Lift Table assembly/outfeed table. - Felder FAT 300 vs Electric Lift Table

[Sean Moore]

I am looking to build a lift table workbench, with a Paulk style MFT top that contains a set of drawers on both sides.


Im debating between one of the Felder FAT 300 tables, which comes with a set of wheels but is a manual lift and can only take 660lbs, vs an electronic lift table that can take around 2200 lbs but is not mobile.

I like the idea of being able to wheel it around, but im not sure if it would be a better option to get the electronic one that is not wheeled since my concrete floor isnt level and I can shim it out.

I imagine the workbench top, which will be 3ft x 6ft, will be a 150-200lbs when its loaded with drawers and what not. Is it not wise to put something of this size on one of the mobile FAT 300's?

[Phillip Mitchell]

I went the used scissor lift route and am extremely happy. I added the heavy duty casters from Caster City to the bottom of the low profile lift. It’s a a Bishamon that is rated for 1000 kg / 2200 lb. I also built the MDF torsion box style top after seeing Mike Farrington on YT and really liking his setup.

I can and do wheel mine around within a main area, though my shop is very small and limits where I can actually fit a bench that is 40x75”. I would have made it ~4x8 on top if space had allowed. It probably weights around 750# all together and I have no issue moving it where I want and locking it down with those phenolic casters. The pump motor is single phase 220v, fwiw.

I don’t know if budget is a factor in your decision but it certainly was for me. I like the simplicity and size of the felder / Barth / Rangate tables for a parts cart, outfeed cart or moving around the shop type cart. Seems a bit small to me for a main assembly table, etc. The downside is they are extremely expensive. I paid $500 for this Bishamon (after looking on the used / auction market for some time) and put another ~$400 into upgrading with the casters and MDF top, etc. I have a larger, more capable, electric lift table for less than half the price for the other manual ones.

I also have a much smaller manual lift cart for Northern Tool rated to lift 1k lb and I use it as a parts, outfeed cart, etc and it works great for stuff like that.

[Jim Becker]

Not having a level floor pretty much would seal the deal for me, regardless of lift type....in order to maintain stability for the intended purposes, a fixed location is the way to go. IMHO. Then utilize a smaller cart, with or without lifting capability, for the "wheel it around" setup.

Relative to weight handling...what do you intend to be building that's going to exceed 600 lbs including your work surface setup? Is that really a limitation? A really huge table project might get up there in hundreds of pounds, but it's unlikely that it would ever be fully assembled on top of a work surface. I'm just asking/mentioning this because if you really are not going to be making things that are going to be hundreds of pounds on top of your work surface, then it expands your options for what underlies that work surface.

[Jonathan Jung]

It also depends on the size and weight of projects you have. I've found that it is possibly to have too large a workbench. For my work a 4x8 lift table would almost be too big. I have 5 mobile lift carts including the Fat 300. I use them much more than I imagined. The Fat 300 is very stable, and heavy enough for working with slabs. My only stationary workbench is a perfectly flat and level 4x8. Occasionally I wish it raised and lowered, but it's easy enough to push a cabinet or slab off it onto the lift carts, where the project can be positioned as needed.

[Mike King]

I use a wheeled lift cart from Rangate -- it is a bit more robust that the Felder FAT 300. I built a RUWI inspired top for it and it is fantastic! My garage floor is neither level or even, but the cart works extremely well. I also find it very useful to have the table/cart mobile...

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....t=#post3200744

[glenn bradley]

The inability of stopping the oil drips on the shop floor spelled the end of my hydraulic lift table. I use screw lift tables now. It is only rated at 300lb but has proven more than adequate for building furniture. The mobility means it can double as an infeed / outfeed surface. Part of my selection criteria was one that would go both high and low enough to be a practical benefit. Just food for thought.

[Erik Loza]

Just to clarify: The FAT table uses pneumatic, not hydraulic, pistons. No risk of oil leakage.

Erik

[Aaron Inami]

A couple of comments on the FAT300 after having it in my shop for 6 months. First, I am happy that I got it. Build quality is great and all that. However, the only negative I can comment on is the pneumatic lifting mechanism. If the frame has 200-250+ lbs on top, the pedal does require a good amount of force to "jack up the table". Also, with this amount of weight on the table, it squeaks during lifting. I found that if I pulled up on the table to "help jack the table up", it reduces the stress on the pneumatic system. If you are going to "lift" heavy stuff, I would look at the FAT500 or a different table that has a hydraulic system.

The big reason I had to go with the FAT is the open frame top because I was building an MFT table (not a Paulk style). Pretty much all of the alternative lift tables use a flat steel table top which prevents the use of 20mm MFT bench dog holes.

If you're doing a Paulk style MFT top, than I think any good lift table would suffice.

[Patrick McCarthy]

i recently had the chance to use the Rangate one while taking 2 classes with Joe Calhoon in Ouray, Co - Alpine Technical Workshop, which i highly recommend. The wheels are smooth and solid, the frame is solid and the foot lever for raising and lowering is a very easy to use, not at all jerky, and no straining required. As shown in Mike's built thread, you have to make your own top but, to most of us, that is just a bonus as we would want to modify whatever was supplied anyway.

I have an old Presto vise cart that has a metal table approx 18x30, electric lift, 1000 lb. capacity, which i got off local Craigslist for $300 (orig MSRP $3,600) and while it works well enough for me in the 2 car garage shop, my brain is working on a way to justify dumping it and getting the Rangate. It's that nice. JMHO, YMMV. Patrick

[Aaron Inami]

i recently had the chance to use the Rangate one while taking 2 classes with Joe Calhoon in Ouray, Co - Alpine Technical Workshop, which i highly recommend. The wheels are smooth and solid, the frame is solid and the foot lever for raising and lowering is a very easy to use, not at all jerky, and no straining required.

With only the MFT top mounted (70 lbs.), my FAT300 will pump/lift the table very easily and smoothly just like the Rangate. It is when you have 250+ lbs on the frame where things get jinky. It works, but it feels like the pump is just struggling to "lift" that much weight. You would have to load the Rangate with 250+ lbs to get to the same point.

Erik's statement above seems to conflict with Felder's website which clear states in multiple areas that the FAT table has "hydraulic lifts". That being said, Rangat's website also describes their product as "hydrualic lift". From just a consumer reader, it's impossible to say if these carts actually use hydraulic pistons or the lower performing pneumatic pistons. lol.

[Erik Loza]

Aaron, thanks for the correction. I must have been thinking of the lifting unit for power feeders, which is pneumatic. Getting old sucks. Still, I would not worry about a FAT table leaking oil on the shop floor. I sold a bunch and only heard of one slowly lowering overnight (if left under load) but never any leaks. Based on user feedback, the FAT 300 would handle the needs of most Creekers but if you truly were manipulating huge slabs or something, then just get a FAT 500. When I left Felder in 2022, one of the specific feedback items I left with Austria was that Felder USA should always have plenty of FAT 300s in US inventory and that they should figure out a way to get the freight cost either built-in, or cheaper than the “piecemeal” LTL rates, like they do for machines. This is a really useful shop tool and there would be many more owners if the stock and delivery cost barriers could be better addressed. Not sure if anynof that has changed. Thanks again to Aaron for correcting me.

Erik

[Bill Dufour]

Electric lifts do not leak down. You could buy a used hydraulic lift table and add a electric actuator to replace the hydraulics.
Bill D

[Rod Sheridan]

The Felder FAT tables are definitely hydraulic.

The S model has a side mounted pedal which is much easier to access than the end mounted pedal.

Regards, Rod.