Moving a two post lift?

[MushCreek]

If I buy a two post lift, what's involved in taking it down, moving it, and assembling it at home? I've seen several good deals that specify 'you move it'. Can it be disassembled with a cherry picker engine hoist? Is there any way one clever, determined person could do this alone? If I had to rent a piece of equipment to do it, what would I rent? I've move shop tools up to several tons single handed, but a lift adds height to the difficulty equation.

 

[juiced10]

A friend of mine bought an A-7 Mohawk lift a used a couple of years ago. To make you sick he paid $500. Asked me if it was a good deal and said if you don’t I will and I already have a lift! He threw out his back the week leading up to us going to pick it up. We got there and took a bunch of measurements for reassembly and got ready to tear down. I backed my flat bed car trailer up to the columns and I pulled them over one at a time to set down on trailer. Surprisingly all I needed was for him to keep his foot at the base to keep from sliding out. I have a winch on the front so I used that to pull to front of trailer. It went surprisingly easy. Had more help for assembly at his house.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[zkdiesel]

A friend of mine bought an A-7 Mohawk lift a used a couple of years ago. To make you sick he paid $500. Asked me if it was a good deal and said if you don’t I will and I already have a lift! He threw out his back the week leading up to us going to pick it up. We got there and took a bunch of measurements for reassembly and got ready to tear down. I backed my flat bed car trailer up to the columns and I pulled them over one at a time to set down on trailer. Surprisingly all I needed was for him to keep his foot at the base to keep from sliding out. I have a winch on the front so I used that to pull to front of trailer. It went surprisingly easy. Had more help for assembly at his house.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wish the two post Mohawk I have to move next weekend will go that smooth. Bringing two rollback tow trucks, a 5k fork truck, a small manlift, and lots of rigging
That being said this is the biggest two post ever made and each collumn with carriage and arms weighs 4,700lbs

 

[Shadowdog500]

I got to know the local Mohawk distributor who knows my BIL pretty well. When I was looking for a lift at auctions the Mohawk guy gave me a couple of moving tips that I’ll pass along.

The first that he stressed several times was to use a piece of romex to tie the lift head assembly in the down position when moving the lift. If that head assembly can roll up and down the track freely while you are moving The lift, it could do some serious damage to your hands.

The second thing he pointed out was to bring a bunch of old tires and to push the lift columns over into the pile of tires. He said there is less chance of getting hurt that way.

I didn’t get to try these out because I wound up buying my lift from the Mohawk dealer and had him install it.

On one of the auctions I went to the guy who outbid me did hurt his hand pretty good just taking the lift arms off. The lift arms are a lot heavier than they look and he smashed his fingers into a ****** mess.

 

[MushCreek]

I do have a 16' trailer I can put it on. I like the idea of tipping the uprights on to a pile of old tires- sounds safer than trying to work it with my hoist. I'm most worried about disassembly. I can figure it out once I get home. There's a Gemini 9K lift here locally for $650, but I have to take it down.

 

[hotrod1968]

If I buy a two post lift, what's involved in taking it down, moving it, and assembling it at home? I've seen several good deals that specify 'you move it'. Can it be disassembled with a cherry picker engine hoist? Is there any way one clever, determined person could do this alone? If I had to rent a piece of equipment to do it, what would I rent? I've move shop tools up to several tons single handed, but a lift adds height to the difficulty equation.

Have done several. Easy to do with two people or by oneself if a bit creative. Bendpak, atlas, rotary are the ones I have done.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[hotrod1968]

I do have a 16' trailer I can put it on. I like the idea of tipping the uprights on to a pile of old tires- sounds safer than trying to work it with my hoist. I'm most worried about disassembly. I can figure it out once I get home. There's a Gemini 9K lift here locally for $650, but I have to take it down.

Don't push the columns over.... two guys can set down easily. ( healthy) like I said have done several now with no prior experience. Very easy to do. If you are questioning yourself I would suggest someone to help you that has "mechanical " confidence.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[39CAMC]

Have done several. Easy to do with two people or by oneself if a bit creative. Bendpak, atlas, rotary are the ones I have done.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Yeah, this. I have done my Bendpak 3 times and a few others. I am not great on ladders above 8' so I typically like a little help on the top of the columns and the cross pieces at the top.

Make sure you get the measurements of column location before you take it down and (IMO) take tons of photos of it assembled since you won't have instructions. But, once you dig into it, they are fairly simple.

DaveW

 

[Shadowdog500]

Don't push the columns over.... two guys can set down easily. ( healthy) like I said have done several now with no prior experience. Very easy to do. If you are questioning yourself I would suggest someone to help you that has "mechanical " confidence.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Perhaps the “push the column over” advise was specifically for a Mohawk lift. One column assembly on a Mohawk lift weighs more than most other brands entire lift.

 

[hotrod1968]

Perhaps the “push the column over” advise was specifically for a Mohawk lift. One column assembly on a Mohawk lift weighs more than most other brands entire lift.

Maybe... have not messed with a mohawk. Personally I still would not push over..

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[CraigStu]

IMHO you need to have a way to tie a cable to the top, and hook it to an engine hoist or backhoe bucket or similar, so you can let the post come over under control. Maybe I am just chicken, but the idea of throwing a few tires on the floor and just pushing it over and hoping it hits the tires seems crazy.

 

[Lassen Forge]

I'd be worried even if it did hit the tires when it hit it would reef the posts out of alignment. They're designed to take a steady straight downforce load, not a whang to the side...

 

[Daedalus]

1 person with a cherry picker and a trailer? Yes, I've done it. Install, dismantle,move, reinstall, about 8 years between the 2 installs.

The one thing that I was not expecting was how low the CG is. With 12' posts, the CG is about 18" from the baseplate with the carriage all the way down on mine.

Oh, and be ready to clean up the mess when you disconnect the hydraulic lines.

 

[southview]

Also, use some 2” pvc sections. Lay the columns on those. Makes it easy to roll on/off the trailer. Take lift arms off if possible. Makes it a whole lot easier to move and install later.

 

[Shootinok]

I disassembled and moved my rotary with help. Could not have done it alone.
My son helped me take it apart and we backed the trailer to the columns then tipped them on to it.
We laid them onto the arm supports then slid the column forward as the supports slid in their tracks.
These are heavy!

At the house, I lifted them off the trailer with an engine hoist but was not able to stand them up by myself.
Two guys made it possible and short work of it.



Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[pelletman]

I did a 9000 pound Challenger not too long ago. Easy peasy, much more than i expected. You can walk the column down with two people, you can roll on cut up telephone poles, you can put up the same way it came down. Assembly is surprisingly easy. Impact wrenches are helpful and speed things up. Download the directions for the lift you are buying and read them. It is pretty simple. I brought much more stuff than I needed