At my most recent position I had the church handyman lower the bench by removing about 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of the bench legs. It can still be raised on 'blocks' (which I hade made) and can now accommodate organists of all statures. Of course, explain the situation and permission from appropriate folks!

There is generally a limit to how much you are able to lower the legs, because of the cross-piece 'foot rest' that generally runs across under the bench and over the pedalboard. I basically took the bench down as low as we could—a little over two inches, which works well for me; 4 'blocks' were made for each side that are about 3/4" high, so that the bench could be raised by increments.

The ideal alternative is to get a bench whose height is adjustable by a a crank-screw mechanism. If this cannot be budgeted shorten the legs and provide blocks for adjustment.

I have always had the opposite problem because my legs are so long and I have to hire the bench so high that my knees hit the bottom of the lower manual. One solution would be to remove a couple of inches below each knee, however, none of my friends, family or colleagues think it is at all an option.

You could just raise the organ ;-)

Actually I've heard of situations where, in the case of a detached console, the console (and pedalboard) has been raised by placing blocks under the console, but I'm not really sure that's viable in most circumstances!

As in "give the rack a turn'?

cursing builders who attach pedalboards to the bottom of the console

Attaching also hinders cleaning and promotes pedal note failures
as the zealous dusters snag and deform the paperclip-like contacts
which increases the anger of the maintainer who must detach the board
to inspect and repair.

Are there some companies that build pedal "elevators" to raise the pedal board higher? Somewhere it seems I have run across that.

The organ at the National Cathedral (Washington DC), has a pedal board that is separately capable of lowering and raising apart from the console in addition to the bench being motorized too. This was because Richard Dirksen was considerably taller than Dr. Paul Callaway during their tenure. I've often wondered why this combo isn't more common since it makes so much sense. Considering how much the average organ cost, what's an extra few thousand! Ha Ha

What use to frustrate me, were some pedal boards (like a few E. M. Skinners), that were horizonally set so far away from the bench that I had to just about lay backwards to barely reach the blasted thing.

If I might take this opportunity to make a "bench confession." I am 6'3" tall and suffered for years when I was early in my career of playing at churches with short benches, no blocks, and non-adjustable. I eventually built a set of "adaptable blocks" to take with me when I would sub. I vowed one day that, should I be lucky enough to commission a new organ for a church I would have the console/bench built with the taller organist in mind.
As luck would have it, such a project came to fruition 12 years ago. When talking with the builder about bench height, I insisted the bench be adjustable (via a hand crank) and tall enough to accommodate my lanky limbs, without my knees hitting the underside of the lowest keyboard. After some debate with our builder, he agreed. My wife (5' 2") is a very good organist herself and expressed some reservation - I didn't care (there...see, the confession). I'm happy to report we both "fit" quite nicely on the bench (no duets however). I've had many organists here to play concerts and all are able to adjust the bench so that it fits them nicely. All this to say that yes, with careful thought, benches can be built to accommodate most.

Are there some companies that build pedal "elevators" to raise the pedal board higher? Somewhere it seems I have run across that.

There are these: Pedxtend. Intended for younger students learning the pedals, but if you only need to play a couple notes perhaps useful:

http://www.wayneleupold.com/pedxtend/pedxtend.html

Ach!
Was it 'pedal elevators' in nineteenth century Russia???
Shame!
Shame!!!

Was there even a 19th century in Russia?

Ok, Charles,

but …. what did people in 1799 claim about whether a practice was acceptable? They couldn't very well claim "19th century Russia" as their benchmark, now could they?

CG-Z, are you making a pun using the word, benchmark?

...made the pun...

Ha!
You didn't have to confess - and we all would have thought you were brilliant.