Irwin has launched a new Quick-Lift construction jack, IRHT83100, designed for lifting, leveling, holding, and installation tasks.
Irwin says their Quick-Lift jack can provide utility to builders, remodelers, cabinet installers, framers, MRO pros, HVAC techs, and also homeowners and DIYers.
The Irwin Quick-Lift jack can support up to 330 lbs and has a max lift of 10″.
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It features a no load quick release for easy setting, and precision-controlled lowering for fine-tuning its position.
The bottom is slim and tapered, for easier access under work loads, and the base also has countersunk holes for mounting the jack to fixtures or work surfaces.
Irwin sent one over for testing, and this far I have found the Quick-Lift to be both sturdily-built and easy to use.
There are other lifting jacks on the market, most notably the Viking Arm, as well as numerous copies. The Irwin is less expensive, and more robust-feeling in my opinion. I also like Irwin’s lifting base and support wedge a little better.
Price: $99 each
While you might be able to get by with just one, tools like this tend to work best in pairs.
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Jared
I presumed Viking must have some sort of patent on this design, which is why it was so expensive and the alternatives were all no-name Chinese clones. I wonder if Irwin licensed it or if there was actually nothing preventing copies in the first place.
Hard to imagine the Viking arm will sell well with a name brand competitor on the market for half price.
It seems like a really handy tool. I use air wedges for similar tasks, but they don’t have anywhere near the range or controllability.
Jason
The Viking does have a couple patents listed on their website: https://www.vikingarm.com/
I don’t know enough about patents to know if those are being violated. One would assume Irwin researched it, but these days, who knows?
Brad
Irwin probably thinks good luck defending a patent from Osolo, Norway in the USA.
While they can file a Wipo complaint it’s not likely to go far without several dump trucks full of cash.
MM
I just looked at the patents and they seem fairly simple to get around. One of the patents is for a specific type of lowering mechanism. It looks like Irwin is using a different one because the release levers are in different locations.
The other patent is for a “Handheld Jacking/Levelling-tool”. I find this one a bit puzzling. First I’m surprised it was granted at all since the idea of this tool really isn’t anything novel. It’s a “toe jack”, something that’s been around for a long long time, it’s just a small one. It’s also worded strangely in my opinion. Normally patents are written as broad as possible but this one is oddly specific. It specifically mentions a “caulk gun mechanism providing the jacking action”. That’s needlessly specific. It also specifies that the “middle leg” is attached to the jacking shaft–again, needlessly specific. This tool seems to get around that in two ways. It appears to be built around a clamp mechanism rather than a “caulk gun”, and in this case the “middle leg” is attached to the body of the clamp rather than the jacking shaft.
Fowler
I don’t think they’re patenting the idea of a small toe jack, they’re patenting the use of a caulking gun mechanism for a small toe jack with a very specific type of foot
Writing parents as broadly as possible is a good idea, but the more specific you write it, the more likely it is to be granted. If they wrote it to cover any handheld toe jack, the patent office may have said exactly what you did, that it wasn’t novel or unique enough.
I also suspect that they spent a lot of time developing the foot to be as versatile as possible, which may be why they spend so much time describing it in the patent
Fowler
Neither patent really covers the idea of a handheld lifting jack, they both cover specific mechanisms and details of the Viking Arm product
One of their patents (WO2020/209731) covers the Viking Arm lowering mechanism, which is significantly different from the one that Irwin is using.
The other patent (WO2019/160424) covers the Viking Arm more broadly, but focuses mostly on the mechanical features that support the load. Some of the claims include:
1. that the Viking Arm uses a caulking gun mechanism (the Irwin looks more like a trigger clamp mechanism)
2. The Viking Arm has a single middle foot that presses down and a support plate attached to it. The Kobalt has a single large plate that presses against the ground
3. The Viking Arm has two protrusions from the handle that lift the load, the Kobalt only has one
4. A couple additional claims about the profile of the jacking shaft (yes, they call it that in the patent)
ca
Great idea, horrible price.
Gary Ratajczak
Numerous offerings on Amazon for a two pack – from $35 to $60 – they will be on the discount shelf in short order at Big Box stores.
John
Those knock offs are garbage though. But anyone is welcome to waste their money by viewing everything by price only.
Peter
Yup.
Alexk
Occasionally help a kitchen cabinet installer. He and his long time worker have all the tools out there, but not the Viking or similar. I can’t understand why people who should know better, make their lives more difficult. The two of them have aches, pains and carpal tunnel and groan when holding a cabinet in place with one hand while driving a screw into place. They do kitchens every 2-3 days.
Anytime I do something more than a few times, I’m thinking of ways to do it better, easier and if possible, more cost efficient, whether that would be time or materials.
Hope I can check this out in person.
BigTimeTommy
$200 a piece of a Viking arm isn’t cheap for two guys only doing a couple installations a week.
eddie sky
Ah but the ER deductible is $150 so… (yeah, pricey. But I saw a dolly jack for doors…door installer dolly was $110-150.)
Bonnie
A non-consumable tool that makes your life noticeably easier for something you’re doing weekly? Seems like an easy sell to me, and basically any contractor I’ve ever met.
James
Maybe with this they can make it 3…
Alexk
They probably do more than that. The owner had ordered a new Corvette, besides his nice pickup and other truck. And deserved it. He did very good, honest work.
JJ
Two of these for $200 is better than one Viking Arm for $200. The quick vs slow lowering is a nice feature.
If I were using them professionally I’d probably pay that, but for DIY use I chose the knockoff from Amazon that comes with two in a plastic storage case for $50. I’d be thrilled if Harbor Freight did their own version.
Peter
I am using the WinbagMAX for that kind of stuff.
Mine is made in Denmark and cost much less but I will check one out if I come across one.
Marco Lima
Airbag’s don’t last more than a couple years. The rubber squeeze pump degrades and cracks.
Nate
You can get replacement pump bulbs for 5 bucks.
Steve
I got a couple of these and I’m looking forward to using them. They look well build and I can think of several applications for them. I wish they were dual purpose though – where you could lift OR use them as a clamp. Seems like they missed on that…
MKY
Stuart –
“ Irwin sent one over for testing, and ***this*** far I have found…”
MM
Hah, I stumbled across these two days ago while checking to see if anyone made a more reasonably priced alternative to the Viking Arm which wasn’t the cheap junk from the Alphabet Soup brands on Amazon. I didn’t know these were new, I just figured I was out of the loop.
Ronald R Longhi
I have a pair of the Vikings they work great. Very happy with the quality of them.
Trekker
I use two Viking Arms frequently. They’re my most used “clamp like” tools.
The key feature is the choice of controlled lowering versus full release. The cheap jacks on Amazon don’t have the controlled lowering feature and most aren’t close to handling 330 lbs. FastCap have their “Jack of All Trades” as well, but it’s missing the controlled lowering, and it has a lower load capacity.
Nick B
I was just looking at these last night for my father who does cabinet installation as one of his many different remodeling jobs. At the end of the day he decided that $40 Amazon stuff was worth the gamble before paying $200 for a pair of the Irwin’s.
BigTimeTommy
No reason for viking arms to be as expensive as they are. Happy whenever Irwin competes against overpriced tools, they usually put out tools that are 90% as good as the expensive brand at 50% of the price.
eddie sky
Heck, I can use on of these when aligning a door, remove/replacing door after paint work, lifting cabinet to screw in (alone),… $100 ain’t bad. Thanks for this!
Adam
This hits the sweet spot to me … after fully tearing ligaments in both wrists after some falls on ice, I’ve been depending on mechanical assistance for DIY more and more. I’ve been eyeing the videos of the Viking Arm (too pricey for my taste) and the Amazon Chinese knockoffs thereof (which reviews suggest have no lifting power). This looks right in my Goldilocks zone.
I’ve gotten a lot of use out of some floor-to-ceiling telescoping cargo bars for holding up upper cabinets , a hi-lift jack (farm jack) for pulling bushes, small trees, and fence posts; a pull’r bear for ripping out brush, and some squeeze pump air shims for controllably lifting doors and base cabinets, and shifting appliances . These fill the gap between the air shims and the hi-lift jack.
Nathan
I keep saying I’m going to buy an airbag the next time I take the front door off. Might use this instead
Jerry
I want one or maybe even two. Many times I wished I had a 3rd hand to line something up and this looks like it could be just the ticket for not just cabinetry and home improvement but mechanical things like lining up gearboxes to drive shafts and the like.
fred
We bought our first batch of Winbags in 2010 for the remodeling business – and I recall that the guys wanted more. We had been using devices like Fastcap’s Third Hand jacks before that and also some shop-made hinged lifting/holding jigs before that. I’m not sure if my ex-compatriots have tried out Viking Arms. In any event, having a name brand (Irwin) alternative to the Viking Arm to fill the price gap between Norwegian high-priced quality and Chinese Knock-off junk seems like a welcome thing.
In the metal fabrication shop we had some of their big brothers (airbags or lifting large steel plates and Jung toe jacks capable of lifting heavy machinery.)
David Brock
This has to be the most expensive tool that Irwin has made in china for them. Wow, when Irwin pliers range from $10-$15 I’m wondering how they came up with this prince point. I don’t hang cabinets more than once a decade but would consider adding a pair of these too my tool collection for just in case rare issues for $25-40. Maybe when they hit the discount rack I’ll get a set.
Chip
When you install cabinets the old adage of “you can’t have enough clamps” has a partial twist to it.
I have clamps of F-style to parallel, and ranges from 4″-48″.
And 3rd hand speaders up to 144″.
Good clamp manufacturers (like my Bessy) allow you to switch from clamp to spread,my smallest pair still requires 4 1/2″ minimum.
I bought a Viking knockoff that was garbage.
Airbags are great but 3 years is about all the life they have,as others have stated the hoses get nicked up and leak…but for $20 they are definitely worth it.
For small tolerances with heavy loads,indexable prybars are my choice..although they will not hold a load.
When you are young you buy cheap just to get started,middle age you buy all the tools,as you get older you pare down to what has worked for you for 90% ..most importantly easier to carry around lol.
The knock-off I bought ,did not store well in a drawer with the other clamps which is a consideration.
For the cost I can work around a Viking, 1/2 price will be trying the Irwin.
Would be nice if they could have worked with Rockler on their spring assist, lift it up and activate to be ready for use.
An indexable prybar,a clamp/spreader,and a plierswrench will solve many problems.
Leo B.
For hanging cabinets, the Fastcap LittleHand is nice. Set the lowers and jack off the tops of those with the LittleHand for the uppers. Use regular Third Hands for the uppers if there aren’t any lowers beneath them. I could see these being handy, but for hanging cabinets, the above combo seem to work better for me.
Trekker
I have the cabinet installer accessories for the Viking Arm. The controlled lowering feature is great for aligning upper cabinets to a laser line.
Saulac
Is anything that act both like a clamp and a lift, even with additional attachments? I get to the point of having too much tools…lately I have been focusing on multi function tools in an attempt to cut down carrying around too many tools.
Al
Stanley FatMax TradeLift came out in UK trade shows a little while ago. 120 quid each. But they look beefy.
Al
https://www.stanleytools.co.uk/product/fmht83550-1/stanley-fatmax-tradelift
NoDak Farming
I was really pleased when I read that this jack could support up to 330 pounds. That put to ease my thoughts that it could be gimmicky. The price makes me think that it’s going to get sold to professionals who can use it throughout the year. But I’d like to have one. So I might do what some others have mentioned, and wait for the price to come down. It would be perfect for installing and fixing large gates. It would surpass any other type of jack that I’ve used so far. Especially when taking into account its portability.
CMF
I never understood the Viking arm. Yes, great idea, but they priced themselves out of their own market.
This Irwin seems nice, much less than the Viking, but still overpriced.
Just click on Stuart’s Amazon link, scroll down and the crazy amount of copies you can buy at half the price of the Irwin, and that is for a pair while Irwin gives you one.
I bought 4 (2 pairs) at a local store (house brand), all 4 for $80. I use them often. With just one I raised my fridge a couple of inches to level the feet.
The Viking can be made out of whatever super alloy and lift a building for all I care, but for everyday needs, most people will buy a pair for about $40-$60 and be totally satisficed.
JR Ramos
I got to look at these today – several of our local Lowe’s stores have them in stock but not all. These are a far cry better than any of the import Viking copies and they seem to work very nicely, with good construction (would have loved to undo the cover plate and see if they’re using the same wafer system as their quick clamps…). I’m not crazy about the foot design but they’re sturdy and thick (probably could grind the tip of the toe a little without negative effect).
The Vikings have always been too rich for me but they are really superior for heavy work like large cabinets and furniture. I got a set of the “better” imports and actually they’ve been super useful and I’ve pulled them out far more often than I would have expected. None of them will lower, though, and the feet are generally thin stamped steel…soft metal for the bar, too, so with a lot of use they start to get a little grabby (mine have not slipped under load yet, and it doesn’t look like they should). Hanging doors, shimming doors, supporting old school wood door joinery for repair, garbage disposals (maybe…worked for me), long sections of surface mount raceway and casing molding, ground support for small painting projects leaned against a sawhorse or wall, door prop that halts movement from either direction. I used mine to support a bolt-on hitch rack while installing, too…not ideal but it worked and made it much easier solo. They made easy work of a weird project adding a large facia panel to an exposed commercial undersink area, too…odd dimensions and defying square or plumb, used these to hold said panel while using dowel centers to mark precise drilling points for thread inserts in furring strips. I think they’d handle a vanity or small cabinets but not full length or exceptionally heavy ones. They’re fine for appliances. No doubt that these Irwins would handle that easily and the price, while still steep and probably “perception priced” much higher than they should be, is still affordable and gives you a dependable tool which may not be true for all the import copies.
Other than a dependable grab and strong feet, what really sets this apart and on par with Viking is the lowering feature…very important for some things. They also lift a tad higher than the imports which are usually about 8″ (mine are 9″).
Mic
SBD are at it. They have these from Irwin and Stanley. A DeWALT one (called construction jack) is coming out soon.
The difference with the Stanley and DeWALT model is that the lever is on top. So you can also operate it with your foot should you need to.
Nice to see some decent alternatives to the Viking Arm!