Heavy Duty, Pull-Down Staircase

Heavy Duty, Pull-Down Staircase BUILDINGS Houses 30-1-36 Most pull-down staircases are too flimsy to support big loads carried up and down them. Ray Rowden, Springfield, Ill., made a heavy duty, 30-in. wide staircase for his shop that's raised and lowered by an electric winch. "It lets me carry big, wide objects up into my loft," says Rowden. Rowden had Greg Kruger, a carpenter friend, build the staircase and a specially designed, heavy duty hinge to support its weight. The hinge consists of a pair of 8-in. wide steel plates. A salvaged truck axle serves as a spindle and runs through the plates and through a pair of U-shaped brackets that support the upper end of the staircase. The shop and staircase is part of a new 30 by 50-ft. building Rowden put up last year. The loft is designed to hold a lot of weight. Every third truss is doubled. The building houses Ray's prize Hudson and Terraplane collector automobiles. "The staircase is so heavy that without the winch I would need another person to help me lift it," says Rowden, who plans to box off the raised staircase so that it will blend in with the ceiling. "I plan to use Nudoboard insulation around the staircase, which will blend in with the rest of the ceiling." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ray Rowden, 1556 Wildrose Lane, Springfield, Ill. 62712 (ph 217 522-4926).

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