[mike69]

Guys,

I need help getting a solution to an unusual problem. I have a portable car lift that I need to get outside my garage, but it won't clear my garage door by 6 inches. It looks much like a big pallet jack that you might see at home depot. What I was planning on doing was lifting the lift by it's legs and tilting it until the top cleared the door, but I don't know how I should lift it. I have been thinking of hooking up a winch to the trailer hitch of my pickup and lifting it that way. Another thought was to possibly adapt my engine hoist to lift it up. My fear is that I don't want it to be able to fully flip backwards if it gets a little too high, so I've been thinking of linking it to my pickup's trailer hitch somehow. Anybody have any thoughts?

Mike

 

[NEW INTERIORS]

Try and post a picture,, Then we will be able to give you a idea..

 

[dinger]

I can kind of picture the proble. Do you have open rafters to where you can tie a rope or a winch to keep the lift from falling over? If you're loading this into a truck, back the truck up to pivot the lift on, make it easy to load, again a winch or rope to tie off.

 

[mike69]

Here is a pic. You can see the lift is high. I need to get it outside to do some work out there but it is too high by six inches. I was thinking of lifting it by the lower legs to tilt it low enough to clear the door. I'm thinking about how to lift it up but also keep it from flipping back. I'm working on fabing up a bracket to secure my engine hoist to my pickup's trailer hitch. Anybody have any thoughts?

Mike

 

[OneMoreTime]

I used the tower from my engine hoist to make a truck mounted crane..i have a pic in my photo album..all I did was weld a 2x2 tube that slips into the reciever and I had to make a couple of straps from the top of the tower that went back into the bed so to help support the tower..works real well for projects when one has to move heavy stuff..the little winch was an addition that helps if one needs to balance a load..

Sam

 

[dinger]

That puppy is huge. One problem I can foresee is keeping it from kicking out when you tip it back. Lift the bottom, control the lift with a chain hoist attached to a roof truss. Lift the bottom to where you can tip it back, control the tipping with the hoist so it doesn't crash backwards. A 2x4 under the legs, should probably strap it someway, lift the 2x4 in the middle with a floor jack. tilt it back far enough to lower it unto a dolly or maybe your pick up bed, roll it out, controlling the jack as you roll out.

 

[mike69]

Thanks guys. OneMoreTime, that truck set up looks very similar to what I'm fabing up, except I'm leaving the engine hoist complete and letting it stay on the ground. The connection to the trailer hitch is just to keep control of the whole thing. I really like the addition of the winch! That would be perfect to keep control of this thing and keep it from tipping. I think I'm on the right track!

Mike

 

[coostv]

That lift is interesting. Where did you find it? What is its capacity?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[mike69]

I got it off the internet from a place called ASE, American Service Equipment. It is made from a company called Workhorse Lifts and it has a 6,000 lb capacity. It has performed fairly well for the two months I have had it, with only some minor issues. I really wanted that portable Bend-Pak unit, I think it is called the ML-6. Here is a link to it and if you look at the bottom of the page you will see that the ML-6 has been discontinued and this unit is the replacement http://www.asedeals.com/portable_lift.html This unit is clearly not made to the quality of the Bend Pak piece (I have another four post lift from them) but it is adequate for the home restorer IMHO. Most of this lifts shorcomings can be dealt with by the average restorer.