Coloshaver
Well-known member
Half Baked and Oldcarguy have great pictures of moving the heavy stuff. I had a tractor with a loader all lined up and had pretty well thought out the process. But, as they say, "The devil is in the details." Here are some discoveries and tips from my installation. These are not complaints. I don't intend to discourage you from buying BendPak or attempting to do it yourself, just some things to be thinking about.
The instructions are pretty bad.. If you study them you can figure out what they mean, but the manual could be way better. Be sure to read through the text and find the pictures that go with it even though they may be a couple pages away. I downloaded and read it through several times while I was waiting for my lift to arrive. I was confused then, but figured when I saw the parts, it would be more clear - it wasn't much.
I did the cable and hose routing with the posts on their shipping frames - on their back. Sliding the carriages keeping the cable end in the catch and the ram at the bottom took a few tries before I figured out the combination of pushing the carriage a few inches while keeping the cable tight and them sliding the ram back to the bottom and repeating. They recommend routing the hoses at this point, but I gave up trying to find the clamps behind the carriage when it was at the bottom. I tried to push the hose under the carriage, but ran into obstructions. It helps to lay the hose out and try to get the curl out of it. Once I got the hose under the carriage, I gently pulled it to get the slack out and used the clamps that were exposed to keep it straight.
The catches for the swaged ends of the equalizer cables are well hidden inside the carriages. I finally found it, but only by feel. I could reach it, but have scrawny arms. I don't know how a person with normal forearms would do it.
I got my posts set up precisely on the dimensions shown. I found it is really hard to start a hammer drill in the center of the hole. If the drill bit walks to the edge of the hole in the base, the drilling and vibration can move the base slightly.
It wasn't BendPaks fault, but I managed to locate one hole so I hit a piece of re-bar. It put it off until it was the last one and sacrificed my 3/4" bit drilling past it.
Top bar didn't quite line up even though the base was set on the chalk line. The posts seemed twisted too far to the front. I set one end and levered the other end into place. It was only about 1/4" off, but didn't just drop on. Two people could probably do this from ladders, but I was lifted in the loader bucket.
Be sure to find the end bracket for the Safety Bar. It was in bubble wrap and had gotten under the flap in a box. If you really study the pictures you figure out the Safety Bar mounts facing the back of the lift. My Micro Switch came with a rubber cover that opened the switch when it was on far enough to align the mounting holes. I tried modifying it, but ended up eliminating it.
The hydraulic line from the "off side" was long enough so after running it up the post and across the top, I ended up with enough slack above the T-fitting that I was concerned it would rub on the Carriage. I had to go back to the top bar, pry open the clamps and move the slack back to there. I recommend running the lines up the posts, taking the slack out as you go, but wait to squeeze the top clamps together until you have all the slack out of the lines up the posts.
The hole for the Tee Fitting was punched out of round. I had to open it up with a die grinder to get the Tee Fitting through.
Mounting the pump is a pain. The motor interferes with getting a wrench on the head of the bolts. The bolts are too long to run through the bracket out. The only holes that line up are the horizontal slots. I started the bolts, slid the motor to one side, snugged the nuts, then slid it back the other way to get to the other side snug. The one behind the starter capacitor took long needle nose pliers to get it started. After I had all the nuts run down to almost bottom, I centered the motor and tightened the nuts. DON'T FORGET TO INSTALL THE ANTI-VIBRATION PAD before you go through all this. (Don't ask.)
If you do your own wiring, plan it out before you run the wire from the Micro Switch over and down the post. When I built my shop, I had my 220V circuit run to a box ~12' off the floor. I ended up mounting a box on the top of the post, making the connection to the Safety Switch up there and making just one run down the post to the motor.
After the posts and the Overhead Assembly were up, I did all the rest by myself. It took a lot of trips up and down ladders, but was possible. If you can get a helper, it would save time.
All in all, I am thrilled to have a lift in my shop and would definitely do it again. I chose BendPak for the value and am happy with the final product.
Good Luck
The instructions are pretty bad.. If you study them you can figure out what they mean, but the manual could be way better. Be sure to read through the text and find the pictures that go with it even though they may be a couple pages away. I downloaded and read it through several times while I was waiting for my lift to arrive. I was confused then, but figured when I saw the parts, it would be more clear - it wasn't much.
I did the cable and hose routing with the posts on their shipping frames - on their back. Sliding the carriages keeping the cable end in the catch and the ram at the bottom took a few tries before I figured out the combination of pushing the carriage a few inches while keeping the cable tight and them sliding the ram back to the bottom and repeating. They recommend routing the hoses at this point, but I gave up trying to find the clamps behind the carriage when it was at the bottom. I tried to push the hose under the carriage, but ran into obstructions. It helps to lay the hose out and try to get the curl out of it. Once I got the hose under the carriage, I gently pulled it to get the slack out and used the clamps that were exposed to keep it straight.
The catches for the swaged ends of the equalizer cables are well hidden inside the carriages. I finally found it, but only by feel. I could reach it, but have scrawny arms. I don't know how a person with normal forearms would do it.
I got my posts set up precisely on the dimensions shown. I found it is really hard to start a hammer drill in the center of the hole. If the drill bit walks to the edge of the hole in the base, the drilling and vibration can move the base slightly.
It wasn't BendPaks fault, but I managed to locate one hole so I hit a piece of re-bar. It put it off until it was the last one and sacrificed my 3/4" bit drilling past it.
Top bar didn't quite line up even though the base was set on the chalk line. The posts seemed twisted too far to the front. I set one end and levered the other end into place. It was only about 1/4" off, but didn't just drop on. Two people could probably do this from ladders, but I was lifted in the loader bucket.
Be sure to find the end bracket for the Safety Bar. It was in bubble wrap and had gotten under the flap in a box. If you really study the pictures you figure out the Safety Bar mounts facing the back of the lift. My Micro Switch came with a rubber cover that opened the switch when it was on far enough to align the mounting holes. I tried modifying it, but ended up eliminating it.
The hydraulic line from the "off side" was long enough so after running it up the post and across the top, I ended up with enough slack above the T-fitting that I was concerned it would rub on the Carriage. I had to go back to the top bar, pry open the clamps and move the slack back to there. I recommend running the lines up the posts, taking the slack out as you go, but wait to squeeze the top clamps together until you have all the slack out of the lines up the posts.
The hole for the Tee Fitting was punched out of round. I had to open it up with a die grinder to get the Tee Fitting through.
Mounting the pump is a pain. The motor interferes with getting a wrench on the head of the bolts. The bolts are too long to run through the bracket out. The only holes that line up are the horizontal slots. I started the bolts, slid the motor to one side, snugged the nuts, then slid it back the other way to get to the other side snug. The one behind the starter capacitor took long needle nose pliers to get it started. After I had all the nuts run down to almost bottom, I centered the motor and tightened the nuts. DON'T FORGET TO INSTALL THE ANTI-VIBRATION PAD before you go through all this. (Don't ask.)
If you do your own wiring, plan it out before you run the wire from the Micro Switch over and down the post. When I built my shop, I had my 220V circuit run to a box ~12' off the floor. I ended up mounting a box on the top of the post, making the connection to the Safety Switch up there and making just one run down the post to the motor.
After the posts and the Overhead Assembly were up, I did all the rest by myself. It took a lot of trips up and down ladders, but was possible. If you can get a helper, it would save time.
All in all, I am thrilled to have a lift in my shop and would definitely do it again. I chose BendPak for the value and am happy with the final product.
Good Luck
