anybody know about 2-post hoists?

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rustycowll69

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I have a potential line on a US made, 10 yr old, Rotary brand 10k cap. 2-post lift. what do I need to know about these things to check out before I make an offer? what extra pieces are nice to have? what is involved to install them? what are they going for?
 
If it's not installed an working, about all you can do is take the word--if you trust him---of the seller. Look for bad oil leaks and physical damage. Rotary is a good hoist, being U.S. is a plus. What kind of money are you talking? Give yourself room for repairs, etc. I would not pay over 1000-1200
 
You can't go wrong with a Rotary brand lift. Make sure all the steel pieces are not bent. Look at the cylinders, if they are real greasy they may have a hydraulic leak. Make sure it is 2 phase 220 and not three phase. And if you can hot wire the motor to make sure motor is good. How old is it and what do they want for it?
 
Oh I installed mine using a engine lift and some help from my son in law. Your going to have to check how thick the concrete is where you want to mount it. I poured a slab 20' x 60' and where I put the lift I went over board and pour it at that point 12" thick 4'x 20'. Make sure you get the risers for the pads for use on a truck.
 
You can't go wrong with a Rotary brand lift. Make sure all the steel pieces are not bent. Look at the cylinders, if they are real greasy they may have a hydraulic leak. Make sure it is 2 phase 220 and not three phase. And if you can hot wire the motor to make sure motor is good. How old is it and what do they want for it?
We bought one at an auction of a closed dealership a few years back. $1200 for the lift, 10% for the auctioneer
and disassembly. Came to around $1600. We had 2 guys that install lifts professionally install it. I forget how much
they charged, but to me it was worth it to have them install it and experience no headaches.
 
You can't go wrong with a Rotary brand lift. Make sure all the steel pieces are not bent. Look at the cylinders, if they are real greasy they may have a hydraulic leak. Make sure it is 2 phase 220 and not three phase. And if you can hot wire the motor to make sure motor is good. How old is it and what do they want for it?

You want a single phase motor not a 3 phase. Never heard of a 2 phase.
 
Asymetrical is so its easier to access drivers door.
2500 canadian pesos isnt unreasonable for a decent hoist.
As mentioned, your standard garage slab wont support a 2 post hoist. The anchors drilled in /concentrated weight load on two points will likely break slab.
Supports to ceiling/roof joists will stabilize hoist and improve safety margin.
My preference is a 4 post,much safer although it eats a lot of floor space. I bougt my new backyard buddy for 2500. It was in a shipment that was in a crash, insurance wrote off the load. Young fella bought it at auction and his dad wouldnt let him put it in his shop.
9000 lb version. Have used it daily for nearly 4 years.
 
Most used lifts go for $1000-$1500. Rotary is a Cadillac brand and at $2000 it's about half price of new. I sold a lot of Lifts from Greg Smith Equipment. They are reasonably priced, well built for imported, and Greg Smith is good to work with. Overhead 2 Post Lifts | GSES
 
Most used lifts go for $1000-$1500. Rotary is a Cadillac brand and at $2000 it's about half price of new. I sold a lot of Lifts from Greg Smith Equipment. They are reasonably priced, well built for imported, and Greg Smith is good to work with. Overhead 2 Post Lifts | GSES


this^^ this time of year, they also run a lot of specials. We got our about 6 years ago, 10,000 lb commerical, extra tall, extra wide for just under 2 grand with taxes. Course we went and picked it up and installed our selves. Install is simple. But I'd rent a forklift, we have one and it made the install a breeze lifting the columns into place.


I have a potential line on a US made, 10 yr old, Rotary brand 10k cap. 2-post lift. what do I need to know about these things to check out before I make an offer? what extra pieces are nice to have? what is involved to install them? what are they going for?

If you do buy it, besides whats been mentioned, DO NOT reuse the concrete anchors. Get new ones. 2nd, check out what concrete you have and what the minimum thickness in relation to the tensile strength of the concrete recommended by Rotary is. Our floor is the strongest available PSI rating in the area that we could get and then we added steel rebar in it as well as being 14 inches thick. We ended up getting longer concrete anchors so instead of the 6 inch ones supplied, we went with 10s.

Keep in mind, it has to cure at least a month if you pour fresh. Most garage/residental concrete is going to be the lowest or near lowest PSI rating and only 4-6 inches thick. Wont work for a lift, not a 2 post.
 
I splurged and bought a Rotary 10,000lb assymetrical 2 post like what you are describing. As others mentioned above, the asking price is nearly half the price of a new Rotary lift. Mine cost me about $5k installed. I looked at the other brands, like Atlas at Greg Smith, as well as Bend-Pak and others. I had the money and my wife's only comment was "If you're going to buy a lift, get the best rated one out there. I don't want you standing under a lift that you skimped on".

Truth be told,... I think the Atlas, Bendpak, and some others are fine. $2500 for a ten year old used lift, that you don't know how it was treated seems high! I remember seeing some used ones before I bought mine and they were running $1000-$1500.
 
Supports to ceiling/roof joists will stabilize hoist and improve safety margin.

By the way,... I agree with this completely. Doing this takes a lot of the wobble out. These lifts will flex, even if properly anchored to the floors. Tying it into the rafters helps stop from gaining momentum from cranking on things and makes them more stable.
 
By the way,... I agree with this completely. Doing this takes a lot of the wobble out. These lifts will flex, even if properly anchored to the floors. Tying it into the rafters helps stop from gaining momentum from cranking on things and makes them more stable.
Asymetrical is so its easier to access drivers door.
2500 canadian pesos isnt unreasonable for a decent hoist.
As mentioned, your standard garage slab wont support a 2 post hoist. The anchors drilled in /concentrated weight load on two points will likely break slab.
Supports to ceiling/roof joists will stabilize hoist and improve safety margin.
My preference is a 4 post,much safer although it eats a lot of floor space. I bougt my new backyard buddy for 2500. It was in a shipment that was in a crash, insurance wrote off the load. Young fella bought it at auction and his dad wouldnt let him put it in his shop.
9000 lb version. Have used it daily for nearly 4 years.
pics of how you anchored it to the rafters?
 
I splurged and bought a Rotary 10,000lb assymetrical 2 post like what you are describing. As others mentioned above, the asking price is nearly half the price of a new Rotary lift. Mine cost me about $5k installed. I looked at the other brands, like Atlas at Greg Smith, as well as Bend-Pak and others. I had the money and my wife's only comment was "If you're going to buy a lift, get the best rated one out there. I don't want you standing under a lift that you skimped on".

Truth be told,... I think the Atlas, Bendpak, and some others are fine. $2500 for a ten year old used lift, that you don't know how it was treated seems high! I remember seeing some used ones before I bought mine and they were running $1000-$1500.
I think there is a disparity in cost of living for various parts of the country. I'm pretty sure my area has if not the highest, among the highest std of living in the continental US. This carries over to lots of things, like vehicles, housing, and I'm afraid 2-post lifts, too.
 
These work well to take the rock out of long vehicles. Handy for a lot of other things too.
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Rotary is a great brand. We bought our Rotary lift about 6 years ago and it's been very dependable. I want to say we paid about 1500 to 1600 for it used (but it was barely used). Like others have said thicker concrete is important to support it. We lift out 3/4 ton quad cab cummins no problem and it's rock steady.

Oh and it's the asymmetrical 2 post hoist as can be seen in this picture lifting my dads 70 Cuda.
20180212_120732[1].jpg
 
Rotary is a great brand. We bought our Rotary lift about 6 years ago and it's been very dependable. I want to say we paid about 1500 to 1600 for it used (but it was barely used). Like others have said thicker concrete is important to support it. We lift out 3/4 ton quad cab cummins no problem and it's rock steady.

Oh and it's the asymmetrical 2 post hoist as can be seen in this picture lifting my dads 70 Cuda.
View attachment 1715144830
how high is your ceiling? I see you have the auto shut off above the car roof. How does it work? Is it foolproof?
 
how high is your ceiling? I see you have the auto shut off above the car roof. How does it work? Is it foolproof?

We've got 12 foot ceilings in our shop. As far as I can remember we've never had anything hit the auto shut off before. I had my Durango on the lift and our Cummins 2500 Ram and even all the way up they don't touch it. Maybe if you had a really tall van like a sprinter it would hit the shut off switch.
 
I bought a Bendpak 4 post lift 12 years ago, glad I did. We had Rotary 2 and 4 post lifts at work, definitely a quality product. I think my Bendpak was a copy of the Rotary.

Picked it up at the truck freight terminal, unloaded it with my cherry picker and a gantry crane, then used them to set it up. I got to watch professionals set up new lifts at work, good educational experience that helped me out, wasn't hard to do.
 
There are a number of things that need to be checked. Cylinders don't fail commonly, but You don't want to be dealing with the mess of any seeping, and having to keep an
eye on the fluid level...so that's 1st. The balance cables fatigue & the bearings on the sheaves for them wear out, those are next. You don't want to be tempted by an older
lift by low $$$ because of the lack of modern safety features. Chief among them are auto engaging/dual-full releasing locks, and spring-loaded arm locks that prevent the
arms from moving/kicking out. Trust Me, they matter. Generally, the condition of the unit overall will tell You if it's been taken care of, ten years is pretty young for a quality
lift. But it is also when a lot of maintenance would be due if nothing has been done to it. It is a top notch lift so, if local prices are high, then that's about right.
 
pics of how you anchored it to the rafters?

I haven't yet, but my neighborhood mechanic did. I will do the same as he did. He mounted eyebolts in a 2x8 that he mounted across multiple rafters on both sides of the lift. Then he made turn-buckles (kind of like tie-rod assemblies) that he ran from the top cross rail of the lift to the eyebolts in the rafters (both directions). Then he could tighten the turnbuckles on each side until they had equal pressure and held the hoist from moving back and forth.
 
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