GiuseppeM

That's interesting, are you happy with the 110V?

Petza914

I don't think locks at each post is overkill. Without them, if one of the corner cables breaks, that corner could fall far enough to completely bind the lift. With the safety catches at each corner, if a cable breaks, the furthest a corner could fall relative to the others is 1 notch. The way the safety catches work is that they're on strong springs. When you're raising the lift, the cables tighten through the safety catch pulley moving them out of the way, and they're also tapered in the up direction of travel. When the cables are slack, like when the lift stops are engaged in the posts, the spring has that safety catch under tension in the direction of the posts. If a lift support bracket somehow failed, the safety catch would go into that slot of the next slot down. The same would happen with the lift on the way up if a cable broke. It's well engineered and an awesome design. This along with the solid posts are the reasons I purchased the Backyard Buddy brand lift even though it was considerably more expensive.

Plastique999

Haven't put a car on the lift yet, but in raising the lift, it is quite slow. I'm ok with that.
I have a separate single car garage I'm expanding and installing a 220v line. I will likely add a second lift and compare in the future.

XS29L9B

Agreed!! I just didn't feel comfortable with the "other" designs of ladder or welded tabs, and the BYB "knockoffs" all lack the redundant catches.

For 15 years, I thought about buying a 4 post lift, and then out of necessity, bought two, and now need another. I chose the BYB for its features and benefits.

GiuseppeM

Right when I made up my mind on a Bendpak! So for the people that touch with their own hands both lifts, which one was more solid? I get the difference in the columns between the 2 but how come BYB doesn't have a certification?

XS29L9B

All the "channel" lifts could be shaken and when up and down, the lost would even move slightly on some. Now granted, these were unloaded, but still, I don't see how when something binds, it won't move, still. And resting on a ladder or a notch, no thanks. The BYB was clearly "more solid".

Why doesn't BYB have certification? I don't know. It features a redundant safety lock, flow reduction valve (in case of loss of hydraulic pressure) and actual load capacity well beyond stated limits.

The salty guy I dealt with when buying mine couldn't care less on certification, but did show me a mangled ladder which was from "binding" of the lock mechanism of a chines lift. I was also shown a 3 sided "channel" form of another chines lift, which I could "spread" with my bare hands.
Sorry, neither of those reassured me of the quality of Chinese product.

Petza914

That "salty guy" I think was Jason (not 100% sure on that name) and was in some of their original videos, but was no longer there when I bought mine in early 2013. He left and started his own lift company, also offering a lower cost solid post like the BYB, but his venture didn't last long - likely from patent infringement or because he was just too "salty".

I dealt with Larry and Dave who were both great.

GiuseppeM

Without an independent certification these are just a bunch of promises, that's the problem.

XS29L9B

I don't follow. "Bunch of promises" for what? It truly does have a redundant safety lock at each post. And I could physically spread the channel of the post of a coupe of the Chinese lifts I looked at, prior to purchasing a pair of BYB lifts.

When I asked what "certification" means, I was told it did have to do with redundant locks and the flow restrictor, so given that, I'm okay with the better design of the post/slider design of BYB, which won't move, or otherwise spread.

Just my 2c, and again, I looked at these lifts for enough time to see some companies come and go. Heartland was another post/slider company, and they were cheaper than BYB, but went out of business nearly as quickly as they arrived on the scene.

XS29L9B

I made my decision after seeing the BYB (and others) by comparison. Not sure it was Jason, but know what you mean on others vanishing after trying to copy the design. Advantage Lifts is one which currently comes to mind, but without redundant safety catches at each post, even at a pretty sizable savings, I can't buy one of those. Not worth the risk.

I am presently in the market for another 4 post lift, as these things are REALLY handy and double my parking. I will probably buy another BYB, as I don't see any improvements in the others on the market, and won't buy a Chinese lift.

Bigfoot928

I really would like to have a lift.... but my celling height is about 8.5 There is room to raise the ceiling a 3 feet..... and I could do most of the work.

GiuseppeM

From the pictures I've seen online BYB's posts and runways look beefier and the squared post gave me the impression of being more solid, but that's not how engineering works. The design of the BYB looks amateurish and the "built in America" slogan and "welded by certified welders" give me the impression of a company that refuses to follow the industry standards and can get away with it.
An indipendemt certification that guarantees the claims made by the manufacturer is necessary, and there can only be one reason why BYB refuses to get one.
I'm disappointed to find so much trash talk on their websites because I don't really care about their opinions. I need lab tests and empirical data, I need to know how they were tested. How can Bendpak provide these certifications and BYB no? When I contacted American Custom Lifts all they kept repeating was that their M1 was such a great lift because it was made in America and was so much better then the Chinese lifts...but they sell Chinese lifts too! So what's the deal?

XS29L9B

You are bit all over the map. Going from Bendpack, to BYB, to American Custom Lifts, who looks like a re-seller and their M1, which is a single post lift, and not even what's being discussed. I wouldn't trust that design, either. But probably for reasons other than yours

XS29L9B

My ceiling is 10 ft and with two low sports cars, 8.5 would be fine. But you probably need to raise the "track" of your garage door, and perhaps change to a lift master torsion lift motor.

I wish sometimes I had 12' ceilings, but as they say, you can't have it all...

GiuseppeM

Well as I mentioned earlier in the thread I really like the M1 single post lift but it's 3x the cost of a 4 post lift so now I have to decide between Bendpak and BYB.