Lift finally installed in new shop...
 

It took me a year to get up the guts to install my lift by myself in a new shop. All the pieces are really heavy and hard to deal with so it took a while to get going. I wanted it flat and not in the way when not in use and that has worked out well. Found all kinds of uses for it now that it is working, including putting wife's car at the right height to do some wheel work, just for fun. It's a Greg Smith Equipment 7000# platform lift (Chinese with American certifications for what that's worth). As I remember it was about $3,200 at the time I bought it a couple of years ago, plus a couple hundred dollars for longer hoses and connections to make it fit where I wanted. It was made to just sit on the floor with tiny ramps if "in-floor" was not your thing. Not a recommendation but I will say it is made well and extremely heavy, which surprised me a bit. I took a good number of pictures on the install so if anyone in interested I'm happy to send them along. By the way, I was able to pull the transmission out of my Backdraft between the lift platforms easily and so far have not found them to be of any restriction. But then I really haven't used it for much more than cleaning and maintenance on the Cobra. So, this is more of a FIY post and to maybe spur on those that might be hesitating..... like I was.

Nice job on the install, that certainly looks like it will come in handy.

Best regards,
Byron

That is a very nice installation and your garage floor is really nice also. I wish I had room for something like that.

Ron

Looks nice. Nice job on the installation. Is that real hardwood on the floor or some kind of laminate? No way I could get away with a hardwood floor up here, or even a wood fiber based laminate with all of the salt and moisture we have.

The floor is is cheap Lowe's vinyl plank self stick tile over very smooth concrete. I have done this in our race shops before because it makes a nice looking floor and if you damage it, which you will, you just peel up the damaged area and put new strips down. The stuff is less than a dollar a sq foot and most of it will never be replaced. Super easy to clean as oil and such just wipes up like it was on glass. You can even put a coat of urethane over it if you want it super shiny. Catch it on sale for about 60 cents a sq foot. Buy extra for repair and you are good to go.

Curious, is the vinyl slippery when wet?

Have you used it to park an every day driver car in the winter, with snow and salt dripping off?

Did you have to acid clean the floor before this would stick?

I love the look and price.

I looked into these before I bought my 2 poster.I really like them. Most of the time the 2 posts are in the way and I had to go through the shed roof because it was a free floor type.And the columns are 4 meters. I had trouble finding a scissor lift high enough for me to stand under.6'2.
JD

The vinyl plank is really though stuff, nothing seems to bother it except dropping something really heavy and pointed on it, like a transmission. Just think old time linoleum and you have it. It's not slippery at all because it has "wood grain" pattern pressed into the vinyl. I have parked a heavy sedan on it after a trip with super hot tires here in Texas and it hasn't ever picked up, at least not yet. Dripping stuff won't hurt it as the edges seal down well so nothing get under it at all. The floor was new concrete construction so it was made super smooth so this stuff sticks to it like glass. Probably not good for a welding shop since it's really just plastic.

Very nice installation.