4 post Hoist winch
 

I was loading a friends race car into his trailer this weekend & we pulled it up the ramp & in the trailer with a little 12volt winch he has mounted in the trailer. So he says he use to pu these on all of his 4 post lifts to pull cars on to lifts when he had a shop before he retired. Light bulbs went off.... I have a jet ski lift that sitting outside on the jet ski davit that I havent used in years since i bought a side hoist for the skis.

Anyway I pulled it off of there & amazingly it still worked fine. So bolted it to a 2x8 & rigged up a temporary mounting & it worked like a charm, pulled the car right up there, nice & slowly, now I dont need to ask a neighbor to help push it up there till I get the neverending whileimatit's completed. I still havent finished up the hoist yet... ugh!! Air lines & electrical to do yet.
Anyway I wanted to see what others had done for a more permanent mounting soloution for a winch?


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...573b9dbb44.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...14219641c7.jpg
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I've thought of doing the same thing as I'm getting a little old to be shoving cars back and forth from the garage to driveway or back by hand when working on something that prevents starting them up. Figured it would work OK but still wondered if the car would move before the 4-poster would slide first. I have a Plymouth with 90W-140 lube in the rear and it doesn't roll so well any more. Glad to hear it works out.

I didnt get any hoist movement, but I didnt put much thought into it, I just cut a few boards, screwed everything together, and it worked. I did get the hoist put together more & have the car sitting under the hoist now, and I would like to do something more permanent for this winch... I am thinking of using a hinged set-up so I am only taking up a 12" x 8" area at the back of the garage that can fold out of the way, and sit against the crossbar, similar to this.:thumbs:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...15a606cd6f.jpg

My thoughts mirror yours. I have an open wall cavity, so I could use a 2x8 and fasten it to my bottom wall plate as well for a little extra holding power. I'm going to give it a go next time the situation arises.

Rich

Now that I have had a bit of time to ponder this & correct me if I am wrong, but I dont see a difference between pulling the car up on to the lift, vs pushing the car up on to the hoist?
Which says I could mount the winch on my wall, and using a pulley, transfer it 90° to pull the car on to the lift.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...1659e8e67d.jpg

Here's my setup. Could probably pull my house over with it, but works nice. Detaches from lift cross bar with two bolts. The crossbar I added to mount it to stays attached to the lift, which also creates a step to stand on for vehicles that are a little tall when working under the hood. I have adjustable braces that I put from the posts on the other end of the lift, to the block wall, since my lift isn't bolted down. Prevents lift movement.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...535cff089f.jpg

Now that looks HD. I was wondering why not attach it somehow to the lift cross bar as long as it's mounted or secured in such a way as to spread the load out.

Now that's a winch, you could pull an M1Abrams tank up on your lift with that!!

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When I built my garage in '84, I anticipated the need for bringing an inoperative vehicle inside and mounted a good sized eye bolt directly into the frame of the building. From the amount of stuff piled around, it's obvious that the eye has not been much used, but it does provide a very sturdy anchor when needed.

I use a cheap Harbor Freight 12v winch bolted to the front crossbar on the lift. Pulling a vehicle on flat concrete doesn't take much. Very seldom used -- like only 2 times. :)

If it were for daily use I would maybe go bigger.

George

Pretty much the same as George except I mounted mine directly into the concrete floor. That way I can winch it either up on the 4-post lift or just drag the car in under the lift. Rarely used but worth it's weight in gold when needed. Not always a neighbor around and saves my aching back. :cheers:

Yes, it does attach to that crossbar. But it isn't attached in that pic:thumbs:

Here's my HF wench attached to the front cross bar, works great...

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