Invacare9805P Personal Hydraulic Patient Body Lift

I bought for my Mom who had meningitis. The PT was saying don't buy a lift because it discourages the person from walking. I had to be realistic. She can't or won't walk now and I can't lift her or continue to ask my son to do so. It didn't make sense for me to ask him to strain his back and hurt himself. I bought this. I am not superwoman. With all the things that are necessary to take care of loved ones why add additional stress to yourself and them. My mom fought and resisted us trying to lift her from the bed without the lift. She is not frightened on the lift and is much calmer. It is not an ordeal for us anymore. The price is excellent. I only wish I had followed my first instincts and purchased it sooner. Now, I can lift her from the bed so she can play the computer games she enjoys, watch TV and be up.It is very easy to lift the person manually. It takes almost no arm effort to do so. You won't feel the weight of the person at all. An electric lift really isn't necessary. This arrived almost completely assembled. The swivel bar was already attached. I only needed to slide it into it's base. I didn't need any tools.There are various slings. I've tried various slings. The standard full body sling works best for clearing the bed. When using the commode slings, the butt tends to drop down into the hole and doesn't clear the bed as easily. The lift only lifts the person a few inches off the bed. It does not lift them very high. I found the commode toilet opening is stitched with rough uncomfortable fabric. It can hurt a person that has bed sores if left sitting on it too long. Invacare Slings are the sturdiest. Yet, I found lower priced universal mesh slings that are durable, easier to position under the person, and more comfortable for the person.....and less expensive.You don't need chains or straps to move a person to and from bed or toilet. The chains and straps are only necessary for getting the person off the floor. There are various straps on the sling. The straps for both the top and bottom portion of the sling are color coded. If you want the person in a seated position before lifting off the bed....use the lowest strap that is closest to the head and then the first strap, which is furthest away from the legs. When hooking up to the lift use the same color coded strap on each sideOne person can easily operate this lift with no problem. It does take some adjustment and you will need enough space to maneuver the lift. It can feel awkward at first. It works well on low carpet, wood, ceramic floors, etc... it is more difficult to move over area rugs that don't cover the entire area needed.The wheels on the lift don't lock. That would have been a nice feature to have when positioning the person into the wheelchair, but even without locking legs, it can still be done by one person with relative ease. When putting the person back to bed, you can position the person exactly the way you want in the bed. You don't have to be pulling them up or trying to position them in the middle of the bed and straining yourself. With the lift you can easily position them before lowering them into the bed.I know with my mom she feels safe in the lift. I feel better not trying to get her to stand up if she saying she feels she can't. I do find it is best to follow my own instincts. People can tell you a lot of differing opinions, but they aren't there for the day to day caring of the person, so they don't really know what it involves.The lift is also good for someone who doesn't have help right when you need it. I know there have been times my mom wanted to go back to bed because her bottom was hurting, but I had to wait for my son to come home. Now, I can get it done myself. I don't feel helpless anymore.UPDATE: The only drawback of this lift is it only lifts 64" in height. It just clears the bed if the bed has full rails. A lift that lifts 68" in height is better. That said, I purchased 3 different lifts. 2 were electric and one was a manual lift that lifted 68" in height. Both of the electric lifts I purchased were defective. The manual lift's wheels didn't maneuver well when turning. I was straining my back and knees. Of all, the lifts I bought this is the best. The wheels move in all directions with ease. You don't need to force or strain yourself. That is a big plus. The legs open wide enough to lift the person out of their wheelchair without removing the footrest. What I did was to buy a better bed and keep this lift. This lift will also lift a person off the floor if they should fall.

This lift is perfect for any situation you need to move someone who is too weak to walk and too heavy to lift. It’s easy enough for just one person to use. Easy to put together too. Helps turn taking care of an invalid or disabled person an easier routine.

This is a pretty good lift. I worked in a clinic for a while that had Hoyer lifts for nonambulatory patients and this lift is notably better than ones we used there - larger wheels (helps get over carpet edges), it goes up higher, the undercarriage splays wider, and the pump handle can rotate around to different positions. We’ve been using it for a week or so to move an elderly relative from bed to wheelchair and back, using the sling the lift came with, and it’s been very effective and simple to use.

Handled the weight, easy to lower the lift but lacked a brake for the wheels. Wheels were a little big for clearing under the bed frame. Great product for the price.

I was very impressed with the quality of this product! I would greatly recommend it! The company was fast and efficient.