My double decker sled storage

[Modman]

thats AWSOME!!! how much did it cost you in materials? I need one of thoes bad! I wish I could do the same thing but have a dirt bike on top :d my dad makes me store my sled out at someones farm and I even have to pay for it! that would be my solution!

LOL - you might not want to hear this.......$700. Metal was just under $500 total. The wheels ran me $150 - they are about $35 each. Then the rest is associated hardware - chain, cable, turnbuckles, etc. You could do it for a lot less than this, I used 3" x 1/4" wall tubing for the uprights and the bottom crossbrace, and then 2" x 1/4" wall tubing for everything else. The lift itself weighs almost 350 lbs fully assembled (in the pic) no plywood yet either, probably closer to 400 lbs all said and done. If you are not lifting a sled, you could do it for a lot less, probably around $300 with current steel prices.

Again, probably could have gotten away with a thinner wall thickness at times, but I say if you are going to do it, do it right, then you won't have to build it twice. It costs more to overbuild but I don't have to worry about it either. Everything has a redundant back up, double chains on the winch - ANSI Spec to 1000 lbs lifting, working strength doubled and tensile strength of 1780 lbs doubled. One is good - two is better. Double lifting cables, 1/4", good to 1600 lbs a side working strength, and 4000 lbs tensile strength. The turnbuckles are rated for 3500 lbs a side.

If I am lifting a 500 lb sled, all the hardware that I would use, should be rated for about 6 times the capacity of the load or around 3000 lbs. The cables, turnbuckles and the chain exceed that, the 3" tubing is used in car hoists, etc etc.

The other big thing is welding. There is a ton of welding on this. All welds bevelled and double passed on the uprights and gussetted, lots of triangulation, and lots of heat when welding. Penetrating a deep bead into 1/4" steel is tough, so if you don't know how to weld, get some help. This isn't something you want to practice on, if a weld fails, you could do some serious damage to you or your toys.

Hope that helps bud.

 

[Barton]

Awesome job. Wish I had the time to plan something like that let alone build one.

 

[mxz sledhead]

Think of the exact same thing cool idea

 

[fnDan]

I wonder how much this is?

Garage Strategies™ - Loft-It

I contacted them last year and I think it was about $2100.

 

[Modman]

here's the one I built. Sold it to a friend after the missus sold her sled. Didn't need it any more

Nice work Pipes! How did you get the top sled up there (looks like upper deck is stationary)?

 

[Modman]

I like the idea. If you don't want to make them to sell you should draft up a set of drawings for others to use as a DIY project. Heck even if you were to sell the drawings at 5-10 bucks a piece it's still beer money. I would like to see a pic of it painted up with some iron on it, i'm sure it will turn out sweet.

If you want to know, PM me and I'll tell you. Adding some drawings (if I even had time to make them up) wouldn't be a ton of help, what you see is what it is, pretty simple. It's 6 feet 6 inches long, and the rear uprights are 6' high. The basic makeup is 2 uprights, 2 crossmembers, 4 braces on the upper shelf, the upper shelf itself - attached to the sliders on the uprights, cable, turnbuckles, chain and gears. The upper shaft for the lifting cable is solid 1" round bar, sitting in 1" pillow block bearings, the wheels and plywood. That's pretty much 95% of it (apart from bolts, cable clamps, pins, etc.).

I'd love to tell you it would be my dream to quit my job and start fabricating these, but I really doubt that I would make as much as I do now.... and I'm not a professional welder by trade so I'd have to hire one, etc etc. I can give you all the specs on the materials and length that I used. It got built because I needed it, not for any other reason. If someone copies it, won't hurt my feelings. If it means they like the design, I'm flattered. But I really can't see the market for these being very big, even for the drawings.

But I can appreciate your comments, and so thanks.

 

[retiredpop]

Have you got your sleds on there yet? Picture please if you do. Also I'm curious if it is really hard to move once the sleds are on.

 

[Modman]

Won't have the sleds on there until sometime next week unfortunately. Pics to come once I have it all loaded.

 

[vic]

Great looking lift, x2 on pic's with machines on it.Like to see more pic's of the cranking mechcanizm. 2 gears and chain?

 

[overkill131313]

I have to build two of these soon to hold my 4 sleds now. added on to my parents shop and need to store all the sleds. I think I will keep the yamaha on the bottom lol.

 

[pipes]

Nice work Pipes! How did you get the top sled up there (looks like upper deck is stationary)?

nope it pivots at the front. drive the upper sled up thi inclined ramp. which it up with the winch and safety pin it in place drive in the lower sled and roll into place.

 

[06 Dragon]

Nice work. Here is a site that has some other options as well. www.easymovecarts.com click on snowmobile stands, then scroll down to the bottom of the page to the lift systems.

 

[imdoo'n]

LOL - the wife already gave me some orders, one of them was "finish the damn rack so you can mow the lawn!"

Don't have time to build them, just doing this one was enough. About 2 solid days to build it, I know it doesn't look like much but there are lots of neat little things that I built into it that took some extra time. The front wheels slide out (for wider stance) for more stability when you are moving it around, then they slide back in for maximum floor space when stationary. Doesn't seem like much but drilling the holes for the 5/8" pins to lock the extending arms in place took almost 10 mins per leg because of the wall thickness on the steel.

Lots of gussetting and support, it's really built. Each castor wheel alone is rated for 2000lbs (8,000 lbs total).

quad trash has a new mower, maybe with a few beers he may come over.

 

[Dean10]

I like the way you think, nice work on the lift,

I went through a similar process on my Rhino loading racks, over design, extra strong, never worry. I just sold my Rhino, so now I'm looking to sell my loading rack if anyone is interested.

 

[Modman]

You guys got me curious so last night I threw a sled up on the upper deck (lifted it from the floor onto the lift by myself, so it can be loaded by one person) and hoisted it up. Goes up and down awesome. Sorry no pics, will get some later.

Some little tweaks I noted:

1: going to need an additional pillow block bearing in the middle of the upper rod - it flexes a little between the 2 that are there, not badly but I'd like to keep it as straight as possible.

2: 3:1 gear reduction is fine, 4:1 would be perfect I think. I'm going to leave it at 3:1, was able to crank it up with a 12" handle at 3:1, but 4:1 would be ideal IMO.

3: skis should be on the hand crank side. The seat and running boards got in the way of cranking it up initially because the sled sticks farther out on the track end than the motor end. Originally I put the rear to the crank side (right side in the photo on page 1) but then switched it because it was in the way, more clearance with the skis to the right and track to the left.

4: rolls around amazing with one sled. Only needed one hand to push it and it moves really well, gotta trim one support a little more for wheel brake clearance but other than that its fine. I'm sure it will be heavy with 2 sleds but at this point I don't see it being too heavy to move, it rolls easier than when my sled is on my floor dollies

One thing I noted was that the upper deck can be set to the perfect height to pull a sled off a truck box or a trailer. Back up and load right onto or off of the lift, wasn't really thinking about it before, but definitely a nice bonus!

I got up on the deck with it in the raised position and even with my heavy frame on there it didn't break, so I think it's going to work well.

 

[Modman]

I like the way you think, nice work on the lift,

I went through a similar process on my Rhino loading racks, over design, extra strong, never worry. I just sold my Rhino, so now I'm looking to sell my loading rack if anyone is interested.
View attachment 57728

View attachment 57729

View attachment 57730

View attachment 57731

You got enough lights on the front of that rig???? LOL - holy crap man!!!! :d

 

[magnet]

You got enough lights on the front of that rig???? LOL - holy crap man!!!! :d

i doubt it i see room for at least 2 more on the top of the bumper alone. :d

 

[Dean10]

I'm afraid of the dark.

You noticed the lights, but not the air horns,....

 

[maxwell]

alright well im going to have to build one of these. possibly 2...just trying to figure out how to modify it for a 2000lb winch. just wondering what size of steel you used for the uprights and the sleeves that go over? wall thickness?

 

[summ-it-up]

I'm afraid of the dark.

You noticed the lights, but not the air horns,....

holy crap, are you deaf yet? i thought those were supposed to go in front of you, ...not in the box.. lol , rig looks awesome tho.