I posted this earlier in May, and so far I still have the lift, but I don't know how much longer I can keep it out of the recycling yard. Here's the deal...We removed an old Model T lift from our building in Normandy, TN. It is now sitting on a trailer slated to go to the recycle yard unless I find a buyer for it. My husband is asking $150. It has Carnegie imprinted in two places, and has the moveable V rests for the rear axel of the Model T to sit in. There are some front supports as well. The lift is 16 feet long. It would be a great conversation piece or could have Plexiglas put on top for a cool looong table! :-)
The hydraulic cylinder is another story. it is still in the floor of the building, and we don't know how far down it goes, or how to extract it.
I would like to see this piece of history land in the hands of someone who appreciates it. Please call 931-409-7858 or email me at karen.browning@tcsedu.net if interested. I will try to attach pictures. Thanks!
Why does this seem like Groundhog Day? It appears that there have been a few people on here who were interested in trying to save it. Have all of them fell through or is
Any chance you could post pictures or email pics to someone who could post them?
Dan, I emailed Karen and asked her to email me photos that I can resize and post here.
From her description it sounds like a typical air powered chassis lift that was very popular in the early fifties up through the eighties. Probably earlier than the fifties, but that is when I first remember seeing them around here. Dave
Here are a couple of earlier threads on the same subject:
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/411944/446970.html?1400858659
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/411944/412270.html?1388716150
If they seriously wanted to give the entire thing away with the condition it was not going to a scrapper but to someone who would actually use it, I'm sure if they posted it on local Craigslist somebody would take it off their hands for free.
RE: removing an in-ground hydraulic lift
40 years ago, a friend of my dad was given a lift from an old garage for free as long as he could remove it.
I remember that he and a buddy dug it out by hand.
When he got everything home, he installed it next to his garage and built a cover for it when not in use.
Some time ago, there were pictures of the lift, here, on the forum.
Wasn't Bill Everett going to post pictures since he had an appointment to see it?
Here's the set of five photos Karen sent me to post her with here comment.
"The last picture is when we had unbolted it from the cylinder in prep to move it out of the building and out from under foot. It is a wonderful old piece and I sure hope it can be saved!"
Don't know why the post above didn't move to the top or why three of the five photos didn't show.
Looks like to me it's the standard in-ground lift used by garages in the 1950-70's era. About 15 years ago I was looking for a lift and those were available pretty much for digging them up. That was the catch -- removing the hydraulic cylinder, then digging a hole and putting in place and putting concrete around it. And I was told I'd have to do it undetected, since, by having underground hydraulic oil, they were no longer being allowed to be installed. Remember, sometimes even free is not affordable!
With some creativity someone could create a static type display with this. I can't imagine using it for its actual intended purpose. Is there room for it at the museum?
The shop I worked in, back in the 1950's, had a 2 post lift. The cylinder for the rear axle was fixed in place and the one for the front axle/suspension was adjustable back and forth to allow for the wheelbase of the vehicle.
The beauty of it was that pretty much the whole of the underside of the vehicle was open for working on.
The drawback was that there was a control for each cylinder, so you had to be careful when lifting a vehicle to keep it level.
Of course if you wanted one end higher than the other, for whatever reason, that was easily done.