What can any of you tell me about them? My All Purpose Boy is always doing his own wrenching (and mine!). I worry and wish he had one in his pole barn.

Rotary is great for the dollars spent.
Challenger is excellent but pricey.
Worth makes good stuff, but they want you to pay in full 90 days in advance. they also use old technology of chain over hydraulics, but they do make a sturdy lift.

There's a bunch of Chinese brands that are pretty reliable but not built as heavy as the other brands. Whatever size you're thinking of getting, go up one size in the Chinese brands.

Joe

I have a pair of 9000lb rotary's that are 20 years old and going strong. Replaced the switch on the one, only problem I had.

It takes about 13 foot of ceiling height and a minimum of 4 inches of concrete if I remember right. It might take a little less head room with the ones that have the cables running across the floor instead of over the top like the ones I bought.

Easy to install, couple hours.

I've got an Atlas 2 post. It is awesome and I thought, very affordable.


https://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Atlas-9KOHX

Whatever you get, go with an asymmetrical design. We have 3 symmetrical ones and they make it a pain in the butt.to get in and out of the vehicle once it's positioned, even for me at 180lbs. For the bigger guys at my work it's almost impossible. Plus if you decide you need to do some work inside.tge.vehixle while it's on the lift, it just ain't gonna happen, you'll have to take the.vehicle off the lift and back it up.

Yep, what goose added! I forgot that.


I'll also add this.......

Like I said above, I bought the ones with an open floor and my cables run across overhead. This is great for cars and pick-ups, but not good for work trucks and vans that have roof/ladder racks on them. Those vehicles I can only get about 5' off the floor before the rack hits the overhead structure holding the cables.

The open floor does have its advantages tho when rolling a tranny Jack and such underneath. Plus, I like the added stability of the bar across the top

We have 2 older rotary lifts at work been there 17 years and they havent had major issues. Not impressed with our bendpak drive on lift though.

Just remember no matter which brand you buy, that you lower it down on the safety latches before walking under it. Because otherwise all that is holding the car from fallingnon your head is a .02 cent Chinese o ring.

Thanks for all the pointers guys. It's appreciated!

I got an Atlas 2 post lift last year. It was a fairy easy install with the right tools. It hasn't let us down yet and is fairly simple.

One thing is for sure once you work on a vehicle with a lift you won't ever go without one again!

We've installed a few two-post racks in new construction. Required big concrete footings. We just poured one footing, like a grade beam. I think they were 2' wide x 2' deep, x the width of the lift with rebar in the footings and j-bolts wrapped around rebar at almost full depth.

I have looked at several used ones over the years on govdeals.com - government surplus auction website. Haven't pulled the trigger. A lot of government equipment gets sold before it's worn out.

The Atlas I got only required 4" of concrete.

Mr Morse, stop out at the scrap yard and check out our light duty hoist. Probably all you need and relatively inexpensive. Josh can give you specs and costs. Good safety features.

Thanks Greg. I'm stuck at home for a bit.....vehicle troubles! Lol.