[Mark Pendergast]

1760 had a very nice lift with #25 chain on the lower stage and 3/32 steel cable on the top. (We get our chain at McMaster-Carr and our cable from Lowes.)

The lower stage had dual chains on sprockets between 2 - 1/2 inch steel rods. (The rods were held in place by brass bushings.) The motor then drove the lower rod through a third sprocket. Power up and down.

The upper stage had a single 3/32 inch cable that was fastened in such a way that the upper stage lifted automagically when the lower stage lifted. Power up (indirectly) and gravity down. We used PVC pipe over an alluminum tube at the top of the lower stage as the pully.

One trick I have not seen mentioned is that we used cable clamps to fasten the cable. (U-shaped bolts with a cast wedge to hold the wire loop together. Also from Lowes). I believe these are much superior to knots. We never had a problem with them.

We did have some issues with the cable jumping the sprockets on one side, but it was managable. We also used zip ties as a floating cable tensioner. (You would think it would bind up or get stuck, but it has worked for us for two years now. )