What to do when more stuff keeps piling up in the garage and you can no longer fit all the motorcycles, lawn tractor, trailer, cement mixer, woodworking machines... ?
After building 2 workshops inside the garage, I now had a giant loft floor that looked shamefully empty. So, time for a garage lift, before it comes to that:
Since I could not find a ready made lift that
was either affordable or adequate, I had to make one. It was only a last resort desperate decision after exhausting any and all other options, I swear... 😅
It is simply based on a Lunmar boat lift kit, adapted to fit between the trusses, and coupled to a rigid platform with vertical guiding + bearing posts.
Note: this
is still a work in progress. The last touches are now being added, like
closing gates to secure the items on the platform, safety labels,
hinged loading ramp, etc.
This post gives an overview of the major elements of the system. But first, let's crack a beer and watch this hillbilly system at work:
Motor: from a Lunmar 3000lbs boat lift kit: https://lunmarboatlifts.com/collections/wood-mount/products/lunmar-3000-sling-kit-wood-mount-1
Electricals: to increase safety
in case of children and 3rd party having access to the lift area, the
following changes were made:
- swapped the Lunmar kit's "Maintained" type reversing motor switch for a "Momentary" one. To ensure operator presence & attention
- added a Key Switch to deactivate the system when not in use
- connected a blinking warning light to the key switch. The flashes can be seen throughout the garage when power is on
Cable spools: the spool holders & pulleys came with the Lunmar kit. Four 2x8s were attached to the trusses, forming a frame cradle to mount the cable hardware to.
Load bearing & guiding posts: to offload the trusses & roof structure, and guide the platform to prevent it from swinging around, 2 vertical square steel pipes are mounted along the workshop's wall, bearing on the slab. Each is connected to the truss that supports the cable load on its respective side (cable spool in the picture below, or pulley on the right side in the pic above).
 |
| Load bearing post (vertical black bar in the center) |
The platform rides along those posts, secured against sideway and front&back motion by a wheel and finger pinch holder positioned around a welded lip on each post
Platform: simply built with 2x3s and an upper / lower assembly of glued & screwed plywood sheets. Similar principle to a honeycomb structure w stressed skins. Extremely rigid, no sign of flex even with a 350lbs motorcycle and a 190lbs pig jumping up and down 😅
More on that build, CAD model, etc, in Garage Lift - Part 2 Boop !
More on that build, CAD model, etc, in Garage Lift - Part 2 Boop !
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