THE JACKRABBIT
THE ULTIMATE WEAPON FOR GLUE-DOWN CARPET REMOVAL
Carpet Installer Awaits Patent For Device He Invented
By Al Lowe
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Dale Marizzaldi never expected to become an inventor when he chose freelance carpet-laying as an occupation 27 years ago. "I was just trying to make a living," he said. But the Brookline resident has created an ingenious device to help him cope with that job -and has a patent pending. Not bad for a plainspoken 43-year-old blue-collar guy who does "a job nobody else wants to do." He chose that line of work as a teenager only because that inside job seemed more attractive than the alternative, which was laboring for bricklayers in the rain and snow. His invention, dubbed the "jack rabbit," helps him to reduce the time and energy expended on his job. The name stems from the fact that Marizzaldi can use it to jack up carpet that has been glued to a floor and do it about as fast as a scared rabbit. The tool is a lightweight all-steel unit with a long, thin handle and a ratchet mechanism at the end. By applying leverage to the jack rabbit, Marizzaldi has discovered that he can speedily remove 4- or 6-foot sections of glued-down carpet at a time. A carpet removal job that might have taken all day is done in about an hour, he said. "You never even break into a sweat." He can remember abandoning carpet removal jobs because he and co-workers found some glued-down carpet that seemed stubborn and unyielding. So, he tinkered with his invention for a while, "trying to get all the bugs out." When he had the device perfected, the next question was: Now what? Marizzaldi was leery of companies that advertised on TV seeking inventions to promote and promising to obtain patents. He found he didn't have to go through them. He read a book about the subject and looked in the Yellow Pages for a patent agent. He submitted a rough draft, paid for a critique and then submitted his invention to the government for a patent. The current status is "patent pending." Marizzaldi has been using trade magazines and word-of-mouth to peddle the jack rabbit through distributors. He plans to go soon to a trade show to promote the tool. His buddies have asked him why he hasn't become a millionaire due to his invention. He just shakes his head. Marizzaldi Manufacturing, as described in the trade magazine Floor Covering Installer, is actually a low-cost, no-frills operation originating out of his Brookline garage. And the carrying strap for the jack rabbit is as ingenious as the device itself: seat belts obtained from a local salvage yard.
Keith Brooks - Owner Pro Flooring Supply Greenville SC 864-304-1309 "Best thing since sliced bread"
Allan - Southland Flooring O'Fallon, MO 636-272-1934 "On a unitary backed carpet tearout, the (electric) puller just shredded it. The only thing that got it out was the JACKRABBIT"
Don Hamilton - owner Pre-Floor Distributors Wilmington, NC 1-877-222-4477 "Virtually indestructable. One hell of a tool. I don't leave home without it!"
Dave Theilberger - veteran installer 412-901-3627 "Marizzaldi's tools are built to last - guaranteed forever, not like (the other) tools built to break"
By S K Hardwoods --------- join date May 06--location Murphys California "charter member"
Re: Glue down carpet removel --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I posted this, here on this forum, back in July... Quote: I have about a thousand yards of gluedown unitary at our local elementary school. I started some of the pullup yesterday, and was having to cut the carpet in little bitty strips to get it up. I work by myself, and this was way too much effort, not to mention tough on the equipment. I remembered a discussion about the Jackrabbit carpet puller on another forum. I made a phone call, and drove to Tom Duffy's to pick it up.
I could not have been happier with the tool. I pulled up half of the first classroom, a 12x40 area in less then an hour, with ease. I was a little dubious of the claims made, of being able to pull up over 225 yards in a day, but see this should be pretty easy to do. The tool is uttterly simple in design, and there isn't anything to wearout. It works right up against the wall, and pulled up to within about 20" of the wall I finished at. It came up so easy. It's all about leverage, with that tool. That is what makes it work with such ease. The instuctions on the website say to use spring clamps to hold the carpet in place until the tool gets a bite on it, but I found iot easier to just hold it in place, and crank the handle until it catches. Then , just stand up, and move the handle back and forth. When you reach the end of the wall, I just released the handle, unrolled the carpet off the tool, rerolled it, and started another section. Cool.
No longer will I dread pulling that crap up off the floor. the tool is really stout, and feels like it weighs about 25-30 pounds, but stores easy, and doesn't take up much room. The only thing that keeps it from being perfect, is that it doesn't fit in my store bought metal shelves that are in my van. I can live with that. I also had spent 2 brutal days trying to pull some 2 year old unitary off the ground floor of our local hospital, due to a hydralic leak. I cut into narrow 3"-6" strips, but couldn't get grip on it and it was gummy and really stuck down. They decided to do an adjacent section after the fact, so I used the Jackrabbit on it, and had in out in less then 2 hours. I let a couple other rug guys use it; they were skeptics, but are now sold on it. They only get one "free" usage....
