Heretofore, self balancing hoists have been primarily pneumatic. Pneumatic or air balanced hoists are useful in many industrial applications in which a relatively heavy load such as a work piece or tool is suspended at a certain height and manually repositioned by the operator. The tool or work piece is raised or lowered by a pneumatic piston. An air pressure regulator controls the air pressure to bias the piston and thereby raise or lower the load. These self balancing pneumatic hoists have a means or regulator for adjusting the air pressure to balance the load in a suspended position. Once balanced, the load may be easily manipulated by an operator by applying a small upset force in the desired direction of travel.