One of my next big projects on the cabin after I get through with the wiring is going to be the fiber cement siding. If you remember from the pictures I posted the highest point on this thing is on the low side of the grade and the high side of the roof and is about 30 feet off the ground.

I have a couple of buddies with some traditional scaffolds and I'm leaning toward using them to put the siding on with. My other options are ladder jacks and pump jacks where you fabricate 4x4 posts out of 2x4's stagger spliced together and use them as rails to mount the pump jacks.

Back in another life time when I worked as a carpenter, I remember using the pump jacks and don't remember any negatives.

The traditional scaffolds seem safer, as long as the feet are properly positioned and secured on the sides of the cabin where the ground slopes.

Thoughts, advice?

Here's the side view of the cabin to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with. I don't see a problem with the deck side of the cabin so much...

The major time killer is setting up/tear down of scaffolding. Your build looks like it would be very simple.

Safety should be your biggest consideration. I hate ladder jacks,
I own the ladders and jacks. scaffolding is slow with tearing down to move. Its a shame you can't use scold jacks and casters.
I just feel safer on a scaffold than a pic board. Is that ground hard enough to roll a scaffold on ??? A small swing stage would be perfect. I've never rented one of those.

One thing to consider about the scaffolding is the handling of the cement boards. As I'm sure you are aware, they will collapse and break under their own weight if not handled properly. How are you going to get the siding up on the scaffolding?

If the only negative to the scaffolds is time, I have plenty of that. My labor is free to me.

I may end up using both. Use the scaffolds up as high as I can go and then do that last little bit up high with the ladder jacks. My buddy has those too.

If you look back at that picture and see the last horizontal seam in the house wrap at about where the top of the second story should be, about right there and on up I am going to use corrugated tin as siding and run it vertically.

Sort of this kind of look:

Looks great Irish ! Yelp getting them up on a ladder(pic board) wouldn't be any easier.

I've got pump jacks. Just can't be afraid of heights to use them.

If you are going to be hanging the hardi siding yourself if you don't already a pair of the gecko gauges are very handy.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/PAC-Gecko-Sid...SA903/202530064

Do yours have the shelf that you can buy that acts like a work shelf and a handrail to keep you from falling off?

Pump jacks

https://industrialladder.com/pump-jack-scaffolding?gclid=CIHUkZ6UiNACFQkHhgodDIUIpQ

No shelf. Just watch your step

Thanks. Yes. I was planning on a set of those or similar.

Yes. That's what I'm talking about.

At Home Depot the Jacks are $68 each and the work bench/safety rail add-ons are $38 each. I could get 3 of each for about $318 and have enough to scaffold a whole side of the cabin at a time.

A set-up like this seems pretty safe:

I would plan my time to get this done in a month's time. The easiest and safest route to go would be an industrial sky lift or JLG Lift with enclosed railing. A lot of them are designed for rough terrain. Check a monthly rate on one.

X2 on the lift. Hire a helper for a couple days and knock out the high parts. Scaffold is cheap to rent so you could set some up to work on the medium and low parts until you get the hang of it then rent a lift to knock it out. Fiber cement is not that fragile you just have to get used to it.

I work in the scaffold business and have for the last 15 years. Scaffold is your best bet. A swing stage won't work because I'm sure the roof isn't rated for the weight of a beam and counterweight system plus the power requirements. Pump jacks and ladder jacks are death traps. How wide is the cabin? What I would do is build two scaffold towers and rent a 24' pick board to run between them. A standard footprint size of a scaffold is 5'x7'. So, if you build two towers and deck them both, that gives you a total of 5'x14'. Then add a 2'x24' pick board (or a 20' if it's easier for you to transport) and that will give you 36 linear feet covered, when you figure having 1' of the pick board resting on the deck of each scaffold. You can add handrails to the back side of the pick board to be safe. The rental of one would run you about $150.00 per month. I would then rent a scaffold well wheel and arm (pulley) to help pull the siding up. The frame scaffold should only go up 20' to your top deck if it is freestanding (OSHA 4:1 ratio rule. Four times the minimum base. 5x7, 5 is the minimum so 20' max). You can screw a couple of lag anchors into the wood structure though and run #9 construction wire (available at Lowes) around the scaffold frame and through the lag anchor, and go up higher to access 30'. Hope this all helps. Lots of info in a short post. Send me a PM if you have any questions.

A lift won't work. They have a safety factor figured in that won't allow it to go up (extend the boom) on an incline like that.

Maybe, but a JLG rough terrain forklift with a man basket attachment WILL work on a slope like that. Just a thought. I know a guy in the rental business down here in Mobile. He may have contacts in your neck of the woods if interested.

Most rental companies don't carry man baskets for forklifts because OSHA says the basket has to be specifically designed and manufactured for whatever particular lift a person may be using. That usually means a company has to carry too many different baskets to accommodate all the different lifts they carry. Not much of an ROI on the baskets.