Hi guys, I am getting a new home next month with a 36 x 40 shop! Im curious of who has what lift and pros and cons of each. I believe that my concrete is 3-3.5" thick. Flat and level. I like the 2 post with movable arms - friend has one that works well. $2500 budget.
Thanks Brock

 

I have a MaxJax. Minimum floor thickness is 4" on that. A permanent two post would be more ideal, but this works well for my standard residential garage. Way better than using jackstands.

 

Same here! Got low ceiling and very small garage, really happy about this Maxjax...

 

right off the bat you need 6" thickness. then consider ceiling height. 8 ft? 10 ft? the budget allows for most any 2 post but only the maxjax will fit in a 8 ft ceiling. most every lift needs 10ft minimum

 

+1 for the maxjax if your ceiling height is around 8 feet. Mine works great. The online cost is around 2k.

 

If height is no concern i have been researching Low Profile 2 post lifts. if you dont want more then 7k lifting capacity there are alot of choices.

Nussbaum, MAHA,Whip, Bendpak,Rotary they all have pad heights lower then 4"

 

Check concrete thickness for sure. I paid $16k to have my roof lifted and $500 for a used lift. If I did it again I'd buy an offset Rotary I think. Pay attention to power too, mine is 3phase and I'm using a converter which drops power a good bit. You want 240volt 2phase I believe. Ceiling height is your biggest issue but if you can fit one go for it. Always use the locks btw and get them synced as closely as possible.

 

240volt single phase is what most garages would have.

 

Thanks, I wasn't sure on phase so that makes sense. I think they use the two phases to make the 240 but commercial power is so NOT my field these days. I did wire my lift and the phase converter however, I need to get one of the new solid state ones to restore power I'm told.

Honestly if this is a new garage space there's ALL sorts of neat things and lessons learned you can take advantage of! #1 don't use those damned plastic interlocking tiles! Epoxy all the way and before anything including the lift is put in IMO.

 

Wow thanks for the replies guys! Height is 20 ft since the previous owner had a bay door for an RV! I could put 3 lifts in with no height problem. I will start researching!

 

RV garage! Awesome, I want one of those when I retire - and I'll slap a lift in there. Heck, if it was built for an RV it might very well have the added thickness in the floor you need which would be great.

Personally I prefer two arm lifts and I prefer offset lifts so that doors opening don't interfere with the posts. Rotary is a known name brand and VERY good from what I recall - not fly by night for sure. Check weight capacities and size according to your needs - SUV will require more lift. A hydraulic safety interlock would be nice but I don't know if 2post come with that, 4post I've seen have air or hydraulic and it's nice not to have to go under or around to go side to side for release. Some people disable the locks, mine were disabled when I got it, do *NOT* do this! Especially if you store cars on the lift as it relies on the hydraulics not to drop the car. Always use the locks, lift, set the locks or allow them to set via the ratchet, and then lower the weight onto the locks and off the hydraulics before going under. Shortcuts can kill you and it's not a pretty way to go....

 

if you dont want a Lo-Pro lifting pad Height, Worth Usa made lifts are the lowest cost of the USA made lifts at about 3300$ delivered to south texas, Whip industries, Then into German Engineered, usa made Nussbaum and MAHA in the 4500$ range, and Challenger and Rotary, then mohawk on the top end of the price scale.

many chinese made lifts cheaper just check into the lifts ATL and ETL certification.


with 3" of concrete you will probably need to pour new footers around the posts.

if your doing that you could also look at scissor lifts, and flush mounting one.

 

That's mine...no not a 2 post.

 

I have 14ft ceilings and bought this one.


http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/At...IDE-EXTRA-TALL


I paid $1995 at the time, as they had a promotion, but you can probably still get it close to that. I elected to go pick mine up at the NH warehouse...saved on shipping. There is almost ALWAYS something on it...
I can open doors on both sides of the vehicle and stand under it comfortably (I'm 6'2). It is on a 4" floor with radiant heat.

 

I got mine here... http://www.derekweaver.com/

I liked the fact they were local-ish. They had a guy that would pick up the lift from the store and bring it to my house (that shipping would have been 175 delivered to a dock somewhere close) and install it for 500. I did that.

I was really happy with the shop though. Mostly because he acted like he was working me a deal. I verified the price 3 times via email and specifically asked if that was out the door price. Then at the end, they said they made a mistake on pricing and it ended up costing me about 200 dollars more than what they had told me. I still did it since it was easier and cheaper than all the alternatives. (And I had a feeling they were wrong on the too good to be true price)

I tried getting them to make it up to me, but the manager guy basically said "tough"

I have been happy with the lift though.