address the tension component of the bow weight will give to the 2x10's), and each 2x10 has 4" of 3M grip tape centered on them. They weigh a ton (each), but I feel very secure walking across the "bridge" and I built them to last me a lifetime.

I have the workbench attachments on my system as well. I use an aluminum scaffold on this and have been using my 8 1/2" sliding compound miter saw on it without issue. The 2x4's the workbench attachment uses for the safety railings really give me a sense of security since I know where the back edge is when I'm working.

Overall, I'm happy with this system. If I were to need it for my livlihood, I'd make some major design changes and would have a set custom built, but for homeowner or occasional contractor use, I'd buy them again.

Oh - it takes two people to put up the columns if you want to do it safely. They have some weight to them, even tho they don't look like they would. Too much weight to manhandle on a ladder (safely).

As I stated in the bracing review, there is no way I can find to have this system wrap around a corner. I have a need for this and will be building my own corner brace so I can put one of these jacks on the outside corner and laying "side B" scaffold on top of "side A" scaffold. I don't understand why a corner system wasn't produced by the manufacturer - it seems like a logical thing to have.