I want that hoist.
referencing the Stewart and Stevenson hoist shown in the P-3 topic - Michelle
I have worked under coaches with lifts like that, but was always a little nervous as would only be a grease spot if the coach came down.
The four lifts are rated at 15,000# each. I was not present for any of the lifting or lowering. I expect the lifts are hooked together for control. I expect they may have more of the lifts stashed in the shop. James said he could lift an entire frac pump rig.
The shop also had two or three overhead cranes that can transport engine/transmission packages with relative ease. There was a dynamometer station outside that was set up to handle dual tandem drives.
Jame said they have worked with Foretravel many times. Recently they were involved in programming steerable tag axles.
Get yours here:
http://www.ari-hetra.com/product/52/Heavy-Duty-Mobile-Lift-HDML-AE-8.cfm
or here
http://www.newyorkstatesuperads.com/tools_For_Sale/C524A1012005P1/HD_Vehicles_lifts.aspx
Need to find a used one closer to Los Angeles
Our barnominium is going to have a4' by 8' pit in the slab. Should be forming up and pouring this week.
How do I split out of this to not hi Jack the thread? There is an interesting observation about the hoist that goes against what has been posted on the Forum. The rear hoist is only lifting the outside tire carrying the weight of the rear of the coach. The fire departments are using it and I am sure they would not do anything to damage tires. I was making leveling pads for both tires on each side for the rear and now wonder if that was necessary. The two contact spots on the hoist are smaller than the footprint of the blocks I made.
Moderators and facilitators (me) can split topics, which I just did. Thanks for asking for this ^.^d
If you see something interesting in a topic and want to discuss it without hijacking the topic, hover over "more" at the bottom right of the post in question, click "New Topic". Give the new topic a title, select which board you want it to appear in, edit the quoted text down to the snippet you want to discuss, and go from there. :)
Tom, you need about 14ft long pit to be useful. I have this and turn coach around to work on both ends. No big deal. Ruth did not like the idea of 36ft long hole in driveway so I opted for the 14' and it just works to get to all needed areas.
JohnH
The older style just use a lead-screw to raise the wheels up. Very simple and safe.
Still curious about the tire weight issue. Seems it may have been blown out of proportion on previous posts about damage to tires that carried the weight with just one tire.
"Does it hurt anything to lift the coach by the 2 outside duals?" I asked this exact question when we had our coach serviced at Oregon Motorcoach, because it was my first exposure to this jacking device. The tech, who had 40 years experience working on heavy equipment, said it was not a concern. He claimed to haver
never heard of any ill effects from this procedure. His "theory" was that since both of the wheels bolt to the axle at the same place, you are really lifting at the same point whether you pick up one or both wheels. I said the leverage looks like it would be a little different just using the outside dual, but he said the wheels are plenty strong enough to handle that. Anyway, it IS common practice at shops that service hundreds of coaches every year, so I guess if it was tearing them up we would hear
something about it.
One of the main reasons we go to "Little America" in Flagstaff is their pit, it can take the whole coach and sure is easy to inspect the keel. ^.^d
At my work they use 50,000 lbs. versions of the same thing to lift locomotives. They don't lift at the wheels but on the frame. A control cable ties them all together so they lift evenly. The jack screw design seems very safe. The only thing I would worry about is if something heavy (like a forklift) ran into it and tipped the whole thing over. Never heard of it happening though.
I would like to hear more about this place! A quick Google search only turned up a hotel by that name so-so rooms and a $200 dollars a night price tag.
Don
This might be it:
Garage Services | The Little America Hotel Flagstaff (http://flagstaff.littleamerica.com/travel-center/garage-services)