Hero Hoists Side by Side Parker Installation Part 1

I help defray the costs of my workshop by renting some spaces for car storage.   This was making the workshop quite cramped, especially with the addition of the 560SEC.  Hero hoists offered an interesting four post hoist – a model that could lift two cars side by side and lift them both without the centre pillar.     The presence of the centre pillar would have made it difficult to get some other spots to the left of where the hoist is to go.

The idea was to be able to take a 4th car for storage and still have room for my cars plus a workspace.   Hero Hoists offer two models of the side by side parker.   the regular one and the high lift model.    The high lift model is probably the better value, but its a bit deeper too and I couldn’t fit the extra depth nor need the higher lifting capacity.    Personally, I would have found it better if the smaller model was narrower by 200-500mm.

I found Hero Hoists to be pretty easy to deal with during the buying process.   I was able to come out and look at a similar model on the weekend and they were able to answer all my questions.   The price is reasonable for what you get.    One slight downside was that the shipping took a lot longer than anticipated.   Obviously this is not completely in their control but worth noting.

Hero Hoists are not a manufacturer.   They have an OEM relationship with Advantage Lifts (in the USA) who have the hoists manufactured.    Therefore there is a lot of information about the Advantage lifts that can be found on the internet.   I was quite impressed with the inclusions including caster kit, jack trays, drip trays etc.   The hoists also appeared to be well constructed and sturdy.     These lifts do not require compressed air to free the locks, which I see as a big advantage.

Based on the videos that explain how to assemble the lift, I figured that my Brother and I could do it.   Professional installation is quite expensive and you still need an electrician to connect it.    The delayed shipping meant the hoist only arrived the day before he was moving to Perth so I only had him for a few hours.

The hoist arrived on a tilt tray and realistically you would need access to a portable forklift or an engine stand to remove it.   I was very lucky in that the time the hoist arrived my neighbour at the workshop (who has a forklift) was around.  He was able to help unload the hoist from the truck.

The hoist is seriously heavy – the delivery package weighs more than 1.5 tonnes.   Unfortunately, the forklift is too tall to fit into my workshop.   We were able to use it to get the hoist close to the door.    If you didn’t have the forklift you would need to use an engine stand and remove one piece at a time.

The hoist is extremely well packed.   The pieces are bolted together and there is plenty of cardboard and bubble wrap.   From here, a portable hoist would be highly reconnected.   This lift is heavy duty and very heavy.

The two heaviest pieces are the cross beams.   To get them into the warehouse,  we lifted up one end at a time and inserted some wood blocks under each end.   This gave enough clearance to lift the cross beams up with the forklift and lower them down onto my car dollies.   The car dollies made it easy to wheel them inside.

Next are the ramps.   The power ramp has a hydraulic cylinder inside and is extremely heavy.   We needed to borrow some neighbours to lift it off.   Even with four men it is quite heavy.   We were then able to lower it onto a car that raises hydraulically about a meter.   We used the cart to bring in all four ramps, with the power ramp last so it was still on the cart.

The posts are comparatively light.   They can be moved by one person at a pinch but with two its very easy.    Using the cross beam on the dollies, were were able to position them roughly where they should be.   We were then able to push the cross beams onto their side and insert the posts from the bottom.   As our cart moves up a meter, we used the lowest lock to position the cross beam.  Once the cross beam has both posts inserted, it is a relatively simple operation to stand it up.

To position the power ramp, we used the cart to raise it higher than the cross beams.   We could then position it and gently lower it down onto the cross beams.

At that point my brother needed to leave but the heavy work was mostly done.   I was able to manoeuvre the ramps onto the cart and use the cart to position them where they needed to go.   A floor jack was helpful to bring the last ramp up from floor level to make the lift onto the cart easier.

Minor adjustments are possible once the ramps are in place.   Next step is the control cables.  I found the videos to be far more useful than the manual which is for the generic four poster.   One item that is not covered in the videos is the extending of the hydraulic cylinder.  This is mentioned in the manual.   If this is not extended then there is not enough length to connect the control cables to the top of the posts.

Each post has a top cap that allows the cables to be installed.   The cable routing is quite easy once you have watched that section of the video a couple of times.

 Next step is installing the locking actuators and the motor assembly.    I have an electrician coming later in the week to hook up the power.

Continued in part 2.