In the process of buying a house with a killer garage outback. 30 x 40 w/ 16 ft. ceiling.
3 @ 12 ft. wide / 12 ft. tall rollups. The previous owner kept his motor home and boat in there. I would like to put in a 2 post lift in one of the bays. Lift weight 6-10000 lbs. Can you guys help with suggestions? Just got my Northern Tool Cat. and I will probably get in trouble with it. I’m ~ 6ft1 and the arthritis is coming on so I don’t want to stoop too much.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.

 

That's not a garage, that's a facility.
12 foot wide doors? What was the beam on the guy's boat/ship?
There must not be much room between the doors?
Should have just put in a 36 foot door, could park your airplane in there then.

Just get some cardboard and lie on the ground.
I have a lift and sometimes it's easier, your neck starts hurting looking up all the time when the car is in the air.

I have a Bend-Pak 4 poster because I have a really tall one and a half car garage and two cars. The 2 posts aren't the best if you want it for extra parking room, they're great for wheel, brake, and suspension work. You can get jacks or jack saddles for the 4 posters that sit between the ramps in tracks, pretty expensive though. I just do that stuff on the ground for as much as I have to. The Bend-Paks have the best safety system IMO, extruded heavy gauge steel parts, built like a tank, American made, large 1/2" steel baseplates you can bolt down good, actual tech people you can talk to if there are any questions. Most of the service places use the Bend-Paks, a lot of the gearhead TV shows too, all are painted blue. They aren't really that much more expensive than the lesser brands and you get what you pay for with tools and equipment.

I got mine from ASE, had a guy with a tiltbed tow truck pick it up at the freight terminal (free shipping to the terminal) and drop it in my driveway like a load of lumber. Assembled it singlehandedly with a cherry picker and a lot of American ingenuity and brute strength.

http://www.asedeals.com/get-the-bend...ase-deals.html

 

WOW, nice garage. Can I move in?

At the shops I work at[fleet maint. of golf course equip.] we went with the Ammco dual post 10,000 lb. I like the cables overhead and not on the floor.

They get used a lot everyday and have lasted 10yrs. with no problems.

Make sure your concrete is thick enough for the anchors.

 

I don't rtegret buying this lift. It was around $2000

 

Watch craigslist and local auctions. Lots of dealers and shops shutting down you might get lucky. I would much rather have a used commercial lift than one marketed to the home shops. Bend-pak is very good. I have a Rotary that came out of a closed Pont GMC dealer 15 years ago and sat outside at a storage facility. It was already well used when I got it but its giving me 8 years of good service so far.

You need to be sure of the floor thickness. We had to cut my floor and pour 4' x 4' x 12" pads to mount mine on.

 

i got the two post lift with the base plate. with your ceiling height, and if you are going with the two post lift, i would recommend getting an overhead model. if it is to work on cars i like the two post lift but the 4 post would be much nicer for storage use.

100_5245.jpg?t=1268868768

 

My dream is to have a two post lift, Now all I need is a garage like yours to put it in. Congrats on the score

 

I would buy a Mohawk brand - not cheap, but excellent quality and made in USA

 

If you are going to get a post you want to make sure the concrete in the garage floor is thick enough to handle it. I know a guy a few years back with a newer home and there was only a few inches of concrete in the center of the garage where his hoist was bolted down. He heard a loud bang one night and found the whole hoist had fallen over with his car on it. Launched the car through the back of the garage.

 

yes! that is a must, check your floor thickness first. most lifts require a minimum of 4 inches and can not have a crack near where the post will be located. if you don't know for sure how thick it is just use a hammer drill in a corner somewhere and drill through it. just stay away from the wall about a foot so you are not hitting the footer and thinking you are thicker than you are. you can fill it back in after you are done. mine is 5 1/2 inch thick and is fine. the concrete anchors only go about 3 1/2 inches deep but drill all the way through when you set it up. this way if you ever have trouble with one of the anchors you can just drive it through into the dirt and set another one.

 

Backyard Buddy makes a good lift too, and made in Ohio is a +.

 

Thanks for all the good info. We havn't sealed the deal on the house yet but I think it's close. At 58 I'm trying to convince the wife that the garage would be good post retirement. wink/wink. I'd like to do some bead blasting and small powder coat jobs later. Did not see any remarks about Dannmar lifts so I assume that may not be the way to go.The 75 Delta conv.looks like its not going to sell so I can at least give it comfortable resting spot.

 

Let me echo some remarks here, based on experience.

FIRST: The advice on the floor is spot on! You want/need 5" minimum. I have 6"

I would never, ever give up my 2-post lift. I investigated alot, and ended up buying a Mohawk A-7. It will handle 7,500 lbs. The one I acquired was used, from some outfit in McHenry, IL. It came from a closed Universal Technical Institute school. Yes, I paid BIG bucks for it. Even so, I have no complaints. I want, and got, one I would feel safe working under.

I also park two cars in the lift bay, one on the lift, and the other under.

What with dealerships closing, auto service centers, etc. you should be able to find a good deal about now.

 

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet. Also consider the power requirements of the unit that you are getting. I believe certain lift motors on older units that may have been used in dealerships required 2 and 3 phase connections. I could be wrong though.

 

My dream is to have a garage large enough to actually work in. You have seen it Pat. Typical suburbia split level house with a two car garage barely large enough to park and get out with the doors closed. What was I thinking when I bought the place???????

 

Most of the lifts that I have seen advertised and the ones I have connected in dealerships have been 115-120 volt single phase units and require a 20 amp circuit.

I know what you mean Dan. I have to make room in my garage to do anything, a real pain in the ****.

 

Yeah, but you know what happens when you finally get enough room to work on the car???????

Yeah, you got it..........you get *another* car and start the "more room" process all over again!
I went through that for years, and I *think* I have finally broken that vicious circle..............maybe.........

 

My Mohawk A-7 is 220v single phase.