Lift placement 50x80

[TimbrSS]

Looking for suggestions on how to best place the lift in my new shop. The main work area will be bay 3, and the lift will go generally where it says lift on the pic. The bay is 20' wide, 50' long. As you can see, the 2nd bay will have an RV in it, but will have about 5' of clearance to the edge of the bay. There will be some walls for rooms in bay 4, but will be 5-10 away from the 3rd bay.

I just would like to hear opinions if I should off-set it in the bay, or perhaps angle it? Getting ready for concrete pour soon, so want to know where to set the piers.

This is mostly for hobby work, race cars, projects. I do have a Crew Cab Long bed dually that might need the lift once in a while too.

 

[ericm]

That looks like almost enough space.

Piers? I've been looking at a lot of specs and have yet to find a lift manufacturer that requires piers. Maybe if you have an unusual foundation construction.

You could make a thicker part of the slab to ensure the slab thickness exceeds the lift manufacturers' minimum spec, and make it large enough to cover all potential locations. It shouldn't cost much extra.

I'm planning my lift bay to be the area just inside the door, leaving the back half (44' deep) for workspace. My theory is that I'll be moving cars in/out often enough that having to move stuff out of the way would be a pain.

 

[TimbrSS]

Yeah, I really meant a thicker pad area. I'm doing 6" 4000 psi, buy will go a bit thicker where the lift will go.

 

[firebirdparts]

This may be a defect in my personality, but I would never plan for that level of wasted space. I'm sure though, if you do, it'll be fabulous. If I had that building to build, I would immediately see that I have room for 6 lifts instead of one, you know what I mean? So yeah, I would offset that in the bay, but don't you do it just because I would. That's a fantastic plan.

 

[astroracer]

You don't need to add anything for a lift to 6" of 4Kpsi concrete. BendPaks FAQ sites 4" of 3Kpsi as plenty for their 9 to 14K 2 post lifts. They say nothing about rebar or wire mesh.
Mark

 

[ericm]

The most I have seen for 10k lifts was 5.5". Most require 4". But you want to make sure the slab really is 5.5" or whatever your lift manufacturer wants. A 6" slab might not be 6" everywhere. Making the lift area a little deeper is cheap insurance.

 

[infinkc]

50 deep for a lift bay is huge, maybe put the lift at bay 1 instead.

 

[TimbrSS]

50 deep for a lift bay is huge, maybe put the lift at bay 1 instead.

That's the boat bay!

 

[infinkc]

That's the boat bay!

Haha, it’s just so much room, 30’ is comfortable for a bay.

I would say place the lift towards the front so you don’t loose space in the rear, but then your work bench would be like 20’ away.

I still would put it in bay one with the workbench along the left wall. Put the boat in bay 3 and also would be able to fit a car.

 

[Shadowdog500]

My shop is 52’ deep and I have my lift near the back. If you put the lift near the door everything that comes in and out of that door will have to go through the lift which will be a lot narrower than your 14’ wide door. If you have a project car up on the lift you block anything from coming in and out of the door.

 

[Shadowdog500]

How long is your Motorhome?

 

[coljar]

I would not angle it. I would offset it over towards the motorhome, and set the center of the hoist towers 16-18ft. out from the wall behind the workbench. This is assuming your toolbox is also in that general area.

 

[TimbrSS]

How long is your Motorhome?

35' 5th wheel.

I'm thinking about 18' back from back wall. I don't want it on the side closest to the door for all the good points you brought up.

I'm leaning towards offset the lift towards bay 4 a bit. I could pull out the RV, or place it closer to bay 1 to allow for another car close to the tools.

 

[longez]

Lift in the corner angled; 40x60 shop with 12' bay doors offset.

 

[carnutdallas]

35' 5th wheel.

I'm thinking about 18' back from back wall. I don't want it on the side closest to the door for all the good points you brought up.

I'm leaning towards offset the lift towards bay 4 a bit. I could pull out the RV, or place it closer to bay 1 to allow for another car close to the tools.

I would go offset closer to RV bay 14’ back from wall plenty of room. RV ain’t moving. Close to tools and you could leave a vehicle on the flat between bay 3 and 4. Or add another lift someday in that area. You get plenty of room to use between OH door to lift.

You want room, but not wasted space. 18’ is a long way to post. I have my lifts set up to back on, so all my space is front of car to doors. Great for engine work, hoist, etc. Once I figured out backing cars on, I gained a lot of space and the wall was not an issue anymore.


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[BonzoHansen]

I think I'd want a lift in the bay by the work area. I see the storage area, but seems the RV would be better in bay 1, otherwise its kind of in the way of bay 1. Then you can do a lift in bay 2 as well. And why 2 bathrooms?

 

[TimbrSS]

And why 2 bathrooms?

This is a property that is 10 minutes away from my house, so no house bathroom available. I wanted a bathroom that could be accessed from the outside without having to worry about someone getting inside the shop. So it's convenient If I have a party with a bonfire, or if some friends want to camp there, or I'm outside working. And of course the one inside since I didn't want to have to walk outside to get to the bathroom.

I should have drawn in the boat in bay 1. When the boat is on the lift in the summer, I'll have my Dually parked there

 

[Shadowdog500]

35' 5th wheel.

I'm thinking about 18' back from back wall. I don't want it on the side closest to the door for all the good points you brought up.

I'm leaning towards offset the lift towards bay 4 a bit. I could pull out the RV, or place it closer to bay 1 to allow for another car close to the tools.

I have my lift 17’ from the back wall and it gives me plenty of room to work with a cherry picker and anything else I need. The other thing about working under a lift is that you tend to put all of your most used tools in a cart so they are readily available wherever you are.

Here is a video that shows the working space in front of my lift which is 17’ from The wall.

 

[TimbrSS]

Here is a video that shows the working space in front of my lift which is 17’ from The wall.

Nice, you got an acre upfront. That really helps visualize it. You even have the RV too!

 

[Shadowdog500]

Nice, you got an acre upfront. That really helps visualize it. You even have the RV too!

Thanks, yes there is plenty of room to work in front of the car, and I think it is just right, especially when you need to use a cherry picker.

I knew where I wanted the lift but poured the entire floor for a lift in case I wanted to add another later. I didn’t get my lift until 9 months after the shop was built and am glad I waited. I made a floor plan up just like you did, but once I set it up and started doing stuff in the shop I found that the floor plan didn’t work well and I wound up changing it two or three times before I found what works best for me in my shop. That’s when I got the lift. Once you start bolting Permanent things down like a lift you get locked into a configuration.