building a motorcycle lift.

[Harrison2]

so im wanting to build some thing like this:

its only lifting 3 wheelers so a scissor jack is my main choice of lifting effort simply because I can get one for free and they provide greater lift height than a 1tonne or 2 tonne hydraulic bottle jack. plus il just put a drill on the screw arm and put a support in once its at lift height to take the weight off the jack.

the main aim of the build is to do it as cheap as possible, i had originally planned on making it from wood because I have alot of that to hand but ive realised doing it from steel will just be easier to work with so il see what i can pile together to make it from.

hope to make a start tomorrow with the main trestle in steel atleast.

 

[bochnak]

How much do you plan on spending in materials?

FWIW, I bought my handy 1000 for $425 used.

 

[Harrison2]

ermmm plan on spending nothing on it,

have scrap steel a work and got some wheels plus plenty of fixings etc.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I have some experience with scissor lifts, both at home and work. Make the scissor legs thick or they will flex sideways. Make the unit as wide as you can get away with for more stability. I have actually been prepping my 3,500 lb capacity unit today for later installation in a pit in my shop floor. Southworth is a big maker of lifts of this type for industrial use. Look at their website for ideas you can use. In the design in the pic above, the jack has to lean to work with the swing of the scissor, or the jack base has to glide lengthwise to the unit to compensate the lift point change.

 

[djjsr]

I recently bought a new 1000# lift from HF for $300. Can't beat it for the money.

 

[skyking]

Buy the HF and spend your time on the bike.

 

[Harrison2]

my bikes are built and running, I honestly think it will take only a few hours once ive got it laid out.

i would buy a new one but in the uk they dont tend to hold their value plus i would still have to modify it. not to mention that il have to give up my garage in the next couple of years so this wont cost me anything and if anything i can sell it for a profit or pass it on.

the heaviest it will need to lift is probably 350lbs so im not expecting to much flex but i will over engineer it slightly

 

[Talus]

Good luck with it and post pics of the progress. I'm curious to know how it comes out.

 

[cwh]

I built one of these snowmachine lifts. http://www.totallyamaha.com/snowmobiles/aaTECH/SledLift/SledLift.htm

It comes out looking like this, although that is not mine.

The plans are great, and would be easy enough to modify for a motorcycle. I agree though... you'll want to keep it fairly wide for stability.

 

[theknurl]

Harrison2;
listen to RJ....

the lift in post #1 has no torsional rigidity or side to side bending stiffness.....

at gun point I wouldn't put one of my bikes on it....
bought a HandyLift 1000 in '04

 

[Harrison2]

Harrison2;
listen to RJ....

the lift in post #1 has no torsional rigidity or side to side bending stiffness.....

at gun point I wouldn't put one of my bikes on it....
bought a HandyLift 1000 in '04

I plan on putting the jack in a different postion and making everything mainly out of box section i found today, im planning on making overall wider than the one in the picture to compensate for any twist however with the design i have in mind it will be unable to twist. very hard to put thoughts into words but il start chopping some metal tomorrow and update.