(ET) A Cause of Poor Lift Performance

["Nick Skinner" <kc2dzb nycap rr com>]

There has been a lot of talk about increasing lift motor voltage to 
compensate for lack of performance. By doing this, I think you're treating 
the symptom and not the real cause.

I have rebuilt several lift units for myself and others. I've have found in 
EVERY single case that the lift shaft bushings are shot. In most cases, it 
was difficult to turn the shaft by hand with the motor removed. In some 
cases, the bushings had seized to the shaft and were turning in the bore of 
the side plate instead. When this is true, upping the voltage is like 
driving a car around with a parking brake that you can't release and saying 
"it's fine, I just press the gas pedal harder".

As part of a rebuild, I always replace the old bushings with new of the 
oilite variety. Depending on the extent of the damage, sometimes the shaft 
requires replacement also. When I'm done with these replacements, you can 
turn the gear with fingertip pressure and roll the shaft effortlessly 
between your index finger and thumb. The proof is in the result. All of the 
units I've rebuilt can lift a snow blower in little over 5 seconds and a 
dozer blade in around 3 with it's original attachment point.

At one point, I modified two lifts to accept sealed ball bearings. One was 
for another owner, and the other is in my E20. My E15 has a stock designed 
lift with oilite bushings and a new shaft. There is virtually no performance 
difference between the two. GE had a good design, but it requires 
maintenance to perform optimally (when was the last time you oiled your lift 
bushings?). Changing to oilite will go a long way to reducing this 
maintenance requirement and the bushings are a few dollars each.

If your lift is anemic, I would HIGHLY encourage you to find out WHY before 
resorting to increasing voltage. It just isn't necessary if everything is 
working the way it should.

Nick