Switzer Quality Mobile 11FT Drywall Lift Hoist Panel Plaster Board Lift

Good quality, easy to assemble and looks durable. Very happy, makes boarding the ceiling a breeze!

Our project was to fit a suspended plasterboard ceiling in room 35 metres long and 7.5 metres wide. None of us doing the work are pro's and after struggling with the first section we bought this lifter. Putting the lifter together was relatively easy, the only difficulty being getting the vertical section bedded correctly into the base, this due to the thickness of the paint. Once someone kept the bottom still it was easier to add the vertical section and the rest slotted together quickly. Once you have mastered the construction you can quickly dismantle the lifter to move it into other rooms. We used acoustic plasterboard which, at about 30kg each, are heavier than standard boards so it was better to have two people loading the lifter. Raising the boards to the required height was easy, even with Fireline boards (up to 34kg each). We found it easier to have two people on the job with one to maneuver the lifter and the second person to make fine adjustments when the access was a bit restricted - that said, one man operation is not too difficult and I fixed most of the boards myself. If operating the lifter alone it can help to fix the board in one corner then make adjustments to square up the board. Having a clean floor is a must or the fine adjustment becomes difficult if the castors are not free to run. If wheel is over turned to slacken off the wire or if the lifter is lowered too quickly it can result in the wire jumping off the pulley and you only notice this when lifting becomes difficult so if the lifter seems to be getting tighter take a look at the pulley near the top of the vertical column. All tolled we have used the lifter to cover around 400 sq metres of ceiling and it had paid for itself in sweat and aggravation relief on the first day.

Great value and does the job great. Dropped a star because assembly needs some problem solving skills a due to the poor instructions. One review here complains that the brake doesn’t hold. This only happens if you wind the cable over the wheel instead of under it in the initial set up. There is no problem if you get this right (I had to figure that out though as the instructions are not very clear). Feels safe and gets the board right where it needs to be. I also like that it’s grey. It looks cooler than red or blue. Value for money: Got it for £100 and can’t fault it (no idea how much better the £150 ones are.

As others have said, the instructions aren't the best. The main problem I can see is regarding the winch and brake. So long as you wind the wire in the right direction, it works just as it should. To be honest, with a bit of common sense, assembly is pretty easy. The only real problem is that you have to lift the plaster board sheets up pretty high to set them on the machine. If you are tall and reasonably fit, you can do this on your own, otherwise it would be best to get help for this bit. Overall I found it to be an excellent bit of kit and would recommend it.

Will recommend on time good quality

Put it together but not used it yet. So far so good. Obviously amazon hassling me to do a review.

Looks good on paper. Ticks all the boxes in terms of being able to board out a ceiling on your own. Sturdy construction, instructions are not very good for assembly but a bit of application and patience and all is good. Now the bad news. The brake system is a hand lever with some form of friction band to the presses against the inside edge of the crank cylinder. This is where the problem is, it doesn't hold so once you take your hand off the lever the whole thing comes crashing down. This was extremely disappointing as it stopped my job in it's tracks and had to hire a proper board lifter for much more money. Customer service refunded quickly so that can't be faulted. I would suggest a design update that locks the brake on some kind of notch inside the cylinder instead of relying on friction. A pro would never use this so take that into consideration when looking at this one.

Great product and excellent customer service