Racor PHL-1R Pro HeavyLift 4-by-4-Foot Cable-Lifted Storage Rack
by Racor
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List Price: Our Price: $127.00 You Save: $83.00 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $118.00 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Racor PHL-1R Pro HeavyLift 4-by-4-Foot Cable-Lifted Storage Rack
Customer Review: Great Solution at a decent price
Summary: 4 Stars
Bought this product to help allow my two car garage to actually hold two cars. Once installed, I am quite pleased with the function of this item. Granted, it takes what seems to be hours to get the lift up and down, but once it's up, it's up - and by lowering the shelf it is a lot easier to load and unload than non-moving units.
When installing this item - take your time and download the instructional video. The paper instructions included are not nearly detailed enough and you can easily end up having to backtrack and fix some of your installation.
I would also like to see a different gear ratio for the drive gears. As it is now, the lift takes quite a while and a fair amount of strength and stamina to raise and lower - maybe there should be a drill attachment - hmmmm?!
Pros
* Overhead Storage
* Don't need a ladder to access
Cons
* Takes a long time and a sturdy arm to raise and lower
* Installation can be tricky
Customer Review: Great Product, Crapy Hardware
Summary: 4 Stars
As most other reviewers have stated, this product works great, but do not use the bolts that come with it. Go to hardware store and spend $5 on a box of good quality bolts and throw the ones that come with it away. I figured I would use the supplied bolts just to see if they fixed the problem, but the first one I put in, the head ripped off and it had about 1 inch to go. Really crapy bolts. I was lucky in that my studs lined up perfectly. I bought 2 racks and they both were installed in about 90 minutes (after I bought new bolts). My ceiling height is pretty high (about 11 feet) so I would have liked more cable length, but it is ok. Since the ceiling is so high, the hand crank is above my head...good workout for my arms. I took the handle off the bottom of the crank by removing the C-Clip and inserted it into my cordless drill...no more weary arms. The 18v drill can raise the rack even with a load in about 30 seconds. Get yourself one, you will fill it up quickly.Customer Review: Under engineered for 250#
Summary: 2 Stars
I really like the idea and it will work for LIGHT loads. I just finished installing this product and found it to be under engineered to lift 250# as advertised. It seems to work reasonably well if the load is kept under 200#. The ceiling arms, cable, and platform seem to be okay, but the roller mechanism, particularly the roller gearbox and support are too light weight and try to twist with a full load. The gearbox ratio is such that it would be extremely difficult to crank it up with anything other than a very light load. I used a 1/2 drill as mentioned in the instructions, but you had to be very careful that the hook didn't ride up and bind. When this happened the lightweight rod used for the crank bent and I had to straighten it out (three times) and was lucky that I didn't sprain my wrist. If you use a drill, make sure you pull down on it while winding it up to keep the hook in place and do it in short bursts (not continuous) to keep it from riding up and binding.Customer Review: Variation on installation.
Summary: 4 Stars
I have ordered 2 of the HeavyLift hoists. I have read most of the best reviews, and I don't have the instalation instructions. I am considering using 1 full sheet of ¾" plywood mounted to the ceiling on which I'll mount 2 hoists. It would solve the issues of the best location for the hoists not being where studs are located, and be able to do more precise work on the floor or bench instead of overhead on ladders.
Procedure: Install plywood into studs on the ceiling with better lag bolts and washers where I want the hoists. Remove the plywood and install hoists' frames, w/bolts and "T" nuts thru the plywood. Therefore, individual pieces could be easily removed if necessary without taking everything down. Reinstall this assembly to the ceiling. Finish the installation of hoists' parts.
If you have experience with installing these hoists, please, let me know of any problems you think there will be, or better ways to solve these problems.
Customer Review: Found new floor space!!
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this product to be exactly as advertised. As mentioned in a couple other reviews, cranking the platform up and down is not extremely hard but it is a workout. So, you don't want to put something on this that you will use daily. The crank has a nice little safety lock to prevent it from accidently lowering. Very sturdy design.
The only things I would caution people about this is product is;
1) With the standard cables, it is made for an 8' ceiling. In a 10' garage, the platform will stop 2' off the ground. Since it is hanging by cables, the platform will move around while you are loading stuff on it.
2) You should look at how far it will hang down. If you have an 8' ceiling and you put a 24" tall box on the platform, the bottom support bars will be about 5' 9" high. Can be a head knocker.
Overall, I am very happy with this and am looking to buy another one.