Garage Lifts?

[Brit Biker]

anybody have one? know a reasonable source?
I'm moving to a new to me house, leaving a quite large double car garage for a single ( yes I know I'm an idiot) but its where I want to live right now. So I'm looking for a car hoist/lift.
It will not ever lift a car, well never say never, however I plan on putting a floor deck on it and it will become a huge deck to store sailboat sails on. Deck itself will wiegh 600lbs, sails about 1000lbs total.
An offsite storage space is $175 a month, so this thing will pay for itself in 2 yrs?
Putting them inside the house itself is an option however I've already constripted what was a finished basement as a workshop, gas fireplace and frenchdoors to the backyard out of my shop. I'm pushing my luck with storage.
Thoughts anybody?

I picked up a 4 post lift from the Lift Super Store in Oakville. Speers Road. At first I thought I would only use it for storage of bikes. I made 3 removable floor sections out of wood and can put 4 Bikes on it. When I Lift it up I'm 5'8" and walk under it easily. I put ATV under it when its up. I've used it for lifting heavy stuff out of back of pick up by spanning a small I beam across and mounting a winch off ATV then hoist stuff out of the truck. It come with removable wheels so when its lowered down the posts are counter levered off the ground. You can push it to different areas out of the way. I use it for car and truck repairs, oil changes, wheel changes and so on. One of the best things I invested in. Fairly easy to put together however it is heavy when trying to unload and unpack it. You will need 2 people. If you pick it up yourself you need a car hauler or long trailer depending on the size of lift you buy.

 

[mimico_polak]

I picked up a 4 post lift from the Lift Super Store in Oakville. Speers Road. At first I thought I would only use it for storage of bikes. I made 3 removable floor sections out of wood and can put 4 Bikes on it. When I Lift it up I'm 5'8" and walk under it easily. I put ATV under it when its up. I've used it for lifting heavy stuff out of back of pick up by spanning a small I beam across and mounting a winch off ATV then hoist stuff out of the truck. It come with removable wheels so when its lowered down the posts are counter levered off the ground. You can push it to different areas out of the way. I use it for car and truck repairs, oil changes, wheel changes and so on. One of the best things I invested in. Fairly easy to put together however it is heavy when trying to unload and unpack it. You will need 2 people. If you pick it up yourself you need a car hauler or long trailer depending on the size of lift you buy.

You have a pic of this setup? Would love to see it.

 

[Relax]

You can't go wrong with a 4-post for versatility - it doesn't require any specific concrete thickness since it doesn't need to be bolted down like a 2-post, do you can move it around if necessary. You can work on a car or bike, you can use it for storage, and you can use it as a hoist. I got a Bendpak HD-7W and a bridge jack back when the dollar was close to par. Should have gotten two jacks, but I wasn't sure I'd need 2, and now they're just stupid expensive. It's been great, but I did have to get them to keep sending me parts that were either wrong or damaged in shipping. Eventually it all got sorted out, but if you're expecting it to come all nice and shiny, forget it - some scratches and dents are inevitable, but they do send you a couple cans of spray paint. It was fun to put together myself with one other person and a borrowed engine hoist. Of course, once you start storing stuff up on it, it becomes a pain to unload it all to work on your car (or bike), so I eventually installed a pallet rack mezzanine in the the other half of the garage for even more storage.

 

[Relax]

 

[Relax]

And here's the mezzanine I picked up from a tire shop that was getting rid of it. I widened it so I could fit my SUV between the uprights, but then kept acquiring more crap that ended up under it, so the SUV stays on the driveway.

 

[mimico_polak]

@Relax That's awesome thanks for sharing. I'd love one of those but my garage height is only about 96" or so.

Thinking of something similar to your second photo there, as that can be suited as good storage for stuff above the car without a lift. The Odyssey can be on the one side, and this thing can be on the other where a sedan will sit. Thanks!

 

[crankcall]

since my new house is in Oakville , the lift store is about 4kms away. They have a 4 post that looks perfect, I just need to get into new house and confirm I have ceiling hieght.
Going to a warehouse racking shop, there is one on the N service road in Oakville and getting a commercial rack that will span the garage is also a perfect idea.
you guys have been very helpful. Expensive helpful, but good ideas are not usually cheap ideas.

 

[Clutt-225]

I’m the guy with the Cobra Replica that was mentioned.
My lift is a carlift.ca but I think they have gone out of business.
Very close to a direct lift as mentioned above.
I have friends with direct lift and one with bendpak.
The bendpak is definitely the nicer lift then mine or direct lift.

 

[Trials]

Confirm you have the ceiling height how many houses come with a garage that has a 14'+ ceiling ?
... I think you are going to need to build that one.

 

[Clutt-225]

Confirm you have the ceiling height how many houses come with a garage that has a 14'+ ceiling ?
... I think you are going to need to build that one.

Yes confirm your height
Mine is only 10’ but I can’t put a real car up top. And I hit my head often when walking under.

 

[Relax]

Sounds like OP mainly wants it for storage since he's also considering pallet racking which would be way cheaper. But many lift owners have "regular" garage heights and still make do. You might not be able to park another car under it, but it sure beats working on your back. Now that I remember, another thing that swayed me towards Bendpak was they had a charts with just about every measurement you would think of asking about to confirm fitment. This included post heights, individual lock heights, minimum height required to lift above locks to unlock them, etc.

 

[crankcall]

@ relax , exactly . I need 9ft 4in to fit the lift in. I’m not stacking cars , I’m moving a platform up and down which will hold storage. The other option is a utility trailer living on the lift , it’s 30” tall.
The pallet racking is going at the front of the garage since the uprights can be at the outside walls and the beams can span the 12 ft . If I set the racking at the front of the garage the 4 post lift can fill the rest of the space .


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