How to Install an Elevator in your Backyard

welcome back to the backyard bunker

project today we're going to be

installing an elevator using an

extremely tall slightly broken scissor

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lift this is a really high this video is

sponsored by kiwi Co but more on them

later to catch you up to speed 6 months

ago I dug an incredibly deep hole in my

backyard I stuck two pieces of 12T

diameter storm water runoff pipes into

the dirt and then put the lawn back on

top easy peasy lemon squeezy there's a

whole seven episode series if you want

to get the dirty details and I'll leave

that playlist in the description today

though we're going to drop an elevator

into the shaft to make my backyard

bunker wheelchair accessible a regular

elev vors however are ridiculously

expensive for example the one I

installed in my living room costs over

$24,000 and this bunker has a budget so

to simplify things I found a used broken

scissor lift in the classifies for just

$3,000 and it goes up and down perfectly

great just the wheels are a little wonky

but we won't be needing those anyway and

fingers crossed it should get the job

done just

fine we are in the garage

this bad boy is the snorkel

s3219e and is capable of lifting 550 lb

to a Max height of 19

ft which is exactly what we're looking

for be

heavy it looks like there's a lip on the

back of this uh metal beam

and just like in that one martian movie

there are a lot of parts on this lift

that need to come

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off not for weight Savings in our case

but more just to use our space down in

the bunker more efficiently

the Snorkel scissor lift is powered

using a hydraulic ram for rising up and

down and and four hydraulic motors one

on each

tire okay getting a little close there

to the garage door we need the ram

obviously but pretty much everything

else can

go we don't need those tires anymore and

we can just put plugs into the removed

hydraulic outputs in the

manifold we also don't need the entire

lower half of the scissor lift I'll be

relocating the four large 6vt lead acid

batteries we have plenty of room off to

the side underneath the

deck yeah that's awkward I'll be

upgrading these to lithium later for

better longevity lead acid requires too

much maintenance for a

bunker we also need to make sure it all

works down in the bunker hole first

before fine-tuning the final product if

we wait till it's perfect it'll never

get

done oh it's heavy

rides on there so that all the weight is

transferred on this Hub Centric piece

and all the bolts do is hold it

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tight the real reason we're modifying

the base is so we can add some

adjustable leveling capability to the

elevator an elevator that rises up at an

angle doesn't help us out very much and

would be dangerous

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woo

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we have successfully turned a mobile

scissor lift into an immobile elevator

partially there's still a little bit

more we got to do

building a secure foundation for the

elevator also requires a lot of concrete

which we Port ourselves one interesting

thing that I found at my local Metal

Mart was while I was looking for rebar I

found something called fiberglass rebar

from Corning turns out the same company

that makes the glass on our smartphones

makes the concrete reinforcement that's

8% cheaper than steel while being two

times stronger than steel rebar and

seven times lighter all without rusting

without internal reinforcement concrete

will just crack and fall apart over time

the rides on the rebar and its grid

light structure will help hold the pad

together we know that our bunker tubes

are designed to last about 100 years

underground and I imagine this concrete

slab will now also be here for my

grandkids grandkids one additional thing

to keep in mind is that dry concrete

dust has some nasty stuff in it like

silica which can shred your lungs from

the inside which is not on my list of

things that sound fun so masks are

rather important we're mixing the dry

concrete with water to get an oatmeal

like consistency and then dropping it

down in the hole with some satisfying

splatters

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yeah just clean it up before the

concrete has time to harden I'll throw

in four steel ined mounting plates

that'll give us something to weld our

custom level or two once it does

dry these don't have to be perfectly

level yet and that part can come

later huge thanks to Kiwi Co for

sponsoring this video they've sent me

one of their Eureka crates which has a

two-in-one lantern inside which is

perfect for the bunker if you haven't

guessed already I'm a huge fan of

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like this two-in-one Lantern Camry and I

like to give these kiwo subscriptions

away for birthdays or holidays and

they're especially fun during the summer

when kids might not be in school glad I

have this Lantern to illuminate the

bunker during Camry's first trip

underground cuz first impressions are

important and I hope she likes it use

code Jerry rig to get 50% off your first

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Jerry rig now that our twoin one Lantern

is finished let's get this deconstructed

and reconstructed elevator down in the

bunker so Camry can visit us for the

very first

time while we're waiting for the

concrete to dry we designed an

adjustable mounting bracket in solid

works and had it laser cut and bent for

about 200 bucks from OSH cut.com just

like we do with all of our other

projects the more perfect and square we

can make our mounting bracket now the

easier it will be when the elevator goes

into the shaft

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the leveling ability comes from the 5/8

in diameter all thread and these two

massive nuts one on either side once the

whole metal brace is set down into the

Elevator Shaft we can use the bracket as

a template to weld and position the all

thread exactly where we need it the 5/8

in pipe is sitting inside a 1-in hole

with the plastic insert to make sure the

bracket is centered on the all thread

the extra wide spacing gives us a little

room for error not that I anticipate

making any mistakes and that extra

wiggle room will help make dropping the

scissor lift down onto the bolts easier

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go

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and now that it's being done used as a

template we can weld that leveling

bracket to the base of the scissor lift

and cut away the temporary crossmembers

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and finally the elevator is ready to

come out of the garage on its last

Voyage with all the excess metal removed

and the Hydraulics taken off I'd be

surprised if what's left weighs more

than 1,500 lb which is a cakewalk for

the tah Handler which can handle about

15,000 depending on how extended the

boom gets these tah handlers are pretty

much the most versatile pieces of

equipment on any construction site they

can even crab walk like a Hummer

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what are your thoughts right now Nate

it's going to

work okay how we looking just keep

coming all right start going slower go

slow keep looking at those two yep what

come up a

little there we go I'm on on both I'm on

both

down good is that it that's it take a

look at that

I'm excited we got an elevator first try

baby drop it let's go

drop that's the hard part done we have

an

elevator in the

bunker success and thanks to all that

planning and prep work we did earlier

the scissor lift fits extremely neatly

right on top of the all thread and now

we can tighten or loosen these nuts to

level Each corner of the unit to make

sure each platform is level with the

ground even after raising up 20 ft the

platform is bolted and leveled and since

safety is one of our top priorities

we've made a little special something

for the top I'm not worried about me or

Camry our hands we know where they're

going but for little kids we have to

make sure they don't get pinched on the

side of the walls as the elevator is

going up which is why we've made this

aluminum platform lightweight sits on

top and make sure that little kids can

stay safe during transportation and

using that same hydraulic pump hydraulic

ram and batteries that the scissor lift

came with along with a little ramp and

perfectly sized bolt-on platform there

is now a fully wheelchair accessible

elevator with access to my backyard

bunker all for about 3200 bucks and we

have a total of six bolts holding the

platform to the lift now all that's left

is Camry's first voyage underground all

right Camry you ready to go on the

elevator for the first time I'm ready to

go in the bunker for the first time okay

so grab that controller right there

bring the elevator up

okay and then stop it perfect does it

can it keep going it can go higher up

like 2 feet

higher oh

go a little Wiggly huh I'm a little

nervous about this especially cuz

there's like braks are going

on it's like wobbling right now okay oh

don't make it wobble it's going to make

my stomach drop we'll make it more

secure later I'm nervous does it just go

fast no super slow actually I feel like

it came up kind of fast it does go up

faster than it goes down

okay that's not bad yeah that's not

bad say goodbye to

civilization oh my god oh okay here we

are oh is this it does it go down any

lower no that's it it smells like a

bunker yeah come on in

okay oh this does not feel safe is this

safe you're fine 100%

safe

hey this brings a whole new like meaning

to you're in the dog house whatever this

is a great house what do you

think I'm still just taking it all in

it's bigger than I thought like this

this is kind of cozy I think I was

expecting it to be more like I don't

know creepy this is cool yeah this is

like B cave es is this did you think we

could do this what were your thoughts

when I when I mentioned the bunker

project I mean like anything else you'll

ask me to do something and I'll be like

yeah but I don't actually think it comes

to fruition so this is just kind of wild

that it's really here like it's so it's

so weird cuz I've seen the process I've

been watching out the window and then

it's buried and then I kind of forget

about it except for the one little like

entrance but like

it's it's really cool it's yeah I like

it still feel like I'm just taking it

all in like it's bigger than I imagined

like I don't feel claustrophobic down

here like it feels cool and cozy and

legit and so knowing there's a qu

million pounds of dirt above your head

doesn't bother bring up that aspect do

you want a

tour yeah okay

all right so over here in the far corner

is the master bedroom this is going to

be where you know people the you know

master bedroom

sleep and then there's the exit shaft

over there on the far side and so we're

going to have a dividing wall right here

it's so short it's the same as the other

side no I mean oh the yeah the ceiling

going to be like a little like hidden

door that opens up or something it just

seems so cool yeah I think so and then

up here in the top top we'll have either

like a library or like an Armory that

like folds down and then here's going to

be like a bunk room with bunk beds on

this side and then here at the middle

point where we welded both the pieces of

tube together is going to be the largest

TV you've ever seen and then Kitchen on

this side combustible toilet over there

whole thing powered by ecoflow batteries

and then like a couch and stuff over

here so it'll be even more cozy can't

wait to see it C to life and now you can

come down whenever you want probably

won't be that fre it's a little sketchy

getting down here little Dy bit well

want to finish this off thanks J for

watching we'll see you around