Pacific Laser Systems PLS Elevator Tripod with Adjustable Height to 9-Foot 6-Inch

I bought this support with considerable trepidation, but I am more than totally happy that I purchased it. I have owned many different lasers for use in my construction business. These lasers include top end rotary horizontal/vertical lasers, a couple of 5 beam point lasers, and also unfortunately two line lasers.Two of the lasers have been destroyed now because of their use on laser poles and falling over. Both of them survived multiple falls but eventually there has been one to many accidents. I can't fault my crews, they can't pussy foot around them all of the time. A round laser pole was given a week, and the LaserJamb has been in service for 4 years.My newest line laser however is at least twice as heavy as anything that has been on poles before, and I don't trust them to a pole jammed between the ceiling and the floor.Unlike the other tripods I have that are typical with double tube top leg sections and rectangular lower extensions. This tripod more resembles a camera tripod. As a user of very expensive photographic tripods ($900 legs, $600 heads) I could be very critical of any tripod (I photograph with a view camera - picture a camera with a bellows and a dark cloth over the photog.)This tripod is pretty stable and is helped by it having a leg spreader which ties all legs to the central tube. The 3 section legs adjust easily with cam locks. The center post is gear operated and has it's own cam lock as well as an adjustable friction stem.It is usable from a LOW 26 inches to higher than a double plate height on the top of an 8 foot wall. Try doing either of those with a construction tripod. Also a laser pole is of no value where there isn't any ceiling to reach. I would subject this to a job site while doing rough grading and setting foundation forms, but it is sturdy enough for anything past those stages of building. One thing not mentioned in the descriptions is that the center columb is clear enough to allow a bottom plumb laser line to hit the floor, (or at least when the two additional column extensions are aren't in use at which time the column may not be dead vertical enough to let the plumb line pass through.)I trust this to give safe support for a laser used by my crew, also the geared elevation will save time in their set ups.

I have to admit, I am a “plastic case“ guy. The description said it came in a case however, it did not. It came in a “carrying bag”. The carrying bag does have individual pockets for the two extension poles. Let’s see how long that lasts. The tripod itself seems to be well-made. Of course, I had to put the whole thing together and stretched out to 9’-6”. Seems stout enough and the rubber feet dictate it should be used indoors. Depending on the application, I’ll need to use it outdoors. We’ll see how that goes.

The design is nice on this, but the quality of manufacture is pretty poor overall. If only they had a touch more quality I would have been very happy with this model over the others I've tried. Unfortunately it arrived damaged out of the box (that had nothing to do with my 3 start rating) and the top thumbscrew was bent.Pros:- Nice overall design for a midlevel tripod, nice features- Sturdy tripod when set up.- Nice reach/extension. There is a small hand crank that allows you to raise the elevator 16 inches. If you want more height, they included two 20 inch solid extensions. So you have a pretty flexible range of heights from a low of about 26 inches to the max height will all the rods installed.- bubble level to check general leveling, seems to work well- handy carry bag, nice and compact for storageCons:- Poor fit/finish all around. The gears on the elevator shaft/crank are very coarse, you can feel the gears not meshing right part way up and down at random spots, not smooth at all. The crank handle has a rotating knob on the end, but it gets stuck half the time when cranking. The buckles to lock down the tripod legs feel very cheap plastic, not sure how well they will hold up. All the thumb screws were very poorly threaded, not straight (never mind the one that got bent in shipping - but the metal collar that it was threaded into also deformed, the metal parts beside the aluminum legs all seem to be of a soft cast metal of some kind). Just overall very coarse on the fit and finish.- When raising and lowering the elevator midsection, the shaft corkscrews a bit. So if you are setting on a vertical line or point with the laser, as you raise the elevator, your laser point will slowly drift to the left of where you set it as you gain height.Everything works I guess, but for the price, the quality just isn't there in my opinion. Really like the design, if they could make this with a slightly higher quality I would have been completely satisfied.

I've had a number of tripods for my laser level but recently I bought the Bosch GCL 250 with the motorised mount and knew I needed something sturdy with a decent reach for installing curtain poles in London. There is no other tripod like it on the market. It's heavy and expensive but both those things are offset by it's steadfast functionality. Highly recommended

as good as it gets

Elevator rack-and-pinion gear were flawed in my first tripod. I got a quick replacement and the new one was fine. The design for this is excellent, with pole extensions that work for raising your laser up to ceiling level effortlessly. A conventional tripod can't do this. The base is sturdy with self-levelling feet, but you can adjust for an uneven floor. Built in bubble-level will get you in range of your laser's auto-level (usually 15 degrees).The "head" of this tripod only lets you set square and level, so not really suitable for photography. But it is specifically designed for mounting laser levels indoors. For that application, it is superb. I wish the height gear mechanism was a bit more refined, aluminum tube and a bit cheesy. I am careful not to breathe on it too heavy, and my first one was bad. Other than that, excellent design, but expensive.

I just took delivery and I am very happy. This tripod is exactly as advertised, quite well made. I was very pleased with the case as well. The two extension pieces for high work fit nicely into separate sleeves inside the bag. I'm using it with a Bosch GLL3-80 and the tripod works well with this laser.