Never trust the salesman

[Dargo]

Heck, if I built something like that I could move it around on a carpet dolly and use it as a pair of ramps to unload tractors from a semi when I get a load!

Really nice idea and the fab work looks great!

Why not start a new topic and show us the progress!!

Ken

You're peeking!! I just came in from starting a fire in the woodstove in the barn and moved one track out of the way to work on the other. That is, I pushed it out of the way on two carpet dollys I bought for $15 each at Rural King. I was going to make flip down wheels on each so you could lock the "landing gear" down and roll them off when not needed, but for zero time and $60 total (two sets of 2 dollys) that issue was handled. And, they are engineered to hold 12,000 pounds when only supported on each end.

Thanks for the kind words. I actually have the engineer from a local steel works factory coming by today to help finish the design of how they attach to the lift arms. He's the one who also did the research on what size channel to use for the strength I needed. They will be movable to adjust to the width of different machines I want to lift. They will handle everything from my 1 ton diesel dually to my ZTR Grasshopper mowers. The only issue is that the geometry of the attachment points will have to be able to move when the lift arms extend and retract if I attach to the lift pads or have a pin drop through the holes if I unscrew the lift pads. If you can picture it, the lift pads actually get further apart from each other as you extend the lift arms. That creates an issue if I want to use them as a point of attachment unless I use a 1" pin in a slotted piece on the drive on ramps.

Ah, I'm probably not describing it right. I have some other ideas as well does the engineer. If there is any interest, I can start a thread on the drive on ramps for a 2 post lift. No such product exists (believe me, I looked). The closest is a set of ramps that you drive on but the ramps hinge away and the vehicle is picked up by the rocker panels. With show cars, that would be a huge problem for me. Those are called "fast lane express" adaptors or something like that. If I took my car into a shop and they picked it up by the rocker panels, there would be heck to pay and likely a law suit. I want the ease of a 4 post lift, the limited floor space used of a 2 post lift, the ability to simply drive on and drive off of a 4 post lift, and the ability to do brake, wheel rotations, and suspension jobs as well without having to mess with 2 separate jack trays and the jacks needed with a 4 post lift. Make sense?

 

[MrJimi]

Dusty, would driving your tires over a 2 X 6 or a 2 X 8 lift the tires enough to clear these ramps?

 

[George2615]

Dargo,
I too would be interested in a follow up on your drive on ramps for my two post lift. I've been thinking about building something similar for servicing the 4 wheeler, tractor, mower and anything else that I can't use the lift pads for but haven't come up with a way to secure them to the lift pads. I did make a drive on ramp for my motorcycle that clamps to the lift arms on on one side. I figured it was safe since I'm only lifting a 750# bike.
Start a new thread and keep us informed.

Thanks, George