Inclined Elevation

Lift 86 is in the ground, 346’, 3-pitches, and a vertical rise of 168’

Lift 85 connects their cottage to their floating dock. The access platform work was done by Stu Charity.

We used the natural rock formation for the lower station of Lift 84 to really minimize the steep on and off the car. We fixed the button box to both the rock and the track. The Park button moves the car 10’ up the track and out of the way. This lift needed a 2-door car.

Lift 83 is built on a steep sandy slope and used the natural terrain so no lower platform was needed.

The owner of Lift 82 wanted the lift to be as discreet as possible. He did a great job with the woodworking, railings and landscaping himself. The hoisting machinery is tucked away under the housing hiding the top of the track.

A spectacular shot of the “Top of the Cliff Lift”, Lift 81 is exactly 80’ long and sits at 67 degrees, our steepest to date. Building over water added challenges to an already challenging build. This is definitely one of our milestone lifts.

We epoxied 3’ long bolts into the face of a 60° slate slab to build Lift 80, Le Rôdeur. This was the first lift we’ve built from the bottom up in many years, but that was the way that made sense here.

A passing kayaker called it “A God Thing”, “out-of-this-world”.

This is definitely a milestone lifts The local contractors did great work adding the platforms, railings, gates, integrating the upper button box and interlock, and landscaping.

Lift 79 has the largest change in angle to date. We used the installation hoist to carry 20’ sections of track to add to the the end of the completed track. There’s videos of the hoist and the car going over the curved section of track on the linked page.

Lift 78 is a lovely little lift that’s squeezed into a tiny space.

Lift 77 began life as a 2-station lift but the owners decided that a 3rd station would be great so we are in the process of adding that middle station. Although no part of the lift touches the dock, the dock is the access platform.

The first time on this site I was concerned that we would not be able to integrate the lift with the property. But Lift 76 turned out great. The owner’s contractors did a great job building the platforms and railings.

Our second build in La Belle Province, Lift 75 is one of our highest lifts with most legs nearing 20’. Unlike Lift 6, which was also high, we couldn’t use the installation hoist, there was nowhere to build new track at the top, so we used our “Gantry Crane” to lift new track sections into place.

When we were building Lift 74 a wind-storm dropped trees over but not onto the track. We were so lucky. The top section of this lift is nearly on the ground, and then it goes over a clif and on tho the boathouse.

Lift 73 was unusual in that it lands on to of a 12’ high retaining wall, which made it a challenging build.

Lift 72 was designed as a wheelchair access lift and lands level with the side door, perfect for the family member who can’t navigate the stairs. It’s rated to carry two people, one in the wheelchair and a companion. They love to use it to bring in the firewood too.

Lift 71 was built for a couple planning their retirement home and runs from this lovely deck built by Peter Reuten Construction.

Lift 70 is a unique 3-station lift. We put the car on top of and slightly ahead of the dolly to allow the car to dock at the top end against an 8’ high retaining wall. This photo was taken during the construction phase before the top end platform was modified to become the upper station.

Lift 69 ran right through a patch of poison ivy. Even though it was hot hot hot we got dressed in long sleeve hoodies taped to gloves with dust masks and very carefully removed the runners one at a time and put them directly into yard waste bags.Not one rash! Some dogs just love their lifts and would ride them all day if they could push the buttons.

Lift 68 is a 2-pitch lift that was installed to help sell this lovely but unusual cottage. The cottage did sell, but in the interval between completing the lift and the sale closing, the cottagers said they spent more time at the water than they ever had before. We designed the lift to sneak between the trees at the bottom and we designed the new landing platform to integrate the lift ewith the dock and the stairs running up to the cottage.

Lift 67 is another milestone 2-pitch lift that starts out almost on the ground and they sails over a cliff as it reaches for the lower station by the dock.

Lift 66 is another wheelchair friendly lift we designed to help a wheelchair bound athlete get from the cottage to the water where she swims and kayaks with neighbours. getting help to move the wheelchair up and down the hill was just too hard. Her husband did a beautiful job finishing the project by building the upper and lower access platforms.

Lift 65 began as a 2-station lift but as we were building it the owners decided it made a lot of sense to add a middle station to access the top floor of the boathouse. Tony Robinson Construction did a lovely job with the deck work. we had to dig into the ground to h=get the lift low enough to land nicely on the dock.

Lift 64 began with a telephone call from Maggie Tomlinson, a Real Estate Agent who had clients interested in this lakefront property but they needed a lift to make it practical. The rest, as they say, is history. The lift was completed 44 days after that first phone call. The lift was built so it could be converted to a 2-pitch 3-station lift if owners decide they want to ride from the cottage to the boathouse roof and on to the water level.

The couple who had us build Lift 63 had built their cottage several decades ago and needed the lift to keep living there. We built the access platforms as well, copying the style he had picked when he built the decks and stairs they used to use to get to their waterfront.

The owners of Lift 62 had not purchased this property when we did the site visit, they needed an old lift removed and a new one installed before they would pout in an offer. We said no problems and so they went ahead with the purchase and the lift. This car is unusual in that it has a canopy and removable covers on all four sides. The motor-house is unusual too, we integrated the old lift beautiful brick building to put the mew winch and control panel.

Lift 61 was tiny but challenging. We had to make footings for our feet before we made them for the track. It allowed the owners to keep using their cottage and connects them with their lake and their neighbours. This was the first lift to have a PARK button. It moves the car up (or down) the track for a preset time and then stops it, keeping it out of the way and handy.

These lakeside home owners love boating and Lift 60 connects the two. The owners opted to build from the garden rather than a deck. The access platforms were done by Deck and Docks.

Lift 59 was a tricky 3-station lift to design, lining up the lower two stations put the upper station over an unstable hill and we had to get creative building the upper track supports. Fitting the last piece of track was tricky too, we couldn’t weld or grind anywhere near the waterproof membrane covering the boathouse roof. It all turned out very sweet.

Lift 58 is steep, has a high-off-the-ground upper station, and a footpath that runs under the lift. We built the upper station railings and interlocked sliding gate on this lift.

Lift 57 let this couple enjoy their beach and boat. The riders are Bet Smith, Build Team Welder and Matt Haley, Build Team Leader. Bet did a video one day when we all went out to Lift 47, she shot, edited, added the sound track and posted it that night. The sound track, by the way, is Bet’s song, Bet’s guitar,, and Bet’s voice.

There was a path running along the front of the cottage that they used to get snowmobiles around in the winter ,so we had to get creative and build Lift 56 with an upper access platform that projects over the path.

Lift 50, a 2-pitch island lift, had to cross the foot path used daily by many islanders for a brisk walk. So we set the track with over 7’ of clearance and everyone was happy.

Lift 50 was our 4th 2-pitch lift, our 2nd 3-station lift, and our 1st 2-pitch 3-station lift. The middle station is inside the curved track.

Even though Lift 48 has legs 26’ tall and traverses the hill, it’s still hard to see it from the water. We used the Installation Hoist to build this one. The track has water on both sides at 2 different places. and lands in a well in the dock.

When I first laid eyes on Lift 47 from the water, the words that flashed through my mind were “No way! That’s impossible! How’d they build that!” Then I remembered my team and I built it. We used climbing gear for the whole build, even to lower the large track components to the end of the track.

The view riding Lift 44 is spectacular. Not only is it steep, the top station is high off the ground and the bottom one tucks in behind the boathouse. The lift is actually surprisingly inconspicuous from the water.

Lifts 42 and 43 are our first 2-lift system and Lift 43 is our second 2-pitch lift and out longest lift at 280’.

I got tired of not being able to build on sites that needed a 2-pitch lift and invented our 2-pitch system. 2 rollers and a hinge keep the car level at all times. Since Lift 41 we’ve built around a dozen such lifts all using the original design.

The owner of Lift 35 wanted it to be handy and invisible. We came up with the design for the added deck and tucked the lift in nicely. The extra railing on the car is to eliminate a pinch point between the armrest and the upper station substructure.

When I first laid out Lift 32 it was a few feet to the left and 6’ higher at the waters edge. This reworked 260’ long line runs from the end of the front deck right to the dock. The car and motor are oversized to meet their needs. It’s wired to become another 4-station lift but the intermediate stations have not been put in yet.

I love the way :Lift 30 ran through this part of the landscape that had not been used and it open up this beautiful cliff rising off to our left that had always been hidden. It’s great how it it sits so compactly into it’s surroundings. The car clears rocks on either side, at two different places, by 1”.

Lift 29 was used to haul 56 metric tons of sand and gravel up the hill for a new septic bed. We came out to service and repair it after that ordeal and there was nothing to fix.

Lift 27 The owners literally used the lift to take an old cottage up the hill and bring a new one down. Then they put a bench on the platform and just kept on riding it up and down.

Lift 24 is the most involved lift lift. The 3 automatic station gates have leading edge safeties that trigger 3 different ways to prevent injuries and are run and monitored by the PLC that runs the car.. This lift has over 10,000 round trips

Lift 23 is steep and has a high-off-the-ground upper station. But it transformed cottage lift. Neighbours saw the place go from being used 2 or 3 weekends a year to never being empty.

Lift 22 started out as a 3-station lift and became a 4-station lift while still under construction.

The seaweed on the beach was pretty easy to pick up but hard to carry up the stair. Lift 19 solves that, fill it at the bottom and when you run it to the top it tips it into the waiting trailer towed by the garden tractor on it’’s way to the compost heap and, later, the garden.

Lift 15 began as a 2 station single speed lift but we later converted it to 3 stations with a variable speed motor. It’s on an island so getting stuff up and down used to be a burden and now it’s a breeze.

Lift 13 Sails through the forest. I love the way it just missed the tree on the left side.

Lift 12 The owners had the idea to add a small platform to the existing walkway as a lower station. It saved the tree.

Lift 6 This hard-to-see lift was the first one John built from the top down, the middle 160’ is nearly 20’ off the ground so we needed to use his just invented “Installation Hoist” to build the track. We always build from the top down now, except for Lift 80 in 2018.

To design Lift 7, I sat about where this picture was taken for about 2 hours, trying to see the car in the lower station. At that time the station platform was a dead end path about 8’ longer. The 2 cedars just below the cars were sacred. Finally I realized that if we used this lighter track we could make it all work. It turned out great.

Lift 16 We stayed on site, the owners prepared French Cuisine meals three times a day, and 4 of us built this 140’ lift in 8 long days on-site. Setting the first section of track that high off the ground needs some creative thinking.