Narrowboat access lift
Steve lived permanently on a narrowboat and needed a means of transferring between the deck and the cabin, a height of almost 1 metre, following amputation of a leg. He could not leave hospital without this being available. His Occupational Therapist contacted Remap for a solution.
The solution
The Doncaster Panel happened to have a seat lift that had been made by the same volunteer in 2008 and had been returned when no longer needed. Thi
s lift could raise the seated client from her wheelchair level up to the doorway of a large motorhome.
The lift was adapted for use on the boat by increasing the travel to use the full length of the leadscrew and the mountings were changed to fit the boat. The lift used two lengths of Unistrut for which bearing rollers were available as the column. A leadscrew and nut were purchased along with a thrust bearing, and a gearmotor off a proprietary Thompson actuator was fitted to the top of the screw. The original lift was supported by feet on the ground and by a bracket to the motorhome chassis. Power was supplied by the vehicle battery. The removable seat was attached to the travelling carriage by an arm pivoted at both ends so it could be positioned to move the user through the access door. The original lift is shown in the two photos on the left.
On the boat the arrangement is very similar except that the lift could be rigidly bolted to the rear bulkhead and the floor. The arm and seat arrangement remained the same so that Steve could transfer from wheelchair on the deck to a special narrow wheeled office type chair (also supplied by the panel) in the cabin and vice-versa. Photos on the right.
Another panel volunteer altered the bench and cupboards beside the lift to make room for it.
The benefit
Steve could now leave hospital and get home! He was very grateful for the lift, as he had not been keen to move to a house. His remaining leg was not strong enough for him to access the boat with crutches.
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I have a friend who suffers from Parkinson’s. He has a very poor quality of life life . I would like to improve it by having him able to crosse with me on my narrow boat . Please help us f you can. You may be able to to make a good man’s life worth living
Hi Brian, thank you for reaching out. If you complete our referral form with a bit more information, then we can see if we’re able to help your friend with this: http://www.remap.org.uk/help
My elderly sister aged 93 years needs an access to her front door (ie an external lift) Would it be possible to raise this Narrowboat external lift to about seven foot? She lives in a Georgian house with granite steps which are quite steep., or do you know anyone who could provide an external rising seat?