So i've always dreamed of having a hoist and today i started the journey towards having one...

i was going to build a carport to house my rally car on my trailer off to one side of my driveway, then it hit me... if i concrete the floor and build it high enough, i could install a hoist under it

so at this stage i'm starting to wonder who could offer advice on what type of hoist? who is good to buy from? etc

I really want a 2 post so i can lift by the chassis and work on the four corners of the car without any hassle

looking at a couple of websites the typical lift height is 1800mm so im looking at making the carport with 3500mm clearance so i can lift vehicles of 1700mm from sills to roof (dad's terracan measures about 1500mm)

an idea i also had today was to put a metal beam across the two front verticles of the carport in order to use this for a chain block for lifting motors

I bought a 2 post hoist on eBay for only $620 bu it was 3 phase ... I just spent $540 on a 5 HP singlphase motor to replace the 4HP 3 phase motor - now just have to get a sparky out to wire it up.

Having said all that you basically have 2 options for the hoist. Either screw post (like mine) where you have a worm drive screw in each side connected by a chain so that the motor on one side drives both screws or a hydraulic lift where the motor drives a pump to lift the car.

the screw post must work both to lift and lower while the hydraulic only lifts and a relief valve controls the lowering.

i believe that the screw post is safer since the only way to lower the car is to run the motor backwards via a switch (i.e. the car can't fall unless both the lift nuts and the safety nuts are stripped - extremely unlikely). The hydraulic hoist will usually have a locking mechanism where you lower the car down slightly to lock it.

You should also consider wheter you want to go clear floor (hump or no hump) Hump means that the chain (or hydraulics) run on the floor clear floor will mean you have a horizontal connection over head.

Keep an eye out on Gray's online and ebay but be careful of the cheap chinese stuff on the market.

Good Luck

Good price on the eBay hoist!
I've got 3 phase at home.. I hope one day to get a hoist.

It's definitely worth getting 3 phase when you get a/c installed.

Can I live in it mic??? Sounds better than my house!
Council approval for such a tall structure?

Sounds good , dont buy a Ravaglioli hoist , italian #OOPS# , we have two at my work.
if u were in brisbane u could buy one off us lol , as we are upgrading soon

We have 3 2 posters & the other one is a Powerrex from precision good hoist but expensive

yeah so... getting a permit is going to slow me down, the old man led me up the garden path... told me if it's not attached to house and under $5k value doesnt need permit, but i checked out the council website tonight and it does need one... so looks like i have to go through drawing it up and all that business first

we already put two posts in today, hopefully they can stay cause that was tuff work

i would still like to hear peoples experiences with hoists anyway

if your buying a new one, buy a clear floor. makes it easier to slide a gearbox trolley or whatever under. Have a mate who bought 3 chinese cheapys for his shop and there great. work aswell as his more (double the price) molnar hoists.