Hey guys, I'm selling my 2 place aluminum trailer, mainly because I don't want to pay to have it stored anymore. I'm looking for what would be best for keeping my sled in the garage. I'll need to have a system for getting it from the garage to my truck (I'm buying a ramp). It has studs and double carbides so I don't want to scratch up the floor. I'm definately gonna buy a track matt for the floor when loading. I then need to get it from the workstand onto the truck. Can I just pull the workstand over the track matt, drop it down, then load it onto the truck? Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question, but I 've never kept a sled in my garage... I've always kept it in storage on a trailer and I really don't want to spend the money on a stand, If it's not going to work slick for me. If this works as good as I think it will, then I don't really see the need to buy a move cart or sled dollies. Thanks in advance.

When you say workstand, are you referring to a sled lift? If so, just use that. If you're just talking about a track lift, you'll need something with wheels. I have dollies (I actually prefer the arctic cat plastic ones they roll the best) and I also have a cheapy stand to keep the track off the ground. I have about $60 in the two. You could always make these things at home too with a trip to the hardware store, but I think you'll end up spending just as much.

build a stand with heavy duty caster wheels on it the same height as your tailgate just a thought

I'm referring to the EZ Move work stand that you push it under the sled, then attach a drill and lift it (scizzor jack style). I'm wondering if, once it's on this stand, can I just pull the stand onto a track matt, or would the sled and stand weigh too much to get it onto the matt?

I would think it would be a pain in the arse to get it to roll onto the mat depending on the size of the casters on the lift. Even if you get the sled on the mat, how are you going to keep it from just spinning out and shooting the mat back into the garage? I don't have studs, so luckily I don't have that problem, but you're giving me something to think about in the future.

get a dolly with the bigger wheels that use the bulk head. you can heel it up to the ramp, and even up on it a bit depending on the angle, then drop it so the skis will be on the ramp; now you just have to push it or drive it up.

I do with with the little shop dolly's, just push it upto the ramp; once the skis hit it knocks the dolly's off the wheels, but I still have the one under the track so it slides up easily enough. once the track dolly is at the edge of the ramp I can drive it up or push/pull & I don't mark the floor.

only advice I can add is:

if your floor IS NOT REAL smooth be sure to get the largest wheels possible...

I use the 3 piece dolly system, and they are fine if you do not have to put them on and off too much. (lot's of lifting)

So, if I'm understanding you correctly, you use floor 3 floor dollies? Or are you using one of those big floor dollies with the long handle and the piece that goes under the sled?

Trying to load a sled with studs from your garage into your truck bed spells scored concrete. As was stated before, using a rubber mat is going to spin out or rollup in your tunnel (I've had both happen and the latter REALLY sucks). I keep my sled in the garage and when it's time to load up I roll it to the terrace on home made ski dollies and one under the track and drive on there. Shop dollies work good if you don't have a steep angle in your driveway like I do. Easy going down, a b_tch going up. Seems to pull easier using the three dolly set-up.
Loading from a work stand to the bed of your truck sounds dangerous.
I hope you don't end up ruining your concrete like I did. One Oops is all it takes.
Just my opinion.

OK, no track matt. And no, I wasn't planning on loading straight from a work stand. If I'm understanding everybody right, 3 dollies is the way to go. Push the sled until the ski's are on the ramp, get those dollies out of the way, then push it again until the track hits the ramp, at which time you can drive it up. Unless anyone else has a better suggestion, that's the direction I'm heading.

Sounds like the best plan I've heard.

if you have some time I'll send you a pic of the one I'm building, or keep searching, I posted a pic here somewhere a while back.

Having a terrace or ditch to get close too makes it MUCH easier. The closer you can get the tailgate to level ground the simpler things will be (less angle of the ramp). The rubber mat thing will protect your surface but will be impossible to keep it where you want it, sleds do not slide on rubber at all either !!

If you can get ahold of one of the older plastic drop in bed liners - these work really well. All you need to do is get the skis on the tailgate and if you can lift the rear of the sled and push, it will slide right in on the plastic. I just use a old piece of 1/2 inch plywood as my ramp to bridge the gap between the tailgate and ditch, snowbank, retaining wall etc.... drive it in / one rachet strap through the rear of the suspension rails and hooked into each stake pocket and your strapped in and ready to travel.

GENE.P I LIKE YOUR DOLLY,MAY INCORPORATE THAT INTO MY LIFT.

harbour freight electric hoist 130.00. lifts one ton! 2 options to use it.
option #1 with a 2" tow strap under the belly of the sled lift the sled straight in the the air and then back the truck under itand let sled down. this may require you to mount the hoist higher up in the garage closer to the top of the roof or about 11 feet or so to be able to get the seld high enough.

option#2 mount the hoist at ceiling level but closer to the garage door. this way when you have the sled at back of garage and truck in front of sled with ramp in place you can connect hiost to spindles and have a dolly under track and use the hoist's "front of garage mounting position" to drag the sled up the ramp and into the back of the sled.

added bonus: the hoist can be used for every aspect of raising the sled. use it to raise the front or rear in seconds. use it to lift the whole sled to install skid plates, etc. works like a champ for everything.
best 130.00 bucks ever spent.

I would like to see it...jsc1013@gmail.com Thanks

sounds good, what will hold ramp/1/2"plywood to tailgate. Just got new sled and can't afford a trailer yet anyway thanks

I can't see how I can mount the hoist to the ceiling, as that's where my garage doors go when opened. But dang it, I like the idea of a hoist. Maybe a hoist stand of some sort?? Maybe I could put it between my 2nd and 3rd stall, where there's a 4 foot gap w/ no door... maybe I could angle my truck in that way?? You got me thinkin' now!

i was in the same boat as to how to lift the sled for all kinds of reasons and was tired of working on the sled on teh ground or using ratchet straps from the rafter to lift an end of the sled.
i bought this hoist and man it is so versital and you can do just about anything with it.

i see what you are saying about the garage door but made a quick drawing of mounting it in the back of the garage for another idea.
i have mine mounted on a 9 foot garage ceiling. ran a pipe across the rafters mount the hoist to the pipe (if you have drywall ceiling just run the pip across the rafters and cut out where the little spot where the hoist comes down). i can throw a strap under the sled and lift it to the ceiling then back my truck under it and drop her in the bed. total time about 3 minutes. if i want to change the pressure in my float shocks just roll the sled under the hoist and lift the front end. need to adjust track tension just hoist up the rear. want to polish the tunnel and not break your back lift the sled up and throw a upside down 5 gallon bucket under each ski and track for perfect ergonomics. need to lay the sled on its side but downt wnat to worry about it falling off of a bucket you are balancing it on, just use the hoist and lay it down as far as you need with out haveing to have it lean on something. at the end of the season while draining the gas hoist up the rear really high to get all gas to go to front of tank for better draining. bought a new freezer and need to unload it back up under the hoist. killed a deer hiost it up and start skining. endless uses for the price.
if you cant tell i love the hoist!!!

it may not fit your needs or it might, just wnated to mention all the things i have used it for in the 6 months i have had it and how much i love it.

i should also mention that the xp has the holes in the a-arms and 2 locations at the bacl of the running boards that work perfect with 4 6 foot tiedown straps. hook those 4 points and hook the other ends to the hoist and she is stable as can be. this is how i do it when im alone. normally i justuse a belly strap and have my wife back the truck up while i keep the sled steady.

Thanks a lot for the descriptions and the drawings. I'm gonna be heading out to the garage this a.m. and see how I can make it work. I like your idea the best (there's something about 'less work' that's highly attractive to me).

mount hoist/chain fall just behind garage door when it's open this puts it about the middle of the garage in most instances and leaves room to back truck under sled plus the hoist is removable when garage is used for car storage (why). I use a 1/2 ton chain fall cheap light// and very portable. menards has a 1/4 ton come-a-along for around $40.00 thats would work also, make sure it's has a chain, not cable, for the lifting the cable one's suck. some new one's have nylon strapping for the load which would work also.
Joe

[quote name='jasonsamko' date='Nov 19 2009, 03:54 AM' post='2560093']

if you cant tell i love the hoist!!!

Well, I guess I shoulda got off my butt last night and looked immediatly after I read your first post about the hoist. But it wasn't until I saw your architectural drawings that I got to thinking about how much space I might have behind the garage door when its retracted. I looked this morning and was totally pumped when I realized that I have enought room to just back in truck and drop the sled right in!! Thanks a ton for the hoist recommendation. It is pretty inexpensive, especially when you figure it will cost me 85 bucks/month just to store the trailer. I'm saving so much money, I'm going to make a couple additional sled accessory purchases. When the wifey inquires, I will show her how much money WE're saving between selling the trailer and NOT having to pay storage, she'll be giddy with excitement - that'll be the exact moment that I'll ask her if she's feeling 'frisky' (chick-a-bow-wow!!!). All in all, it's turning out to be a pretty good day

I'd be very careful about mounting a hoist to your garage roof structure.... When the garage was designed and plans approved I'm pretty sure the structural calcs didn't consider hanging a 650 lb object....

I wheel the sled on dollies down into the steet then load it into the trailer from there. The street is blacktop and really does not show any wear from loading.

I sincerely appreciate the input, but there will be a lot less work involved with the hoist (not to mention that I"ve got a bit of a decline on my driveway... might be OK going down, but not so easy back up!). Plus, how cool is it to have a hoist in my freakin' garage?!? I'll probably hook a chair up to it at some point and ride up and down just for the heck of it (with the garage door closed, of course, cuz what I do on my own time is none of my neighbors business) .

Good point, I was actually planning on taking my blueprint to a friend of mine (structural engineer) and getting his input. I don't think it'd be too cool to have the floor of the room above my garage fall out. That would definately turn the wifey a little cold and spoil my chances for any immediate future action. I'm still thinking if I bear the load across 4 beams, I should be safe. Wishful thinking maybe, but we'll soon find out.

that is what i did...ran a 10 foot heavy duty pipe across the rafters and then hung the hoist in the middle. there is like 10 rafters that pipe spans across. and my garge is ony 2x4 trusses. lifted the sled a dozen times already (includeing my wifes f6 lxr witch weighs close to 700 lbs wet).
my kids use it as a rope swing when im not home....definely a multi-functional tool...lol

Chain fall and gurney , there is no substitute !

I edited & scrapped my whole post after reading page 2.
That hoist looks amazing, have always wanted a hoist, didnt know one could be had for so cheap!!

When it comes to ideas/suggestions, I say: The more, the merrier. thanks for the input.

Hey does anybody have any ideas on how to keep that sled smell out of the garage? I heard of putting a box of baking soda under the hood. any other ideas? I like keeping it in the garage but the sled smells so strong it gets into the house.

i put some furniture dollies under my sled harbor freight has a big one that i throw under the track and a small one i bought one for each ski.
moves really easy around the shop. cost me $16 for it all don't know if it'll help as far as getting it in the bed i have a loading dock at one end of the shop and just back my flat bed up to it and push it on and take the dollies out from under it and go. if you have any fab skills you could make a lift out of some tubing and a hydraulic floor jack and put some wheels under it.

Well, this wasn't intended exactly for your purpose but I wonder if it would work. The storage lift is actually intended for storing two sleds in a space not much bigger than it would otherwise take for just one. But you do need a high ceiling to get a sled on the upper deck. On the side of unit is a winch (which you should be able to see in the picture?) You hook your electric drill up to the winch to winch the upper deck up and down. What I'm wondering is if you could back the truck up to the storage lift and lower the top deck down just until the legs for the top deck reach the truck bed rather than the floor and then just back the sled off into the truck?

Couldn't resist - here is another view of my toy storage. The grey care is a two door Hyundai Accent so you can see how having a short little car helps.