moving machinery and lumber

[Gary Hoemann]

I'm going to be building a new home, plenty of space in the basement.
But the lot and the house design just don't fit with a walkout basement.
But, there is extra room in the garage. My plan is to have a 4' x8' "well" in the garage floor that is open to the basement. I thought a scissor lift placed in the well would give me a great way to move machinery into the basement and lumber and finished pieces out. Still think it will, but I haven't been able to find a lift at a reasonable price on e-bay. This would not be in the car parking area of the garage.

I don't need anything that is self-propelled, just stationary. Doesn't have to have a huge reach, maybe 10 feet. Doesn't have to be new, doesn"t have to be pretty. Like to have it capable of lifting up to 1000 pounds.

Anybody know where I might find something like this, or do you have a better idea or an alternative to a scissor lift for this purpose?

[Steven Wilson]

Instead of a lift you could install an I beam in your garage ceiling and then use a hoist to lift heavy supplies down to the lower level. If your building new I would design something that can carry at least 2000 lbs. You never know when you might want to lower a sliding tablesaw down there or a nice piece of old iron - 1000lbs is a bit on the lite side.

[tod evans]

gary, if you`re serious about a mobile platform look into used dumptruck hydraulics..but steven has given you a more cost effective method to think about...02 tod

[Ed Breen]

I've got a motor puller in my shop which I use to move heavy stuff around. It is rated a 2000# and is easy to use. You could also use a 12 volt 4x4 winch. Saw one at Sams yesterday under $100. Attach it to the puller and lift with no trouble.
Ed

[Luther Oswalt]

Look using a beam overhead which could support at least 2000# as recommendated early in this. It would be nice to be able to back a trailer or a pickup truck over the "doors" in the floor and then "hook" a load off the trailer/truck, lift it sightly to clear the bed and then open those covers in the floor and lower the load to the floor below! The garage bay could then be used for vehicles when needed! That floor is going to need to be strong to support all the vehicles parked in there.
Leo
Leo

[Andy Hoyt]

I too suggest the hoist option.

However, I encourage you to run the stairwell/hole design idea past your building department. They'll be concerned about fumes and liquids from vehicles following the path of least resistance.

[Luther Oswalt]

I too suggest the hoist option.

However, I encourage you to run the stairwell/hole design idea past your building department. They'll be concerned about fumes and liquids from vehicles following the path of least resistance.

Andy is absolutely correct. Among many things I ended up having to do to get a Building Permit, one was to in stall 2 fans. One on each side of the shop. The reason was that I was also going to repair/maintain cars in the shop as well as park cars there on rare occasions ... and the permit was for a seperate building without a basement!
Leo

[Frank Chaffee]

Gary,
From my experience, a hand operated chain hoist with sufficient length of lift, mounted on a wooden or steel beam, is the most cost effective for the situation you describe. An electrically driven cable winch with a remote up/down control would also serve you well.
Be very sure to check applicable codes and consult with a Practicing Engineer, as Safety Factors for overhead lifting, last I heard, were 8x.
Frank

[Doug Hobkirk]

An auto repair shop lift might work - light duty would be plenty strong - lots of used ones around

[Jeff Horton]

Here is different idea. Have you considered cutting a ramp and putting in a garage door? I had to this in my basement. My back walls are only 4' to 5" below grade but we just dug out access. SOOO glad I did too!

If you have go deeper you can just add a sump pump in a well to pump out rain water very reasonably. Just add a grate and pit (so to speak) for the pump.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Stu uses the hoist option and it seems to work well...perhaps when he sees this thread he'll wade in.

Take care, Mike

[Dan Oelke]

To throw another option into the mix....

I just moved a couple of large pieces of junk out of my in-laws basement. Their access is really pretty nice. They have an outside set of cellar doors. Nothing different than I have seen in a bunch of other houses - until I see that the foundation and basement walls actually jut out for this. This means that there is a big retangular area with the floor all at the same level as the basement. The steps going down are built into this area, but are just a bunch of 2x planks that can be easily removed and then you have a pit that is about 4' wide by 6' long. The skid loader can be pulled up and with a chain used as a hoist to pull things straight up and out. Very slick setup. This would also avoid the issues of fumes/gas from the garage going into the house.