One of my BIL's asked me to help him research/find a lift to put in his garage. Because of the configuration of the garage it is going to have to be a baseplate style. So far my research has found:
Atlas BP-9000
Dannmar Admiral 9000x
BendPak XPR-9
Anybody have any experience with any of these?
Get a Rotary lift, best bang for the buck and you can get part's or service from any lift company years down the road.
Junk ----Atlas BP-9000
Never head of this one ---Dannmar Admiral 9000x
More junk----BendPak XPR-9
Hal wrote: Because of the configuration of the garage it is going to have to be a baseplate style.
Donebrokeit wrote: Get a Rotary lift,
?????
Missed that part, sorry. Have you looked into one of these?
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200358064_200358064
Co-worker had one in his personal shop, he never complained about it. Have you called http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/ they are in DE, one more thought have you called and local lift company's? They tend to have a few used lifts sitting around.
As for bend pack and atlas most of the lifts (suck to use) you cannot get parts for after only 10 years, I have seen many of them cut up with a torch and sold for scrap.
Paul
Search garagejournal.com for a gazillion threads on any and all those lifts. DON'T start another thread with the question, though. Or somebody will just tell you to search the gazillion existing threads.
Watching with interest, I'm about to get a lift too. The basement of my house being built is a walk-out with 12' ceilings. It currently has 6' double doors, so a Miata size car will fit, but once the house is done, I'm having the doors widened to 8'. The area is the size of of a normal 2 car garage. I was leaning towards BendPak or Max Jax.
I bought this used Rotary lift from a tire shop going out of business for 1k. I wish I had bought one sooner. I don't know if they make a baseplate style. their customer service is excellent. I called to get an installation manual and they emailed it to me in about 5 min.
+1 for Garagejournal.
If on a budget, it seems they're all about the same. Like asking whether you like Ford/Chevy/Dodge best.
If on less of a budget, Mohawk. They offer a low ceiling lift that doesn't use a base-plate. The cross-over hydraulics are adjustable so you can get them right up against the ceiling or into/through joist space. There's a thread about them on GJ (search "oldcarguy" threads, IIRC). The main down-side is they are around 2X the price of most budget 2-post lifts. http://www.mohawklifts.com/wp/consumer/automotive-lifts/2-post-lifts/
I just bought a used Benwil GPO7 for $1000. Hulluva heavy duty piece of Japanese equipment, formerly used in a GM dealer. Buddy of mine seems to think he can get a similar lift from his local dealer as they are about to upgrade for $600. That thing has got to be $1000 worth of steel HEAAAAAVY. Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there - used lifts can be bargains, local, and more serious duty than the residential grade ones.
In contrast, another friend of mine bought one from Greg Smith equipment in Indy, $1800 delivered, and is thrilled with it.
But that's just MY opinion
Make sure whatever you buy is certified by the Automotive Lift Institute. A lot of the off shore made lifts do not comply and I would stay away from them. I personally have a Bend Pak lift. I bought it for personal use after years of using that brand lift professionally. They are not junk as one of the seemingly biased members here stated. They are all ALI certified and made in the USA (to my knowledge). They are affordable and well built. But there are others that are also good, so just do your homework on it and you'll find what you need.
OK, more info:
The garage is 24'x 30' with 2 8' wide doors on the 24' end. unfortunately it has 8' walls and a 5/12 pitch roof which rules out a lift with an overhead connection between posts (too tall).
The 3 lifts I posted are the only ones I found which would fit and have a reasonable lifting capacity.
The BendPak and Dannmar lifts are ALI certified. The Atlas is not but comes from Greg Smith Equipment who seems to get good ratings as a company.
The BendPak and Dannmar lifts would probably be bought from Northern Tool with free shipping. But they are ~$1000 more than the Atlas. We could go pick up the Atlas from Greg Smith in DE (he has truck and trailer).
Side note: Since he does a lot of work on lawn tractors and similar equipment I have been pushing the idea of a MaxJax but it probably would not be able to lift his truck.
In reply to Hal:
Northern doesn't have good pricing on Bend Pak Lifts. I'd shop around a little for that one. The company I bought mine from is no longer in business, or I'd give you a link.
This is a product that you are trusting your life with. I wouldn't consider a non-cert lift regardless of how cheap it is, but that's just me.
Klayfish wrote: Watching with interest, I'm about to get a lift too. The basement of my house being built is a walk-out with 12' ceilings. It currently has 6' double doors, so a Miata size car will fit, but once the house is done, I'm having the doors widened to 8'. The area is the size of of a normal 2 car garage. I was leaning towards BendPak or Max Jax.
I have a MaxJax and I'd say get the full-size lift if you have the ceiling height and don't need/want the MaxJax's portability.
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