Thanks, I like it even more now that I finished the third bay this morning. I don't have to crop out my Land Rover's bay anymore. :-) Nothing like the feeling of being 'more or less' done. Things always change but it's unlikely my floor will.

 

nice garage, I like the lotus also.

 

Very cool storage lift! i've never seen that in a home garage before

 

I'm by no means an expert forum traveler but I do visit several exotic forums regularly and to date have only seen one unusual 'side' style lift (like a fork lift....) and my Harding steel lift amongst the myriad of 2-4posters. Odd. I like how the entry end of the garage is so free from bits of the lift with mine. I'm also under the impression that a lot of these well off car owners (I'm certainly not one of them) do NOT do work on their own cars nor need access to the underside of them. Yet they buy the cheap 2-4 posters anyway. Could just be my perspective or something but seems odd that mine is the only one I've seen on any of the forums I visit.

 

Nothing really trend setting or all that newsworthy but I tried out the carpet tiles advertised as good enough for the garage floor itself, (Tuff Carpet I believe they're called) only I just needed them for the rear walking area around the door and workbench. They sure look good and it's nice not to have to deal with all the thrown down carpet runners etc I was using before.

To do the entire width of the 3 car garage was about $200. I say about since I actually spent $250 but ended up with quite a few left over tiles....

The gray and red are the swiss trax on the main garage floor and the black and gray are the newly added carpet tiles. I like.

 

Well, you can now say you've seen a second one :






I love your garage, by the way, probably because it is like mine in some ways. My Harding Steel lift was $10K installed, sold to me by a distributor, who also did the rest of the garage, so $5K for a slightly used lift or even $8,500 for a new one seem like good prices to me. I agree that it is an excellent, solid lift. I did have some initial problems with the installer, but the lift itself has been trouble-free. I would get another one if I had the space (or more cars). I do only minimal maintenance myself and use it primarily to save space and for storage.

 

Oh, and to answer one of the other questions people have had, I would guess that 9' 6" to 10' is probably about right in terms of minimum ceiling height to put one of these in. My ceiling is 12', and there is 2' to 2' 6" clearance between my ceiling and the high point on the GT500.

 

Awesome! I was beginning to wonder if the Harding steel products were only going to commercial use and dealerships etc. At any rate nice vehicles too (I should hope to shout...) in going along with a nice lift, and is that Swiss Trax Diamond trax I see there?

 

It's Gladiator Garageworks.

 

Nothing new, just many hours reconfiguring the lift for a different resident. The Sunbeam has left the building....

I tried this config first, and I liked it but head banging on the lift and the inability of the mechanical lock to engage sent me on to plan B.



All but the tallest could walk under the lift here and it's mechanical lock is securely engaged. Took a while due to many unforseen issues relating to the standard garage doors and some peculiarities of the Esprit, but it's set up once again.

 

Do you have to park the car on top with back first or do you just do that for more clearance? What is the advantage over a four post lift other than the posts getting in the way? Would you say the Harding is easier to use overall than a four post?

 

I think the Harding feels the way a BMW feels compared to a chevy. The build quality, the way it works and the sounds it makes and then the icing is the fact that it doesn't require modification of the garage, which I believe both "post" type require attachment to the floor. When I move, you won't even know the lift was there. Cherry on top for me is that I lucked into this one and the cost was (from what I understand) only about that of 2-4 post lifts.

Regarding the way I parked the Lotus on it, it was the original plan, but after some of the changes I had to make because of the low clearance door, it may have been better nosed in. I was being conscious of the spoiler in my original plan for reversing in.

To use the lift, I turn a key, push a button to lift the car a few inches to release the mechanical cam lock and then release the hydraulic pressure with another lever to lower it. That's the whole procedure. It may be as easy to use as a post lift but not sure how they could be any easier than the Harding.

Honestly, the marks against the Harding....full floor doesn't allow maintenance (which the Harding was not intended for, and I don't do undercar maintenance anyway) and the cost new is about double (at a guess) of the other lifts.

 

I like that lift....and I probably have 9 ish foot ceilings with my garage door going almost against the roof. Probably is the stupid 7ish foot header in front of the garage coming about 2 to 4 feet out...it might be a push to get this in there...I'm really wanting a lift so, I won't rest until I find a way to do it!

However...$10k for the lift...might be a stopping point. Most 4 post way less but, probably take up more space.

Any suggestions from anyone out there with a small 20x20 garage with low ceilings and a lift..I'd be interested in what you did!

 

This may be a long shot, but does anyone know if lotus907 is still active on this site?