removing a single post hoist

[bigdog12]

I have the chance to get a used single post in ground hoist. My question is exactly what does it take to get this thing out of the ground. I would have to pay somebody to remove it since I don't have the time and my back doesn't like heavy labor anymore. How much of the floor do you have to tear up to get to it? I assume you would have to dig it out all the way down to the bottom of the hoist to get it loose. Anybody done this?

 

[drwheels]

How old is it. I have seen people do that because they are rusted out and need leaks fixed.For free its not worth the trouble.

 

[lessersivad]

Yup. Been there and done that.

For the most part, when these were installed, they were hung in the hole then concrete was poured into the bottom of the hole.

This would flow under the end of the cylinder and fill the bottom 1-2 feet of the hole. Back filled with dirt up to around 4-8 inches of the top, more 'crete at the top, done.

The fun part of removal is getting the darn thing to at least wiggle in the hole so it can start to be lifted.

I hand dug approx 1/3 of the way down along the cylinder then I had a friend of mine use his backhoe and he simply started pulling back and forth while lifting. It took a bit of this but it finally came out of the ground.

After removal is when the "Rock of Gibraltar" was discovered attached to the end of the cylinder casing. Then talking to a couple of guys 'in the know' after the fact is when I found out about the way these were most commonly installed.

When I installed it in my garage a 4'x4' area was cut into the floor. Then the hole was dug approx. 1 foot deeper than the casing length.

At the end of the casing there's an approx 1" lip on the outside edge. I found a piece of pipe that would fit inside the lip and placed it into the bottom of the hole, poured cement into the bottom to the correct depth (length of casing) and let it harden. Sat the cylinder onto the slab, leveled it, back filled, and 6" of 'crete to floor level.

This was back in '86 and I don't regret my decision of getting the 'free' hoist.

BTW, the one I got has a separate tank and the cylinder/casing don't weigh a whole lot. I installed it using a chain fall suspended from 4 roof trusses bridged by a 2" schedule 80 pipe.

It also didn't have the top with the arms installed on top. That was removed before removal and put on after it was in the ground

Hope this helps and is reasonably easy to understand.

 

[zkdiesel]

Not worth it

 

[Milton Shaw]

I did mine about 20 years ago and did it in a new floor with river sand around the cylinder to support the cylinder, I did put concrete at the bottom and had it set with a wrecker with his boom to hold it up while I shoveled sand in to support the cylinder. One thing i would recommend is to wire brush the whole cylinder and weld up any deep pits that are exposed. Then rust proof the cylinder with pipe wrap and painted on protection under that. Also use schedule 80 pipe to plumb the cylinder and pipe wrap that too. I have seen a lot of cylinders that pipe etc., rusted out and had to be dug up before the cylinder was 10 years old. Use river sand to back fill as it has the least corrosive action compared to mfg sand. If you can get a new safety post and tube for it, replace them, they seem to rust out before the rest of the cylinder does it you have rust proofed it properly. Don't worry about your welds roughing up the inside of the cylinder, the oil seal is in the top of the lift on the inside tube, the bottom of the cylinder just has guides to keep it straight.

 

[75toolman]

I have 4 of them. Totally worth it.

 

[evanbaker08]

Not worth it. Get something thats easier to intall or remove.

 

[930dreamer]

Let's see some pics, sounds like a lot of work but if you can install it go for it.

 

[75toolman]

I think the general public are scared of a little hard work. It is labour intensive. But does not take long at all. As mentioned earlier weld up any deep pitting. I sealed the outside of ours with roofing tar for extra protection. No concrete on the bottom of mine. Just backfill with sand and dirt and pour the top 6". Great lifts. Park over top. Nothing in the way. Never bang a door.

 

[lessersivad]

I think the general public are scared of a little hard work. It is labour intensive. But does not take long at all. As mentioned earlier weld up any deep pitting. I sealed the outside of ours with roofing tar for extra protection. No concrete on the bottom of mine. Just backfill with sand and dirt and pour the top 6". Great lifts. Park over top. Nothing in the way. Never bang a door.

Yup. Used mine for 2 different cars earlier today. 2 tire repairs and an oil change.

No door dings.

 

[evanbaker08]

I think the general public are scared of a little hard work. It is labour intensive. But does not take long at all. As mentioned earlier weld up any deep pitting. I sealed the outside of ours with roofing tar for extra protection. No concrete on the bottom of mine. Just backfill with sand and dirt and pour the top 6". Great lifts. Park over top. Nothing in the way. Never bang a door.

He can't do the work because of his back if it is completely surrounded by concrete now it will cost him just as much to remove it and install it as buying a two post new.

 

[Zeke]

With some rigging you could get the SP hoist to pull itself out of the hole. Need an anchor point X2, 2 stout blocks, some 1/2 cable (or you could use chain blocks) and some loose chain.

Just for G and G:

 

[75toolman]

He can't do the work because of his back if it is completely surrounded by concrete now it will cost him just as much to remove it and install it as buying a two post new.

Guaranteed it is surrounded with concrete. At the top!! Even a very basic jackhammer will make short work of it. A few friends and a mini ex will work awesome.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Check to see if it operates smoothly first.

 

[lessersivad]

He can't do the work because of his back if it is completely surrounded by concrete now it will cost him just as much to remove it and install it as buying a two post new.

Chances are the only concrete will be at the top and very bottom. I'm not saying ALL were installed the way mine originally was, but I'm rather doubtful it's COMPLETELY surrounded by 'crete.

I'm also rather doubtful even a top of the line 2 post would last 30,40, or 50 years with very little maintenance.

Just my 2¢.

 

[75toolman]

Chances are the only concrete will be at the top and very bottom. I'm not saying ALL were installed the way mine originally was, but I'm rather doubtful it's COMPLETELY surrounded by 'crete.

I'm also rather doubtful even a top of the line 2 post would last 30,40, or 50 years with very little maintenance.

Just my 2¢.

All 4 of my in grounds are 50+ years old. Some repairs over the years I have had them but overall have been great.

 

[lessersivad]

Check to see if it operates smoothly first.

Yup. Before I pulled mine I had to rig up an air line because the shop it was in had no compressor. I simply used a portable air tank rigged to the lift control. Went smoothly up all the way with such a small volume of air.

Released the pressure and it came down just as smooth.

 

[Spareparts]

I have several offered to me and I considered it, but if they have any kind of leak and a noisy neighbor then you have a EPA problem. Check out the "RESTORED 30 SHOP" thread, he removed and repaired his 1930 Rotary Lift then installed it and uses it often.

 

[lessersivad]

All 4 of my in grounds are 50+ years old. Some repairs over the years I have had them but overall have been great.

I don't have any idea how old mine is. If I were to guess I'd say at least 50 just because the age of the building it came from and I pulled/installed in '86.

Yup. How many hydraulic pumps, motors, high pressure lines, or cables have you replaced?

My guess is none.

 

[75toolman]

I don't have any idea how old mine is. If I were to guess I'd say at least 50 just because the age of the building it came from and I pulled/installed in '86.

Yup. How many hydraulic pumps, motors, high pressure lines, or cables have you replaced?

My guess is none.

3 out of 4 have ID plates on them stating weight capacity and model numbers. I'm sure if I did some digging I could pinpoint the age. I have 3 two posts as well but I sure do love the in grounds.

 

[bigdog12]

thanks for the replies. My shop is a converted corn crib so the center section that is the work area for the cars isn't really wide enough for an aboveground lift, the posts would pretty much block needed access to the car. The lift has a leak in the air line but no loss of oil. I'll talk to the guy that has it again and find out what exactly he wants for it, see if I can get it for a reasonable amount.

 

[Zeke]

thanks for the replies. My shop is a converted corn crib so the center section that is the work area for the cars isn't really wide enough for an aboveground lift, the posts would pretty much block needed access to the car. The lift has a leak in the air line but no loss of oil. I'll talk to the guy that has it again and find out what exactly he wants for it, see if I can get it for a reasonable amount.

If he wants it gone he should be paying you.

 

[Cyberbear]

When I had mine installed several years ago I used several 55 gallon drums welded end to end creating a long hollow tube which I concreted in place during the slab pour. I found a six month old in-ground lift and had it installed by a lift company w/o problems, they did all the work and furnished the lift for $1000.00.
When I asked how they removed old lifts, they said by backhoe. My lift was a newer style with a fiberglass housing to trap any leaks. When not in use I lower my lift arms below the garage floor level under hinged steel doors, making for an unobstructed floor.

 

[sberry]

Aint no way I would toss a grand at one of the old POS and probably wouldn't put it in for free.

 

[jackson1701]

They're good for changing tires, oil, brakes. If you need to access the center of the car for the trans, driveshaft, exhaust, rear of engine, the center post lift can be a PITA...

 

[lessersivad]

They're good for changing tires, oil, brakes. If you need to access the center of the car for the trans, driveshaft, exhaust, rear of engine, the center post lift can be a PITA...

It DOES take some planning, but I've done plenty of "under the middle of the car" work. Trans, driveshafts, exhaust, etc. on mine.

I think for the OP's situation a center post would be an ideal solution.

My 2¢.

 

[75toolman]

It DOES take some planning, but I've done plenty of "under the middle of the car" work. Trans, driveshafts, exhaust, etc. on mine.

I think for the OP's situation a center post would be an ideal solution.

My 2¢.

Exactly! Most people have never used one. And a general rule of thumb for most is,if I haven't used one,or don't know anything about it, it can't be good...lol

 

[coljar]

Yeah, I helped a friend remove one and it really wasn't that hard at all and we done it all with hand tools. I couldn't do much of the manual work because I'd just had a heart stent installed a few days before. We were lucky because there was an I beam running across the ceiling above the hoist that we attached the come along. We busted the concrete with a sledge hammer in about an 8ft. diameter and dug down as far as we could. The tank reservoir was over against the wall, so we cut the 1 1/2" line at the tank and at the hoist and left that part of the line. If you get a chance, slide over to Garage Gallery here in the GJ. and read the first section of "Restored 1930's Auto Shop". Thomas removed his hoist, restored it, and put it back in the ground, and he has a lot of good pictures of doing the job. I will warn you that reading his thread is very addicting.

 

[NUTTSGT]

How old is this lift ? Does it have a safety on it ?

 

[32roadster]

google these words:
cradle to grave responsibility
Long tail liability

I spent $37,000 cleaning up an inground a number of years ago....never again for me.

 

[Kevin54]

Check with BB767 to see what it takes to rebuild one, as he did one in his garage. He and his son had to dig to the bottom of the pit, and they had a hell of a hole. FWIW....I would leave it for someone else, and spend a few hundred more for a 2 post or a 4 post. Both have a lot of advantages over a single post lift

 

[sberry]

A reasonable amount is free with it extracted. I am not sure how much space savings there would be in reality, could ram one side of a 2 post against the wall but if this is all the case al this is too small to start with, going to put additional work and investment in the floor etc. Fix the crib first. Then get hoist.

 

[slowzuki]

We used to a have an inground hoist at a shop I worked at, it was a 2 post though, ie it had a fixed rear lift cradle and the front one hung in sort of a pit with covers, you could roll it forward or back to lift a short or long vehicle or even just use the front cylinder alone.

The control unit had two levers, one for each cylinder you had to manual sync while raising.

If I recall correctly they ran a vegetable oil product in the cylinders incase of a leak.

It was a fantastic hoist, trucks, fwd cars, anything, you could get it up and keep it stable with lots of room to work. The next bay over had a 4 post lift, and the next bay after that had a 2 post so we had lots of options.

 

[lessersivad]

google these words:
cradle to grave responsibility
Long tail liability

I spent $37,000 cleaning up an inground a number of years ago....never again for me.

I scanned over this article;

http://www.enviroforensics.com/cradle-to-grave-responsibility-and-long-tail-liability/

What I got out of it was if the OP were to install the mentioned hoist, AND it leaked, HE would be the responsible party for THAT contamination only.

Where it is located NOW and any ground contamination, would be the responsibility of the current owner.

Unless the current owner bought the property from someone else and it can be proven at the time of property purchase that at least a Phase I environmental site assessment was done.

A Phase II would be preferable so at least there would be ground samples on record.

Again, my 2¢.