Racor - LDL-1B, Ceiling Ladder Storage Lift

Despite a few nits, I'm delighted with the Racor ladder lift. I have a 28ft extension ladder (14ft when collapsed). In my situation, I wanted to store my ladder parallel to open ceiling joists (no ceiling), so I'm posting pictures of my final installation.One thing to note is that the ladder hangs lower than you might think, so I took steps to minimize that since I had the freedom to mount both the rope & pulley block and the hook higher than "ceiling height" (that is, the bottom of the rafter joists). See images for reference. In addition, I found that the ladder hangs lower under the rope & pulley unit than it does in the hook, so I also adjusted for that to ensure that the ladder hangs closer to level.For the hook, I toe-nailed a 2×4 level with the bottom of the joists, flat side facing down/up (see photo). Since the hook goes up and over the member it hangs from (screws pointing down), this means that the hook top was 1¾in above the bottom of the joists.The rope & pulley block was mounted pretty oddly, since it wants to be inline with the stud it's mounted on. As you can see in the photos, I used a 2×6 to straddle two joists by laying on top of them. Ideally this would have been a 2×10 or perhaps two 2×4's, but I used what I had. Because there are two screws on each end of the unit, I laid a 2×4 atop and across the 2×6 and used extra-long screws to finish. There are certainly cleaner ways to do this, but it's not noticeable and is plenty sturdy. The primary reason I'm sharing this is so that you will understand the final measurements this sort of mounting will give you.At the end of the day, this type of mount will give you a rope & pulley unit mounted 4in above joist bottom, and a hook mounted 2in above joist bottom. My ladder is about 6in thick, so the bottom of the ladder hangs about 12in below joist bottom at the hook, and 13in below joist bottom at the rope & pulley.One final note is that I see a lot of these units mounted with ends equidistant from the walls, so the pulley rope hangs down and often with no great place to mount the wall cleat to tie up the slack. As you can see, I mounted mine so the rope & pulley end of the ladder swings up to about 6-8in from the wall. This is just enough distance that I can easily draw out the rope to lock/unlock the pulley, but is still close enough that I can then easily tie up to a cleat on the wall and hang the slack. It works quite well.Overall, I'm very happy with this simple, inexpensive solution to what used to be an unwieldy storage problem.

This device offers a good way to get your ladder off the floor and out of the way.I have a very solid (read: relatively heavy) 24' type 1A ladder that I use very infrequently. For years I stored it near the garage ceiling, like the Racor Lifter does, only on a homemade hanger bar and hook. That arrangement worked fine for storage, but it was tough to get the ladder up on the hook and down again. I needed a step ladder to get to the extension ladder and it seemed I was always lifting at an awkward angle, further complicated by the usual garage stuff stored under the ladder along the wall it was closest too.One day I went to get the ladder down for a quick job without clearing the area around it as much as usual. The reaching and twisting required to get the ladder down without relocating other things on the floor took a toll. My back and shoulder were sore for months. While trying to design my own ladder lift assembly, I found this Racor unit. It was close to what I planned to do anyway, with good reviews and an acceptable price tag.The most challenging part of installing the Lifter was deciding where to put it. I have typical garage door tracks and openers hanging down. Those obstructions, some shelving and a bench I didn’t want to move, limited my options, especially considering one needs an open wall section reasonably near one end of the ladder for tying off the lift line. Next, I had to find usable structural members through the drywall ceiling. Finally, I had to come to grips with the concept that the ladder would be hanging much more into the center of the garage than it had been. It turns out the more exposed location was a good thing. It’s not any more unsightly than it was near the wall, and even though the lift is easier, open space below the ladder is still required.Keep in mind that the Lifter suspends the ladder several inches from the ceiling, not right up against it. This is necessary to allow you to get the ladder rungs hooked on the idle end bracket while the other end is still on the floor, and it is necessary for clearance of the pulley block assembly on the opposite end of the ladder. When hanging, my ladder is 8” from the ceiling and it’s a little over 14” from the lowest side of the ladder to the ceiling.The Lifter makes it a whole lot easier for one person to handle storing and retrieving an extension ladder.