Advice on Buying Snowmobile Lift

snomoman

snomoman

Active member
Greetings fellow JDrs,
as the years go by I’m getting tired of having to crouch down to work on my snowmobile so I would like to get some sort of lift to work on it easier, I saw a nice aluminum lift on Harbor freight for little over 200 bucks, wondering if anybody ever tried one of these or what advice do you have? I know Harbor freight usually has some pretty junky stuff but this thing looks pretty decent,
thank you in advance for your advice
 
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euphoric1

Well-known member
whitedust said:
Once you wrench with a lift you are never willing to go back to knees on the ground except on the trail. Buy a lift with wheels and brakes so you can move around no need to scratch garage floor.
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It's amazing how easily they roll along the floor too, with very little effort, not only are you not on the floor on your knees, they lift high enough you can work on the sled without being hunched over it, I will also mention they crank up with little or no effort as well! Thanks Pete!
 
snomoman

snomoman

Active member
Thanks for the replies, do you guys have any model lifts in particular that you could recommend for me?
 
6

600_RMK_144

Active member
Hands down, you want to go with Lift-A-Sled. Made in the USA (WI), all aluminum (light + no rust). They are the best! Don't waste your money on a cheap one. They are at Hay Days every year if you attend and don't want to pay shipping.
 
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mikes99ss

Well-known member
600_RMK_144 said:
Hands down, you want to go with Lift-A-Sled. Made in the USA (WI), all aluminum (light + no rust). They are the best! Don't waste your money on a cheap one. They are at Hay Days every year if you attend and don't want to pay shipping.
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100% I have two of them. The customer support after the sale is second to none as well
 
gary_in_neenah

gary_in_neenah

Super Moderator
Staff member
Looks like it might be top heavy as a tipping hazard. Yes? No?

Could a guy use this for off-season storage in the up position?

Given the choice I would always go with something made here in the U.S. even better, a small town in Wisconsin.
 
jime

jime

Member
Harbor Freight!!!
well my setup does not do what a lift will do but takes up zero space.
i laminated myself some oak in order to span a few garage rafters with a beam, installed an eyelet and come along.
while i only lift one end of my sled at a time, i've done plenty enough worthwhile work this way.
great all year long too.
 
snomoman

snomoman

Active member
There’s plenty of good advice here, thanks everyone, in the past I’ve been using a mechanics seat I got from Napa and wheeling around the front of the snowmobile with that,
Definitely want to buy something safe, you’re having 500+ pounds up there plus you underneath it could be a recipe for disaster if things went south. damage to you and your sled, yikes, double whammy,
 
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bagman

New member
Just wanted to show an option here,about 7 years ago I purchased a J&S lift at the Milwaukee show the one and only time they were there.it’s air over hydraulic paid $450 bucks hands down best lift I ever owned went on their web this morning to check the price wow!!! $1025.00 glad I bought on a whim best purchase I ever made there.
 
ddhanna

ddhanna

Active member
When I get nervous about the sled falling off, I use short pieces of rope to tie the running boards to the lift. Not going anywhere.
 
R

racerx

Active member
jime said:
Harbor Freight!!!
well my setup does not do what a lift will do but takes up zero space.
i laminated myself some oak in order to span a few garage rafters with a beam, installed an eyelet and come along.
while i only lift one end of my sled at a time, i've done plenty enough worthwhile work this way.
great all year long too.
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Did something similar with PWCs in my shed as I beefed up my homemade trusses and essentially built it like a boat lift with two come alongside to lift and then put in side supports after life so it wouldn't hand and then used a furniture dolly with bunks to roll the other one in.
I to worry about a lift and tipping which I am currently working on a solution go fix that but right now it it a good storage lift with wheels
 
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whitedust

Well-known member
racerx said:
Did something similar with PWCs in my shed as I beefed up my homemade trusses and essentially built it like a boat lift with two come alongside to lift and then put in side supports after life so it wouldn't hand and then used a furniture dolly with bunks to roll the other one in.
I to worry about a lift and tipping which I am currently working on a solution go fix that but right now it it a good storage lift with wheels
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Bought a PWC dolly with bunks for storage but don’t remember where or how much. I think we just pushed PWC off trailer on to bunk with wheels stored in corner of my garage. It got sold with everything else when I sold my PWC.
 
gary_in_neenah

gary_in_neenah

Super Moderator
Staff member
fishcrib said:
Thanks Gary, I think I am going buy one
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The Greek philosopher, Archimedes, said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” And that's pretty much how they work. I can move the 4 stroke anywhere in the garage with one hand. Way better than dollies.
 
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