Car Lift For Tractor Servicing

[TheOldHokie]

Sorry if this is an overpost but I just want users to understand that:

YOU CANNOT LIFT A L2501 SAFELY ON A 9,000 LBS RATED 4 POST CAR LIFT

The safe lifting capacity on a 4 post lift is based on having 4 wheels at or near the lifting posts, as the vehicle being lifted has a smaller wheelbase the safe lifting capacity of a 4 post lift falls dramatically.

See this specification sheet from Bendpak:

View attachment 94715

K is the runway length, towards the bottom is the "Min Wheelbase at Capacity", all of these lifts are rated for 9,000 lbs. Below this is the "Min Wheelbase @ xx %", these numbers show how the safe capacity of the lift reduces with wheel base reductions, these capacity reductions are very eye opening!

A Kubota L2501 HST without loader, no loaded tires and probably no fuel weighs 2,623 lbs acording to the Kubota data sheet and has a wheelbase of 63.3". None of the 9,000 lb 4 post lifts detailed above, that are designed to lift a car or truck is safely capable of lifting a bare non loader Kubota L2501.

As the wheelbase falls below 70" or 80" all of these lifts are below 25% capacity rating of 2,250 lbs. At 63" wheelbase a bare L2501 is an unsafe load and could result in lift / runway failure. The runway is stronger and provides more safe lift capacity the closer you are to the 4 posts.

I'm not singling out Bendpak in any way, it's just that they publish the data clearly, many lift manufacturers and sellers do not clearly publish or share this data. Many sales people of 4 posts lift do not even know about this fact that capacity diminishes with wheelbase reduction.

Think twice before putting your compact tractor on a 4 post car lift. If you are buying a 4 post lift you need to review if it is suitable for the range of cars that you will put on that lift. A 9,000 lb lift that will safely lift an F150 pick-up may not lift a small Mercedes 2 seat sports car safely!

Stay safe. I'd hate to drop my tractor of a lift!

I am 72 and the physics of that were covered in 9th grade which was a long time ago. You could of course place a couple safety stands in the middle of the spans and the numbers improve dramatically. I am surprised BendPak does not offer something of that sort as an option.

I have an asymmetric 2 post lift and fore/aft balance is critical to safe loading. For example the balance point on a V8 4WD extended cab pickup can be hard to accurately determine. Consequently every vehicle that goes up on my lift gets a safety stand in the front and/or rear.

Dan

 

[UpNorthMI]

re: lifting the cab off the frame. None of those can be done on a 4 post lift.
beg to differ. it's quite common to remove cabs as well as full car bodies using a 4 post lift,BTDT and 'as seen on TV'.shops do it . lift the body underslung on the lift, then roll the chassis out. eazy-peezy.

I am 72 and the physics of that were covered in 9th grade which was a long time ago. You could of course place a couple safety stands in the middle of the spans and the numbers change drastically. I am surprised BendPak does not offer something of that sort as an option.

Dan

Dan,

As I said Bendpak is honest and publishes the full data to educate users. It appears all manufacturers of 4 post lifts use a similar runway design that is based on folded sheet metal, the runways must be hollow and open at the base so the wires, cylinders etc. can be accommodated.

Any lift manufacturer selling lifts in the US must have a hell of a big expensive product liability insurance policy. A lot of people do crazy things and never really understand their equipment.

Placing safety stands is a great idea while you are working on or storing a short wheel base load on a 4 post lift but remember that you have to raise and lower the lift into position before you could get a safety stand in position. I'd hate to have a runway failure and have the load come off the lift sideways, especially if you are standing there operating the lift.

Better to always use a lift within it's rated capacity and then to also follow your advice of safety stands. It is normal recommended practice to use correctly rated safety stands with all vehicles when using a 2 post lift as vehicles can become unstable as you are wrentching.

YouTube provides some very entertaining videos of people having very bad days with their vehicle lifts. User training and education is so important when lifting cars and trucks. Tractors bring more problems and risks when you consider lifting them.

I've yet to find a lift solution for my 10,000lb track loader or excavator .......lol

Thanks for your input. Stay safe.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Dan,

As I said Bendpak is honest and publishes the full data to educate users. It appears all manufacturers of 4 post lifts use a similar runway design that is based on folded sheet metal, the runways must be hollow and open at the base so the wires, cylinders etc. can be accommodated.

Any lift manufacturer selling lifts in the US must have a hell of a big expensive product liability insurance policy. A lot of people do crazy things and never really understand their equipment.

Placing safety stands is a great idea while you are working on or storing a short wheel base load on a 4 post lift but remember that you have to raise and lower the lift into position before you could get a safety stand in position. I'd hate to have a runway failure and have the load come off the lift sideways, especially if you are standing there operating the lift.

Better to always use a lift within it's rated capacity and then to also follow your advice of safety stands. It is normal recommended practice to use correctly rated safety stands with all vehicles when using a 2 post lift as vehicles can become unstable as you are wrentching.

YouTube provides some very entertaining videos of people having very bad days with their vehicle lifts. User training and education is so important when lifting cars and trucks. Tractors bring more problems and risks when you consider lifting them.

I've yet to find a lift solution for my 10,000lb track loader or excavator .......lol

Thanks for your input. Stay safe.

JMO but I think you are over reacting.

Dan

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: Any lift manufacturer selling lifts in the US must have a hell of a big expensive product liability insurance policy. A lot of people do crazy things and never really understand their equipment.

no, probably not.... it's the 'end user' that need liability..
all the mfr needs is to print 10 -15 pages of 'safety stuff' starting at page 2.

Otherwise EVERY company that made ANYTHING, would be sued by ..." A lot of people do crazy things and never really understand their equipment" and win.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

Otherwise EVERY company that made ANYTHING, would be sued by ..." A lot of people do crazy things and never really understand their equipment" and win.

That's exactly what's been going on for years, and is why we have labels on clothes irons telling people not to iron their clothes while on their body.

crazy lawsuits that won at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

 

[Daferris]

re: lifting the cab off the frame. None of those can be done on a 4 post lift.
beg to differ. it's quite common to remove cabs as well as full car bodies using a 4 post lift,BTDT and 'as seen on TV'.shops do it . lift the body underslung on the lift, then roll the chassis out. eazy-peezy.

That may be. But with a 2 post you don't have to move the truck out as the posts and the cab are not in the way. On 3rd & 4th gen F bodies ( Camaro & Firebird) the easiest and best way to pull the motor is out the bottom. Have don't it both ways and it's no contest. Any axel work/swaps are much easier with a 2 post.
All that said 4 posts have their place and are best for some folks. Just in my case the 2 post is best. Now if I keep buying toys I might have to get a 4 post to stack cars for storage

 

[GreensvilleJay]

late neighbour had 4 , 4 posters for toy storage. you don't want to know what was tossed into 6, 40yd bins...

 

[lugbolt]

we had those 2-tray adapters where I used to work (kubota) and they worked fine. They were on 9000 lb lifts and we consistently had all of the Z series, B's, L's, the smaller M's, a few M5's and a couple of M6's on them, loader and bush hog included. Overloaded, yes. Boss ultimately did not care about that though as a lot of bosses are the same. as long as the work gets done they don't care. Until the day comes when they're forced to care-and that happened at another tractor store up the road where a skid-steer bucket fell off of the machine & on some workers and mashed them killing one for sure and I am not sure about the other. THAT ordeal got us all to thinking. We did that stuff on a daily basis and for pennies on the dollar, per hour. Long as they're selling labor at $100+ hr, it almost seems as if they don't care much about the workers that make the money for them-based on how they pushed profits a few times a week, yet rarely spoke of safety. Once a year. Maybe.

 

[TheOldHokie]

As Arte would say - "Very interesting...."

Dan