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Help with erection...

Posted: Sun, 03 Jul 2011, 12:59 pm
by RockabillyBilly
Helloooo. We are now the very proud owners of a Portafold. It really is nice but.....the shine was knocked off it a little last night as we found it a struggle to put up. I should explain that I'm only 5ft 7 and Shell is probably 5ft 4ish. Also, I have osteo-arthritis of the spine and as such it was a bit difficult. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to make it a bit easier. I have seen a device (on here) made out of tubing and a winch.
I wondered if a 'prop' idea would work? Sort of prop up the back, thus giving you two hands on the handle to pull the back into position and when it's in position, slowly take the prop away allowing the roof to lower onto the locating thingys. Same with the front. The sides aren't too much of a problem to be honest.
I made the mistake of watching the gentleman on Youtube put his up....'one man, one minute' was what I was thinking...he really does make it look so easy which, if your well and have a bit of height about you, it would be. :oops:

Any advice (apart from 'get a new back' and 'grow some height') will be gratefuly appreciated. :thumbup:

Thanks nicely, Billy (Glassback) Gibbons

Re: Help with erection...

Posted: Sun, 03 Jul 2011, 8:16 pm
by txfsealord
Hi RockaBilly, I'm the bloke who made the winch-&-tubing lifting device. Before we had that, we also struggled; I'm 5'8" & have severe back problems & my wife's healthy but only 5'2". I fitted longer handles both ends of the roof (so we could have more room for our hands & stand straighter when lifting) & my wife stood on the caravan step which gave her another 10". We also carried one of those plastic folding steps; I used to stand on that to minimise the height of my lifting if the ground was uneven.

I don't understand what you mean about "props". The problem is having to lift the 35lb-or-so above one's head; propping it up there once lifted, is reasonably easy using the end walls. We used to wind the jockey right down & do the front end first, then wind it up & do the rear where there's no bottle-box/drawbar in the way. The second end is the hardest. With the van tilted like this, it's necessary to steady the walls to prevent the part-erected van from "lozenging" & breaking the lower flange of the rear wall. Once the first side is up, this weakness disappears of course. If there is heavy trim in your roof, such as carpet or something, this needs to come out & the roof flocked, painted or otherwise re-lined with something light.

Hope this is helpful,

Steve Lord

Re: Help with erection...

Posted: Sun, 03 Jul 2011, 9:12 pm
by RockabillyBilly
Hi Steve, thanks for your reply and it's very helpfull. :thumbup:
When I said 'prop'....think about your Mum or Gran when they had pegged the washing on the line and they needed to get the line higher...they, or rather, my Mum, 'coz I never met your Mum or Gran, got the line prop, put it under the clothes line and lifted it up. That's the sort of thing I mean although I realise this description isn't much better than the first and I've had the cheek to bring your family into it and I dont even know them!
But...do you see what I mean? Something to 'prop' the end/s up while the back/front is pulled up into place.

I bet all the fit, strong, tall men are having a right laugh at this and all the females that think I'm sexist by my 'Mum, 'Gran', 'Washing' reference....er.....aren't! :oops:

Anyway, thanks again, Billy. :problem:

Re: Help with erection...

Posted: Thu, 07 Jul 2011, 4:27 am
by txfsealord
OK RockaBilly, I see wot you mean....

The clothesline prop is useful to your Mum, or mine, because it helps her to lift the washing-line above her head, yes? The line of washing is stable like this 'cos it's anchored at both ends & stretched fairly taut. This stability isn't present in a Portafold roof though, sadly. Raised above one's head, it's floppin' about like...... well, something very floppy anyway (can't think of a clean simile). So unless you were to triangulate your prop to resemble an enlarged version of a Red-Indian's cookpot support over his fire (!) you would at best, shortly need a new roof.

New roofs are now available I believe...... sorry, getting off the subject here. The mind wanders.... oh yes, props. Er, No. Don't go there mate. By standing on a box or other step of some kind, raising yourself (& Shelley), you can have the height-advantage of the prop & you can also retain control of your roof when erecting it. I have seen some 2-step combination seats in Homebase of one of those sort of places which fold flat, they're light & stiff. How about getting 2 of these? Most of us have folding chairs of some kind for sitting outside to quaff alcohol when on site, & these could be comfortable alternatives to chairs if sufficient is quaffed I'm sure! It's always satisfying to have gear which does more than one job, & it's nice to go up in the world too.

Hope this helps or at least is of interest,

Steve

Re: Help with erection...

Posted: Thu, 07 Jul 2011, 10:46 am
by RockabillyBilly
Thanks for that, most helpful. On a similar theme to the prop idea; what about two props? If I fit 'lifting eyes' to all the corners of the roof, and insert two hooks fitted onto the ends of poles, would that seem like a good idea do you think? Then two people can prop up the roof, one end at a time of course, and when it s propped up, they can then lift the end section in place and one can gently lower one corner down onto the locating bracket and when that's done, lower the other corner down? Same at the other end too. It would, I think, eliminate the 'flexing' of the roof because it would have been lifted at the two corners. Wonder if anyone else has tried this ?

Thanks nicely, Billy

Re: Help with erection...

Posted: Thu, 07 Jul 2011, 5:14 pm
by txfsealord
Well if you think it's a good idea to prop it Billy, then I won't stand in your way! If it works then we've all learnt something.

Steve

Re: Help with erection...

Posted: Sat, 09 Jul 2011, 9:59 pm
by SEDDON
Hi :wave: , we find it impossible with one person also, but we now have it licked, first wind the jacks down, he stands on the caravan step to lift the roof with both hands, whilst I lift the door end up, then locate the 2 fixings between us, same thing at the tow bar end only he stands on the tow bar itself, then as you say, the rest is easy, that's the only way we can do it, just reverse things for the folding down, making sure the correct side is down first, :thumbup:

Re: Help with erection...

Posted: Sun, 10 Jul 2011, 7:37 pm
by Admin
SEDDON wrote:...making sure the correct side is down first, :thumbup:
For those unaware, the passenger (or near side) wall is folded down first. If you're wondering why your lid doesn't fit properly when it's folded down, or why one side pokes out and one side is sloped in, it's because you've put the drivers side (off side) wall down first. The 'ribbed' bottoms of the side walls (not ribbed on Ansfolds) actually have different cambers on them so they sit vertical when they're folded down.

Re: Help with erection...

Posted: Mon, 11 Jul 2011, 6:51 am
by RockabillyBilly
Thanks for the replys folks. I think we've pretty much sussed putting it up with two people. As for one person (Shelly) I think it's a case of more Spinach or, wait 'till Steves winch idea hit's the market.

Thanks again, Billy

Re: Help with erection...

Posted: Mon, 11 Jul 2011, 2:29 pm
by bigbird
That is such good simple advice, we're going to follow this from now on as well!