OK, so a friend of mine calls tonight and asks my opinion on what the best rotisserie is. To be honest I've never had the privilege of using one, and the couple of people I know who have made theirs. So any suggestions? He's gonna use it for 1 car and prob never use it again.
you could build your own out of two engine stands. If your only gonna use it once i don't think i would fork out the cash for a pre-made one. Make sure you provide for some way to adjust the mounting "height" to get the center of gravity close to the pivot point.
have him buy the best one he can afford. the money he can sell it for when he is done. any loss he takes when selling will be less then the money he would spend on buying metal to make one.
Roto-Body-Frame this is the most well designed and universal for anything Bodys or frames or about what ever you can bolt to it... and it is safe! racinman Rick
I built mine and it us an undertaking AND it's not cheap, not to mention that you need to be a fairly decent welder to pull it off. I say buy a good one and resell it like already said...
Accesyble technologies around $850 complete held my 59 ford wagon made life much easier folds up when your done i could probably sell it and recoup 3/4 of what i paid
I bought a cheap one and modified it to my liking,used spindles all the way around and mounted rims and tires on it so i can roll it around easy on my crush stone yard,the front turns,rotors in the rear have e brake to hold it still,hydro rams from harbor frieght to raise or lower,not very pretty but,i will never work on another car without it!!!
See if you can find another guy or two who will be needing one dowm the line.Use it than p*** it on split the cost.When you sell it your loss will be much less.
I built my own: http://glennsplace.com/on_the_rotiss.htm http://glennsplace.com/rotisserie.htm The only "tricks" are to get the pivot point in the center of the WEIGHT of the car and to tie the ends together with stout enough material so that they don't seperate. My first try was lucky. I could spin the car 360 degrees with one hand. It's for sale if you want to come to st. Louis to get it. I uses 2x2 angle iron to tie them together.
this link is from earlier this year on this subject. Lots of links and pictures..........build your own........easy to do http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=492570&highlight=rotisserie
Ours is a whirly jig out of tennessee. A bit pricier than some other rotissiries, but we are very happy with it. I can move the body around the shop by myself safely. Sorry for the bad cell phone pic.
I built my own. I have a '62 Mercury Montery Wagon Body on it. I have a little better than $500 in materials (jacks, casters, and steel) into it. I designed it on CAD, and I do have pdf's of the plans that I made if you are interested, PM me.
I built mine from scrounged metal. I did have to buy a couple pieces though... I think I was into it for about $60. worked quite well.
if you were to build your own then use steel that could be reused down the road, 2x2 tubing is nice, 2x3 tubing could become a frame one day.
yes it is simple to make but it seems most guys spend almost as much plus a day or two of labor to save a hundred buxs or so . if time is limited it could be well spent on something more rewarding
[img=http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/1725/dcp0448.th.jpg] [img=http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/3605/dcp0447.th.jpg] [img=http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/2434/dcp0446.th.jpg] [img=http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8369/dcp0444.th.jpg] I think you are making it too hard, Mine is made with round tube, same as roll bar stuff,and bent in a c shape with a crossbar. I 45 degreed the ends for a short space and then went 45 again for a 90. Most cars I can turn myself, when I don't need it it takes up hardly any space . My pics are **** but hopefully you can see what I did. A big pivoting 600 lb creation was what I did not want . Best of luck. Oh ,cost should be less than $100.
I investigated a lot of them for a story I did. I ended up going with one from Summit... had a lot of nice features, a good design, and it was very affordable. If you're gonna lay down a grand, do some searching on the internet and look at the different features each has, decide which ones you would actually use versus which ones are cool but you won't use, and look at how it stores when you take it apart and are done using it. A lot of guys say "Build your own," and that's certainly an option too... but by the time you get done buying the material (plus driving to pick it up or paying to have it delivered), buying the consumables (chop saw blades, welding wire and gas), hardware, quality casters, and hydraulic rams to raise or lower it, plus the time to draw out the design, you're into it for nearly what someone else sells it for. Rather than have one more project waiting for me to complete, I went the commercially-available route. Also, let's be honest--we've ALL seen a lot of rotisseries that guys have built on their own because "It's simple, and I didn't want to pay all that money," and they not only look like Fido's ***, they don't perform worth a ****. You're going to be rotating your car body on it... I feel better using R&D someone ELSE spent 10 years worth of trial and error to ensure the car isn't going to high-center and flip over on its own and smash the roof into the concrete, twist or flex the body, and have it set up so one guy can rotate it over safely. -Brad
I used and engine stand for the front, a couple simple brackets, and suspended the rear from above (anything substantial will do. Have done two frames so far and getting ready to start another project. just be creative
At that point, if you just want to get the body off the frame, some saw horses made out of 2x6 planks bolted together work nicely. I did that with my '56 Chevy back in '87. If the point is to flip the body over, then an engine stand and rope from the rafters won't do. -Brad
Home-made version, slight overkill in the build. Adjustable CG will allow you to safely rotate the car without having it get away from you...This one is set up where it will stay where it is rotated to... Album: http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/rmccartney/Rotisserie Fabrication/ .
Exactly the reasons why I bought mine rather then build one. I bought a US Car Tool without the jack or casters. I bought two jacks at Harbor Freight and some nice casters from Grizzly Industrial, saving a bunch of cash over the ones offered by US Tool. The other issue is resale. I'm not going to do another full on resto and will most likely sell my rotisserie when I'm done. I can easily sell it and recoup 1/2 to 2/3 of what I spent. Selling a home built rotisserie, no matter how well they are designed and built can be tough.
Well I just finished mine. Bought the plans off the net, 600.00 in steel,100.00 for nuts and bolts. My time, add all that up and you can by one for a 1000.00. I do see them for sale every once and a while for 800.00 was the last one. It really is your choice. I will be using mine a lot and have a couple of freinds that will use it also. So a great investment for me and I bought local, so helping small local buisnesses stay afloat in these times.
I have 2. Built the first and bought the 2nd. Greg Smith equipment. By the way my uncle has the summit one and they look the same. The wheels **** on my store bought one but has workout good other than that. O and if you build one put 3 wheels on each twirler stand. Will thank your self later.
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