[AlanTA]

I'm getting ready to purchase my lift. I think I have it narrowed down to either a Bend Pak or Rotary. The Rotary looks slightly better, but is almost $1000 more. I'd rather put that money into a car The Bend Pak looks good though ($2350 delivered) and they say they have been around for 40 years... Any other recommendations or opinions? The model I'm looking at is an asym-2 post...

Thanks

[flyfisher]

There's no better lift than a Rotary in my humble opinion. I'm not a pro, but my lift is a Rotary. I've never had any kind of problems what so ever. I haven't even done any maintenance on it except for making a new plate for the cables, new cables, and hoses when I first bought it seven years ago. I bought it second hand from a Rotary dealer who bought it from a GM dealership and the plate was destroyed in transport. It suffers the cold, (the shop is heated but not all the time), the heat, overloading, and cycles up and down just about as much as it would if it were in a pro's shop. I should probably get the refurbish kit just for it's age, but it's solid, so why bother? The new hoists are made way better than mine so I could just imagine how easy and maintenance free these new hoists are especially the asymetricals.

My father-in-law looks after a licenced shop and they have a Ford-Smith. It's a tinker toy compared with a similar Rotary.

The Rotary guy is a friend and he drops by every now and then and checks out the hoist. He always tries to sell me another one, and I always tell him that when this one goes, I'll buy another Rotary. I am so sold on this brand of hoist, I'll never get another brand. There are Rotary posters in my shop to go with the Chevy and GM posters, I like to advertise the brands that have done well for me.

I know they cost a little more, but when you have to hang a couple of tons over your head do you really want to give the job to the lowest bidder or the best designed and built?