For those of y'all that are fortunate to have one of these at your disposal, I have a few questions.
moderators if this should go elsewhere topic wise please do so thanks.....
Challenger
9000#
AIS certified
versymmetric
single pc posts
Clear floor
Used (bought from Sam's club service center when they moved)
In reply to rustybugkiller :
what did you pay and did you install it yourself?
Oh and is there a site I can access for these shops that are going outa biddness?
759NRNG said:Oh and is there a site I can access for these shops that are going outa biddness?
Look for a local equipment auction place, they often have lifts.
Mine is a scissor lift, I paid $600, it's a no-name Chineseum lift that I have had for 6 years, use constantly and have never had a bit of problem with. Bought off of Craigslist......
I know, not a 2 post exactly, but I have ceiling height issues.......
I taught college automotive courses, our shop had Rotary lifts exclusively, all asymetrics.
Bend-Pak
11k
Umm, not sure
asymmetric
single piece post
clear floor
used
go
I bought it from FM when they were reworking the shop, so I know its entire history. About time to replace the cables, though. I bought the 11k one because I have a 7700 lb truck, but most of the time it's loafing with small cars.Installed it with two people and no significant equipment, it's a lot easier to reassemble a used lift than to put one together from scratch.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
What did you do to attach it to your slab?
and are parts/stuff somewhat available for these older units ?
In reply to 759NRNG :
I paid $1800 but that was almost 20 years ago.
I have a story about trying to install mine but I won't bore you. I paid a company out of Cleveland to install and balance mine. I think it was $400.
It was dumb luck that I saw an ad in the paper for the Sam's Club equipment ( back when there was newspapers and they still had ads).
Its worked flawlessly!
In reply to 759NRNG :
Bolted to the slab per the manufacturer instructions. I had to drill anchors as the slab was preexisting.
I haven't needed to buy any parts, but the fact that it's a major industrial brand means that it's got more support than a random Chinese lift. Cables are readily available.
Revolution (offshore Rotary brand)
10k
AlS yes
asymmetric
Single piece
clear floor yes
new
I use it constantly and love it. It was more expensive than a non-cert lift but cheaper than a lot of certified lifts. It goes by a different brand now.
Purchased used as part of a package deal, sold the newer nicer 9 ft Tuxedo unit for 3/4 of what I paid for the pair then put the money into new cables, rebuild hyd cylinders and a new pump for the Eagle, still in it for under $2k Unit itself is an older one, often you wont find the parts listed on a website but if you call the vendors you can get them. Thats what I ran into with my cables, they had what I thought would work listed on the site but I called to confirm. They were not right but they said they had the specs for what I needed and would make them for me, no problem. The pump/power units are fairly universal and I was able to swap mine out with a readily available unit. The local hydraulic shop had no issue rebuilding my cylinders with off the shelf parts.
Self installed. Tried to get it professionally installed but they had a 12 ft minimum from all doors and I designed my shop layout (and subsequent floor reinforcement) to have it mounted 10ft inside the door so they wouldnt install it. My old out of shape ass was able to get the posts up and into position with the help of my tractor and I got them leveled and bolted down.
I also have a very old, very used Rotary scissor lift. I have no info on any of its specs other than its been a great alternative to a floor jack and jack stands for many years now. Its getting long in the tooth and now that I've found a good local hydraulic shop I'll proabably send its cylinder out for rebuilding soon.
Here's an article I wrote about choosing a lift:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/project-backyard-shop-installing-lift/
Installed it myself. Floor was supposed to be poured 6" under the hoist (4'x4' extra deep), but ended up being 8" under the hoist. Instructions require 4".
Best purchase evar. Got it at a LordCo Trade Show sale price.
Ordered it last year (maybe around June) and still waiting for it to come in. Supply chain issues have caused major delays but that's ok, it won't fit in my current shop anyway. But wanted to get it ordered before prices increased.
Planning to install it myself whenever material prices return to a somewhat sane level and I can get my new shop built.
759NRNG said:What did you do to attach it to your slab?
Is it going in your garage, or in a shop? AIUI, residential garage slabs are usually marginal at best for installing 2-post lifts, so you might need to cut some holes and pour foundations for it.
Rotary
7000
ais yes
assymetric
clear floor
bought used for $1000
installed myself with anchors from Midstate bolt and screw.
Rotary will get you the installation manuals and anything else you need.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:759NRNG said:What did you do to attach it to your slab?
Is it going in your garage, or in a shop? AIUI, residential garage slabs are usually marginal at best for installing 2-post lifts, so you might need to cut some holes and pour foundations for it.
This install will be dictated by the building(new construction) it ultimately resides in. Yes a minimum slab thickness of four inches ....which BPak is ok with , but I'm inclined to have six inch slab under the lift at least.
In reply to 759NRNG :
I harp on this a lot. Every time threads like this come up.
The manufacturers give bad info about slabs. That's because they are equipment manufacturers, not concrete contractors or structural engineers. I have installed about 200 of them. BPak, Rotary, they all have similar specs.
They claim 4" (so they can sell lifts), but the details of their specs will NOT work in most residential slabs. Even the slabs in the commercial ones I do are often insufficient.
4" is not enough. The full specs usually say "Minimum of 4" of 3500# REINFORCED concrete", but then go on to give minimum embedment for the anchors of 4 9/16".
Residential slabs are often NOMINAL 4"- that means 3 1/2". I know that doesn't sound like a big difference, but it is 23% less concrete than the minimum required by the manufacturer for anchor embedment. Residential slabs are often 2500# concrete that is not reinforced.
I have watched lift techs doing scheduled annual maintenance checks on commercial lifts. It always includes them re-torquing the bolts (and pulling them up a bit). That means they are pulling the anchors out of the concrete.
6" minimum please. 8" pads are better. Regardless of what the manufacturer says.
But arguing over the details is fruitless. What's your skull worth to you when you have 3000 lbs of steel above it?
(EDITED for clarity)
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