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I am extending my garage and thinking about one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-POST-LIFT-C ... 1441516761

Has anyone experience of these 'hobby' type lifts - are they any good?

I would be interested to hear of any other lift options - it needs to lift a Mini obviously , an Elan and possibly a Mk1 Escort (SWMBO does not know yet) - so nothing heavy or large

....a pit is out of the question as we have running sand

Jon

I don't have experience of them, but I've been looking at scissor type lifts as they seem less intrusive. The better ones still have free access down the middle and if your putting in a new floor they can be sunk in flush.

we have a big four post at home and its great

two posts always give me the 'fear' as ive know of two customers loose minis off them when they came unbalanced..........

both of them where garages as well, so they should have known how to use them!



a mate of mine does big American cars and uses a two post, they do give great access to be fair to them - its just that worry of all that weight titter-tottering about on the arms that worries me!

A few of the places where I have worked have had hoists of a few different types, by far I'd say the 2 poster for a Mini would be go, that's just my own view from my own experience. The 4 poster type that Rich has is also really good for many jobs too, including wheel alignments (as long as it's a good quality hoist) and in all fairness Rich, i think one could loose a car as easily off a 4 poster and a 2 poster

One thing I will add in regards to a 2 poster is the floor does need to be considerably better than does for a 4 poster, as the weight is canter-levered on the 2 poster's legs as well as supporting the weight of the vehicle, on the 4 poster, it's only a (theoretical) quarter of the weight per leg, with very little or no cater-levering at all. <edit - one other thing in regards to 2 vs 4 poster, if the car is at all rusty, don't use a 2 poster. - end edit>

Regardless, a hoist can give you an extra parking space too (for that Escort ).

Certainly that particular hoist does appear to tick all the boxes in terms of safety features, however check it out in this regards for yourself, I'm sure there are some guides / standards which you could refer. You'll also want to consider decent lighting from the posts and / or floor as when the vehicle is raised, it will cast a shadow seemingly right where you need to look and work I also find I have to wear saftey glasses or goggles when working under a hoist (I guess we should wear them in any event).

Personally - and this is my own view based probably on how I tend to do most jobs - I don't like hoists for working on Minis, well for doing most jobs on them, I find them too much too slow, about the only job I find them handy for is hanging exhausts, however for most rear drive vehicles (like the Escort), a hoist I'm sure could be a godsend.

Some good advice and observations there - many thanks.

Spider - It's primarily for my rear drive fleet but it will be great for double stacking cars - Lotus below and Mini on top

The Lotus is a pig to work on beneath as it's so low and there are very few reliable jacking points. As has been said I would probably not use it much for the Mini

I have pretty much made up my mind to get the Ebay one - looks to be very good value and also a well established supplier

Cheers

Jon

Don't know a lot about them except,
a) if for mini do they go low enough 100mm? or will you need drive up blocks?
b) offset ones are available so you don't have to squeeze out between door and post and bang the door everytime
c) does thereach of the arms fit the mini.. at over 2800mm apart some hoist arms limit where you can put them... not ideal on the soft underbits of a mini

Morning all,

I originally considered a two post lift but couldn't decide where to put it as it was always going to be in the way of something.

I went for one of these instead:




It only cost £500 and, with fork extensions on (another £100), it works pretty well. You can even go outside on sunny days! It parks up out of the way with the only downside being that you need 3 phase for the charger.

There is a cracking pic of a Works Rally Car on one of those being worked on.

If it was good enough for them . . . . .

Well since the discussion has wandered that way..........

Here's my lift



(but don't try that at home folks - saftey first)

also doubles as an engine lift



a work bench



body lift



a panel beater's do-hicky



an EWP (but I have no photos of that, could be incriminating)

Oh and it does sometimes also get used for moving pallets.

Very handy tool, quite universal, every home and workshop should have one

do I win?

classic race transporter used as a ramp

classic jcb 3cx used as a lifting beam!

That'd be the outdoor all terain universal tool

Nice one, love it

depends on what the main purpose of the lift is for

when i built my new shop a couple of years ago space was an issue and it had to be set out fairly well, i laboured over the thought of lifts.

Two post lifts are great for access to front and rear of the car and the underside, but they are terrible if you want to work on the sides of the vehicle, i.e bodywork or working on the doors etc plus they take up a fair bit of room

So i went for a platform lift and i recessed it into the floor so it takes up zero space, it also has a space up the middle between the platforms, 100% access all round any vehicle good access front and back, slightly limited on the sill are and floor pan areas

Most of the pro shops around here use two posters.

Both my mates who have home lifts use 2 posters as well. Works a treat on Minis - last job was replacement of the Travellers fuel tank..

When you buy a lift it should come with installation specs which will mandate a reinforced concrete floor with a specific thickness. Although, insufficient floor strength can be overcome using plate steel reinforcements.

Cheers, Ian

I was planning to put a lifting table in the floor. Here I test it





But ended up buying a used pro 2-post. I wanted one without the hump on the floor. Makes moving a non-functional car easyer. The downside is of course lower lifting hight, but I can lift my wife's Saab 9-5 and still walk under, so I'm happy

I've just fitted this, having used other peoples 2 post lifts I didn't want anything else.

Nice Energy Saver light Bill

We have a two poster ramp, brilliant bit of kit.