Lifting Roof Trusses

[Andy Bee]

Good evening all,

I thought I would get everybody’s view on lifting trusses.

We are building a bungalow and are looking at ordering the roof trusses.

We were wondering if we need a crane to lift the trusses in place or if we could lift them in place by hand.

The site has some trees close by and limited access so maybe problematic using a crane.

We are also not sure what would be the cost of using a crane.

The trusses are room in roof trusses and measure 9.3m long and 3.8m high and weigh 116kg each.

We were thinking maybe 4 or 5 people could lift them into place if we don't use the crane.

I would appreciate your views.

Many Thanks

[JohnMo]

Our were done with a Tele handler... made life easy. But we had a ridge beam and Individual rafters

9 minutes ago, Andy Bee said:

weigh 116kg each.

We were thinking maybe 4 or 5 people could lift

Not sure about that, HSE say 25kg per person and that's just lifting not raising in height.

[Chanmenie]

Ours were similar size and slightly heavier at 136kg each, I would not want to lift by hand, so hired a crane. Trying to manoeuvre trusses that size by hand could be dangerous. 

The carpenters fitted all 24 attic trusses and 12 raised cord trusses in one day. 

We did the raised cord trusses by hand but they only spanned 5m. But they were lifted onto the wall plate and lent against the scaffold with the crane.

 

Edited April 21 by Chanmenie

[nod]

We’ve lifted our trusses between three of us on our previous build 12 meter span Pouring rain All on the day 

You will need an easy rout up and over the scaffolding I had to cut four poles inline with the handrail 

 

Five years on and five years older I spent 500 quid on a crane for the day this time 

[stu w]

As a carpenter what has lifted a lot  of trusses onto wall plates in my younger years I'd say try and sort something mechanically.

You think you save money but long term you don't.  You fatigue quicker and get less done, depending on the weight and weather etc it can be hazardous.

A small crane, extended reach hiab lorry, or long reach telehandler with extension attachment will pay for itself. 

While onsite potentially if organised all the breather membrane, batten and roof covering etc can be lifting into position/loading bay to save time,money and potential damages