Wow! Expensive? You bet. Got these for $119 each ($218 + tax for two of them) at the BORG. Had seen them at another location for $199 a piece and so when I actually had a need for them (moving a 400 pound solid wood cherry armoire), I was pleasantly surprised at the lower cost of $119 each.

Now that the cost is out of the way, are they worth it? Would I have paid the higher $199?

Absolutely. Though $199 is about the max that I would pay.

There are not a lot of alternative back-saving solutions to a fickle spouse that cannot make up their mind on the locations of heavy objects. But who am I kidding? Ever tried to move a mini fridge packed to the gills with frosty beer? That beer fridge is feeling like it weighs about as much as the armoire and I don’t want to scratch up my nice vinyl flooring.

Can’t wait to use these things for something like cabinet assembly. They are so extremely useful and save my back at least 3 times a week. I can also see them as paying for themselves when I hang a door or two.

I have spreaders, namely the Pony clamps that can convert to spreading, but they can’t hold a candle to these things. The big fat feet and wide stance make for rock stable lifting and the pistol grip pump action to lift is smooth.

It has one method for raising, one method for lowering, and one method for manual operation for quick adjustment. The adjustments are in the expected places and operate intuitively.

It seems strange to jump on here and give a glowing review of a specialized clamp/jack but here we are. I do wish the slow-speed lowering mechanism was a little smoother but at that point it’s feeling like picking nits considering how amazing it is (harping on lack of 100% smooth lowering but instead 95% smooth lowering of a multi-hundred or thousand-plus pound lift seems like harping, but then again, I did pay $119 each and not $199; had I paid $199 I would probably demand a smoother drop).

I would give it a 9/10 (great by any measure).