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2-Post Car Lift Can Handle Little Tractors
William Brauer gets double duty out of his hydraulic, 2-post car lift, thanks to the garden tractor adapter he made. Twin sets of rails attached between the lift arms make it easy to work on his collection of 7 Deere 140 lawn and garden tractors.
    “I looked at commercial lift adapters, but they were too expensive,” says Brauer. “The open center between the lift arms makes it easy to change oil and work on the tractors.”
    Brauer fabricated the attachment using lengths of 2-in. square tubing for 2 sets of wheel support rails. They extend between the arms of the full-size lift. Short lengths of 2-in. channel iron are bolted to the ends of the rails to form parallelograms.
    A 2-in. steel pipe is bolted to the underside and at the center of the channel iron. It is sized to match holes in the arm ends that normally house vehicle frame rest pads. To attach the rails, Brauer removes the pads from the arms and slips the pipe into their place.
    “The front set of rails (first to be driven over) are telescoping to accommodate wider wheel bases,” explains Brauer.
    The rails are 2-piece with lengths of 1 1/2-in. steel bar inside them. Brauer can slide them apart as needed. He regrets not making the rear set of rails telescoping as well. “I have a Deere 318 garden tractor that has wheels that are a little large for the rails,” says Brauer. “However, I have had a zero-turn mower on it. Even the way it is, it’s very versatile.”
    Brauer fabricated removable ramps for the rails. They consist of 4 sets of 8 by 10-in. steel pads, each with a 2-in. bend in one end to fit over the front rails and “lock” on. Each set of ramps is connected by light chains to a block of wood that sets between the rails. A single set of ramps fits the rear or far rails with chains that wrap around the rear most rail.
    “The ramps make it much easier to drive over the rails when mounting a tractor on them,” says Brauer. “When I raise the lift, the wood blocks drop down so the wheels rest on the rails.”
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, William A. Brauer, 28W574 Garys Mill Rd., Winfield, Ill. 60190 (ph 630 231-2250; wbpark6@gmail.com).


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2017 - Volume #41, Issue #6