unloading lift

[Kapt]

I'm buying a four post lift that they will deliver to my house, but I'm responsible for getting it off the truck. I think it weighs about 2600lbs. I don't have a fork lift and I don't think the trucking company will wait for me to unpack it piece by piece. What have you guys used?

 

[cw_racefan]

Couple of suggestions for you. One would be to borrow or rent a trailer and pick it up at the shipping terminal. They will load it on the trailer, then you can unload at home at your leisure. Another I've heard of is to hire a rollback truck to pick it up for you. Check with a local towing company. Where in MD are you? If near Balt/DC several of the trucking company terminals are in the Jessup area, so not too bad if you get a trailer. Or find a neighbor with a tractor and you can probably get it off the truck that way.

 

[fxdlryan]

I second the recommendation to borrow or rent a trailer and pick it up at the shipping company. Once you have it on a landscaping trailer, you should be able to offload it using an engine hoist for the heavy pieces. Even if the shipping company will wait for you to do it piece by piece, some of the pieces are very heavy, the ramps for my 4 post were 600 and 800 pounds, not something you want to try to do alone from the height of a semi trailer.

 

[e-tek]

I got mine delivered to the home shop too - IMO much better than trying to procure a trailer and hauling it yourself. I had 3 friends meet me when it arrived. All you need is a ratchet and wrench to get the end plates off (2 mins each) and it all comes apart. Within 20 minutes we had it all inside the shop. The heaviest parts (ramps) took all 4 guys both to unload and to set up on the cross bars when assembling - though you could use an engine hoist for this part, lots of guys do.
Good luck - you'll be thrilled - and your friends will worship you!!

 

[usa#1]

I agree with the trailer suggestion. Worked out great for me. Also, you can arrange to pick it up at your convenience from the freight terminal. I used an engine hoist to off load it from the trailer. Just did it a piece at a time. Didn't have to be in a hurry since the trailer was "inside" the garage and I didn't have to worry about the weather.

 

[mikeyr]

I just moved my 4post lift from one house to another, took several hours to take it apart and load it on the trailer with 1 friend, we got to the other house and the framers were there working on the house. Had the lift unloaded from the trailer and rough assembled in 15 minutes, 4 guys can move all the parts easily, 2 guys have to fight the thing. I learned my lesson

First time I picked it up from the trucking office with my trailer, I thought that way to do it but now I know better get 3 guys and unload it in 15 or less minutes.

 

[IHI]

OR, here's a neat idea, you just spent $3K+ on a hoist, why not spring for the additional $55-66 dollars are the rental store and get a forktruck at your property and unload this thing in one shot and place where you want it?

One things for sure, there's some hard working mofo's on this site, i prefer to spend the money and take the load off my back, as well and buddies backs

 

[bobs409]

I had to pick mine up at a trucking terminal but they couldn't load it onto a trailer. I had to rent a truck that was "dock height" as they could not pick it up long ways. They just slid it across the floor and into the truck.

Something to check on with the trucking company before you rent a truck or trailer.

 

[kvom]

Where I live they want $150-300 to bring a forklift to my house. An engine hoist is a worthwhile investment in any case if you don't have one. They typically go for $100 on CL.

 

[Question]

I picked mine up at Junk(s)yard, and put it on my boat trailer, brought it home and assembled it my self..

He has instructions on how to do this.. look em up..

 

[krooser]

I hauled mine on a 16' trailer from the original shop that it was in. But a rollback works so slick I'd hire one of those now... the trucking comany will load it on the truck and, when the driver gets to your place, he'll just slide it into your shop...EZ!

 

[Matti]

You could check what it costs to have a small picker truck offload it. You might even be better off getting them to pick it up from the freight depot instead if it's not too far away. Otherwise they will be charging you by the hour while they wait for the delivery truck. The last time I checked what it cost to get a forklift dropped off and picked up it was $300 IIRC plus a half day rental min.

 

[ket-tek]

I'm getting ready to order a bendpak lift also and had been trying to figure the most cost effective way and I wish it was only $55-66 bux to rent a fork lift to my house it's more like $200-300 as mentioned above.

I was hoping to borrow a 16ft trailer from a cousin but he lives about 50 miles one way from me, and the shipping depot that the bendpak dealer said it would come to is only 5 miles from my house..

I've gotten a car towed further away than that for $40-50 so a tow truck would be the cheapest route. And can find one 24-7 when my schedule is open.

My question is does the lift come packaged in a way that it's safe for the rollback to just drag it off and dump it in driveway?

Has anyone had a tow truck driver turn down a load of this nature not being a car?

 

[IHI]

I think the overinflated rates are due to drop off and pick up charges on a forktruck?? Does'nt anybody own a truck or have a truck they can borrow to pick one up? I know our region is typically on the lower end cost wise than most, but man, this is blowing me away $$ wise. I rent fork trucks both hard tires typical warehouse ones when i have access to paved driveways, i go down to the rental store, they have it loaded on a skid loader trailer chained down and waiting, i hoist shingles upto the roofs, then take it back, lift and trailer $65. When i rent the big Gehl's, Skytraks, extendaboom 4x4 fortrucks it costs me $200/day and those can be driven to/from jobsites which is what we do when we rent them, i'll through one of the guys in there and they just run it down the road with the becons flashing.

Any freinds with fork attachements for a skid steer, tractor? what are these units weighing when they come packaged up to the house/jobsite? What about a wrecker with a boom/jib-throw some straps around the package, boom it up, back it into the garage, done...and they get calls for all kinds of stuff so this wont be anything weird for them, locally a freind with a tow service hauls pre manufacturerd sheds for a company and delievers them to the customers houses and rolls them back into the permanant home.

I know myself and other's i conduct business with view things differently than most, but i see it like when people scoff at paying $2-3K to have a set of drawings done for an addition, home, etc...they freak out when that money is miniscule in the grand scheme of things. You take a $60K addition and $2K is'nt squat since without them, we ALWAYS go 2-3x's over that with changes in progress since people change their minds while building vs seeing problems, ideas on renderings first...so i guess when i think of when i order ours, the $3-4K for the lift, whatever a forktruck costs to pick up and take back is just so minscule i wont think twicce about it, being able to have it delivered directly to my door step and then being able to lace the entire load in one shot vs breaking it down and having to line up help to carry all that **** from point A to point B...way to much material handling for my likings

 

[e-tek]

I'm getting ready to order a bendpak lift also and had been trying to figure the most cost effective way and I wish it was only $55-66 bux to rent a fork lift to my house it's more like $200-300 as mentioned above.

The most cost-effective method was the one I described - if you don't mind some hard work!! Actually, like I said, it was 20 minutes (max) to get it unloaded in pieces - and BendPak paid the entire delivery costs (though they'll only deliver to a Business Address....so guess what, you just went into business!!!

 

[sam 8]

Mine is going to a friends shop, where they have a forklift. I'll unload it, break it open, place the ramps and such on a car trailer and the corner posts up in my jacked up truck.
Then, when I get home, I'll drop the trailer, back the truck in the shop, slide the front posts out and stand them up with a cherry picker, pull forward a bit, do the same with the back corner posts, then pull out and watch my two buddies who have put about 5 of these things together do the rest while I keep the ice chest full.
(They are the ones who told me to transport it as per above)

It should only be about another 5 weeks, darn it.

 

[rannalf]

IHI - a couple things. You probably get a better rate not only being in a lower cost area, but being a frequent customer. I know my buddy that rents a lot of equipment gets deals that I could not get no matter what I tried. Also, some of those fork lifts will sink into driveways that aren't heavy concrete. Lots of weight on small tires wouldn't be good in a gravel or asphalt driveway, or the thinner edge of a ramp into a garage.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

call around to compare rates,i'm sure you'll find something in your price range.

 

[akdiesel]

The package comes bolted together with two mocked up frames on each end. The ramps are bolted to the throwaway frames and house the all of the other components inside to protect them. The other parts are strapped down. The end frames are slightly larger than the ramps so sliding it will not damage the ramps.
Do a search on this site for BendPak and you will see some ideas on how to off load or pickup these lifts. There are also some good advice in how to install the lifts as well that the manufactures instructions failed to include.
Don't be in a hurry to get it up and running. Take your time and look things over clearly and operate it unloaded a few times.

 

[dbird]

My Bendpak was shipped today to a freind's shop. He will unload with his forklift onto his rollback. What a sweet deal, and its all free.

 

[gsport]

i borrowed a car hauler/flat bed trailer and picked mine up at the freight depot in town, they'll gladly load if for you to keep from having to make the delivery.... and my neighbor has a fork lift that i was able to borrow for a couple of days, that sure made putting it together easy...

 

[smooth72]

i borrowed a car hauler/flat bed trailer and picked mine up at the freight depot in town, they'll gladly load if for you to keep from having to make the delivery.... and my neighbor has a fork lift that i was able to borrow for a couple of days, that sure made putting it together easy...

I did as above, backed it into the garage and used a engine hoist to unload and assemble it. Mine is direct lift pro pak 8+, been very pleased.

 

[jbarila]

I have a friend that bought a 4 post. We got a ramp tow truck. cost $60.00 warehouse to home. When we got it home the truck tilted its bed and the lift slid right off.
I'm gutting and redoing my garage now and this is how I'll pick mune up.