Joel Davis

The No Lift Install Cart is a new invention by Aaron Crowley.

The No Lift Install Cart is a new invention by Aaron Crowley.
Installing a heavy countertop with the No Lift Install Cart is as easy as roll it in, lift it up and slide it into place. The cart frame features a battery-operated mechanical lift and frictionless roller bearings that make moving the countertop less of a strain on workers, and reducing the lifting injuries common on installation jobs.

Installing a heavy countertop with the No Lift Install Cart is as easy as roll it in, lift it up and slide it into place. The cart frame features a battery-operated mechanical lift and frictionless roller bearings that make moving the countertop less of a strain on workers, and reducing the lifting injuries common on installation jobs.
Installing a heavy countertop with the No Lift Install Cart is as easy as roll it in, lift it up and slide it into place. The cart frame features a battery-operated mechanical lift and frictionless roller bearings that make moving the countertop less of a strain on workers, and reducing the lifting injuries common on installation jobs.
Heavy and fragile corner countertops slide right into place with the No Lift Install Cart. As demonstrated in the company’s website, securing multiple vacuum cups to larger top will give installers a safe and secure grip to transfer a top from the No Lift Cart to cabinets.

Heavy and fragile corner countertops slide right into place with the No Lift Install Cart. As demonstrated in the company’s website, securing multiple vacuum cups to larger top will give installers a safe and secure grip to transfer a top from the No Lift Cart to cabinets.

Photos by Wes Rice

Stone fabrication and installation shops now have a better way to protect their most valuable investments – their workers.

Lifting 300- to 500- pound countertops, week after week, can cause long-term physical damage to install crew members. That’s the invisible problem that Aaron Crowley of No Lift Install System decided to tackle with the company’s new No Lift Install Cart product.

“We developed this piece of equipment to solve what has been an unspoken problem in the industry,” Crowley said. “We’ve had numerous employees suffer injuries while installing and were forced to move on because their bodies couldn’t handle it any longer. It’s so commonplace in the industry that it’s been accepted as normal. It’s a fact that installing actually wears people out.”

The No Lift Install Cart can help extend the working life of install crew members, who might otherwise end up driving forklifts or running shop equipment because they can no longer lift countertops. “It physically eliminates all those aspects that make lifting heavy and awkward countertops so destructive,” Crowley said.

Shane McConnell, president of American Home and Stone Inc. in Philomath, Oregon, said the No Lift Install Cart pays for itself by preventing physical wear and tear on his crew members. “I love it. It’s not just a back-saver, it’s a huge financial savings. We’re using it to lift about half of the material that is going into homes. It’s taking a huge amount of stress off the shoulders and backs (of our crews), but it’s not just safety, it’s the stability of it. There is a lot less chance of breakage of material and losing money on jobs.”

The No Lift Install Cart is perfect for companies that field one to three full-time installation crews. It is designed to make installing awkwardly shaped countertops, weighing hundreds of pounds each, easy and safe.

The cart easily fits in an enclosed trailer or van, allowing it to be transported straight from the shop to the installation site. Once on-site, a battery-operated mechanical lift on the cart raises the countertop to its desired height. Then the frame securing the countertop pivots from vertical to horizontal for installation. “That is the critical function,” Crowley said. “The whole frame that supports the countertop rotates and automatically locks into the horizontal position, supporting the countertop for final positioning.”

Lastly, the frame features a series of transfer bearings allowing the countertop to roll into place without friction, and without strain.

As the industry has evolved, crews have to handle increasingly heavy and awkward countertops. The No Lift Install Cart offers a means to deal with them. Using the cart allowed American Home and Stone to complete a job that McConnell would have otherwise passed on as being too dangerous for his crew.

The job involved installing a corner sink counter that was 10 feet long and 5 feet tall. “It was three-quarters of a slab essentially,” McConnell said. “The No Lift Install Cart made it like a piece of cake. We brought it in on the cart, which lifted it up and then tilted it level with the cabinetry. We just pushed the counter onto the cabinets. There was no lifting whatsoever and very little chance of breaking due to the bars and clamps included in the No Lift system.”

More information about the No Lift Install System can be found online at www.noliftsystem.com or by calling (503) 212-4034.