Any ideas on how this can be built?
 

Approximately 18' long by 30" wide platform to raise 3 motorcycles off of the garage floor. Placed along a garage wall. Platform for bikes is diamond plate. I'm thinking a motor that raises and lowers the platform via rollers in channels. I've never welded, but I'm sure I could learn. Platform would need to be raised/lowered to retrieve bikes a few times a year. Any ideas on how to pull this off?

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I'd use a chain drive garage door opener to turn a pinion geared into the four posts to raise your channel.

The pinion would be rod, in bearings with five gears on it, one for each post and one to take the drive from the motor.

Have fun.
Les

does it have to be mechanical? can you make the top level solid..like bunk beds for the bikes?

i mean use a ramp section to roll the bike up stairs..maybe at 40" tall, the ramp would too long. hmmm. nice idea. if the bikes can face towards the wall, the ramp can run into the garage and be long enough..so they are not ridiculouly steep. just a thought.

You would want each section to lift separately or you will have to move everything from under it to get one bike down. Basicly 3 small 4 post lifts.

thinking some more..why not make "pigeon holes" for the bikes and then lift them into place with a motorcycle lift table?

The other way to do it would be to make the stand (s) non moveable and use a overhead lift to place the first bike in the center and then roll it either left or right for storage.

Maybe I could just modify something like this. Basically make it narrower.

Torin Big Red Portable 4-Post Lift — 7000-Lb. Capacity, Model# N4QJY3.0C | Four-Post Lifts| Northern Tool + Equipment

Overhead crane

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1359141136.jpg

i think engineering a powered elevator is going to be more trouble than you're looking for.

why not just use standard warehouse shelves, secure each bike on a pallet and use a forklift?

3 sets of post lifts. Have each bike on a separate pair, that way you can lower one without lowering the others.

Another way to do it would be to use these: Truck Camper Jacks - Atwood Mobile They can be controlled with a remote. Make the center section the moveable section and then roll the bike either left or right for storage.

Could modify an off the shelf 4 post lift to make it narrow.

Maybe make the top level stationary but wide enough to walk on with the bike and get a portable scissor lift drilled for tie downs? That way you can move the bikes to the top level when you want and store the lift when not in use. Looks like portable scissor lifts can go up to around 64 inches.

linear actuators and a custom built frame

Ran the problem by the afternoon coffee brain trust and one owner of several bikes asked how tall is his garage? He pointed out that to the top of his handle bars is almost 4'. So if you want to stack them you need a minimun of 9' (4' + 4' + height of shelf) and he also pointed out that trying to get a full dressed Harley out from under a 4' tall shelf would be a good way to screw up your back. He suggested you would need a way to roll out the bottom bikes (like a tool box drawer) to access them. Heavy duty roller wheels under the checker plate shelf might make this work.

Buy a small used fork lift. Put the bikes on pallets.

I really dont want palettes, forklifts, etc. Looking for a slick solution that compliments a bike collection. Has anyone heard of posts for sale separately that have some type of roller drive mechanism built into them? If I had the posts and a linear actuator like Johnco suggests, I could have a platform fabbed and attached to the posts.

My bikes are all fairly lightweight... 300-400lbs each. I could place them on small roller dollies to move them around easily.

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How tall is your garage?

Build a frame work out of 2x4's and see if you can get a bike out from underneath with the dollys.

One of the brain trust suggested hang them from the ceiling. Use a cable hoist (2000 lb ele winch) hidden in the rafters (only the winch hook hangs down) and lift them up to the ceiling. You can buy the winches for about $60 on sale. Add reinforcing to the trusses so the roof will handle the extra weight.

You could do it this way for about $400-$500 (3 winches, power converter 120v to 12v, reinforcing and fancy winch hook covers)