Poor Man's Lift

Poort man's lift FARM SHOP Maintenance 14-2-10 "I tinker around a lot in my shop and one of the most handy things I've built recently is this Poor Man's Lift. It works like a charm," says Marvin Hammer, Bartow, Ma., who wanted an easier way to work on cars and trucks. Hammer says his lift has the advantages of a hydraulic hoist or maintenance pit without the expense. It requires no power and wheel base width can be adjusted to fit any vehicle. A pair of 20-ft. long 12-in. I-beams serve as a drive on ramp. The beams are laid sideways so that the flanges on the sides of the beams keep tires from coming out of ramps. The ramps pivot on an innovative "hinge" assembly made from heavy 3/8-wall 20-in. dia. pipe. There's a 10-ft. long section of the pipe laying across the width of the lift a little more than halfway down the length of the ramps. Two "saddles" made out of 2-ft. long half sections of the 20-in. pipe are laid over the top of the pipe and welded to each of the ramps. You have to spread the half sections outward a bit to get them to fit over the pipe. Bumper stops made out of 8-in. I-beam mount under the front end of each ramp. The ramps are balanced over the pivot point so that when not in use the rear end of the ramps rests on the ground and the ramps go up at an incline. You simply drive a car or truck up the ramps and as you get past the balance point, the front end of the ramps will drop to the ground and come to rest on the bumper stops. You can also stop just before you get past the balance point to leave the front end of the vehicle high up in the air. "It's versatile. You can slide the ramps back and forth to adjust to different wheel widths right on down to the width of a garden tractor. Works great for any kind of underbody work," says Hammer. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Marvin C. Hammer, Rt. 1, Box 737, Bartow, Fla. 33830 (ph 813 533-3617).

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