Inspection pit

[Robbie260]

Aye, but young lads 'doing up' their [possibly first] old car don't think like that, sadly..... "£500? . I could install a well banging stereo for that, innit"

True, too true unfortunately. I keep forgetting other people in and around my age dont think like me, mainly because they dont have the job i have.

 

[sg66]

Good piont. It must have been some other gas/fume

Nothing wrong with having them, you only get to die once its best avoided

 

[toddy]

I currently have a pit in my workshop, but I am slowly filling it up with hard core due to it is in a place I can not use it.
The workshop is 5m wide and the pit is 1.5ft from a side wall...
I am thinking of having a concrete ramp (ramp for each wheel with a gap down the middle) when I extend the workshop.

 

[Melvyn Best]

40 odd years ago I built a pit , used it loads but had a car over it that had a fuel leak , got down into the pit to bail out the petrol and woke up in A&E. My next workshop had a pit that I filled!

 

[MetalMonkey]

I have a pit and rarely use it - not because of any safety concerns but just because it isn't very convenient and I always found it easier to just work off jack stands. Now I have a lift and the pit is just used for storing stuff in.

 

[8ob]

If a bit of thought is put into building a pit they can be a worthy addition, steps down instead of a ladder, decent lighting, plug sockets, air, sump pump, add rails to the top to accommodate a pit jack or two and other accessories. They also need to be long enough, I was helping a friend in his and the car had to be pulled by hand over the pit once you were in there

Bob

 

[Morris]

I did my own way back in the early 80's, all dug by hand. Went through a roman road on the way down!
Wish I had one now as I haven't the height for a lift and I'm getting older

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Wish I had one now as I haven't the height for a lift and I'm getting older

I have a concrete sectional garage so head height is a big issue....decided the best thing to do is just to move house and then build the workshop of my dreams. I'll probably go for a mid rise scissor lift when I do ....like the strongman stuff.

I remember when the guy laid the base....I don't think he realised that I'm on a fair slope....so the base I reckon is 2 foot thick at the back of the garage. I remember he started filling it....then he had to split it down the middle so he could at least get half of it in

 

[slimjim]

I fitted one for my brother,

He produced drawings and got a steel supplier to produce all the parts in sections, and I welded it up, it was a big pit, and the quotes to supply were astronomical, it saved him a fortune,

I fitted integral flame proof lights, sockets and air connection, and a jack ran along the top in a Chanel, it has steps into it, which were hinged, so you could store stuff under, and an air extraction to outside the building, and a ladder system at the other end, it was the size that you could fix 3.5 ton trucks on,

I am currently refurbishing my garage, and I did consider putting a pit in, but I probably won’t bother.

 

[Am333rcr]

Thanks for or the reply

Height is on of the limiting factor.tbh. won't be doing it anytime soon as for all it's rotten the shed. I would still rather keep it standing for the moment.

 

[Parm]

Carbon monoxide is only very marginally lighter than air. It neither sinks or rises. It just mixes perfectly. It’s incredibly small in molecular size and will travel through for example, plasterboard. The best height to install a detector is 5ft off the floor

Interesting to read all the safety arguments for and against a pit.

I’ll just throw this out there, how many folk have vehicle lifts and jacks? How many of you have this kit tested and inspected by a competent person before you stand under a Ton or more of metal? How often is the kit serviced and maintained? Probably not many of you ?

If I had to make a choice I know what I’d go for

 

[brightspark]

I have a pit in my garage it was unfortunate when I lined it ready with shuttering it poured down and it all fell in I fixed it up but it fills with water no big deal as I have a 2 inch pump and can empty it in 5 minutes I use it about 5 times a year without problems it cant fill with any nasty gasses as it was filled with water its long enough to be used leaving at least a meter clearance to get out just in case anything happens its like everything else be responsible . a few weeks ago was using my big trolleyjack working under the van jacked it up took 2 wheels off and stuck them under the van using them as axle stands just in case the chassis was just above the wheels with a 1 inch gap when id finished the wheels wouldn't come out I hadn't tightened the jack up properly and it had slowly went down .no big deal id never go under a vehicle using a jack without stands or wheels to support it because I remember my mates dad being squashed using one and no one was there and they found im a few hours later squashed

 

[minimutly]

Don't know about liking that, but a pit is useful, and needs some care in use though.

 

[Robbie260]

Carbon monoxide is only very marginally lighter than air. It neither sinks or rises. It just mixes perfectly. It’s incredibly small in molecular size and will travel through for example, plasterboard. The best height to install a detector is 5ft off the floor

Interesting to read all the safety arguments for and against a pit.

I’ll just throw this out there, how many folk have vehicle lifts and jacks? How many of you have this kit tested and inspected by a competent person before you stand under a Ton or more of metal? How often is the kit serviced and maintained? Probably not many of you ?

If I had to make a choice I know what I’d go for

Id have too agree with you a pit is by far and away the safest option, ounce you have dealt with the dangerous gases, and safe entry and exit points, the only other issues come from people falling in which could quite easily be compared to people slipping or tripping on other lifts i imagine, or someone driving in too it which is you own fault . A 4 post ramp is probably the next most safe but that has the potential too fail and drop on you vehicle and all. At least if over a pit and the pit jack fails the max distance a vehicle can fall is a couple of inches and you cant get crushed as it can go far enough down.

 

[addjunkie]

Carbon monoxide is only very marginally lighter than air. It neither sinks or rises. It just mixes perfectly. It’s incredibly small in molecular size and will travel through for example, plasterboard. The best height to install a detector is 5ft off the floor

Interesting to read all the safety arguments for and against a pit.

I’ll just throw this out there, how many folk have vehicle lifts and jacks? How many of you have this kit tested and inspected by a competent person before you stand under a Ton or more of metal? How often is the kit serviced and maintained? Probably not many of you ?

If I had to make a choice I know what I’d go for

Like most things there are arguments for and against. In the commercial setting the working at height / unguarded opening make pits un popular.

But having met some of these so called "competent people" who inspect things like lifting equipment, I have my concerns. Not all but some of these guys just dont have the right attitude or apptitude to trust, and a training course my give you the sign off, but it sure doesnt make you competent.

 

[MetalMonkey]

I’ll just throw this out there, how many folk have vehicle lifts and jacks? How many of you have this kit tested and inspected by a competent person before you stand under a Ton or more of metal? How often is the kit serviced and maintained? Probably not many of you ?

Just to play devils advocat.

I can only speak for myself, but because of the significant cost of investment for something that isn't used as a business, I look after my lift.
Rigorously greasing the joints, checking the hydraulic fluid and keeping it clean. It gets used very infrequently and only by me, and isn’t ever abused.
It is fitted with both parachute valves and a mechanical safety either of which would be considered sufficient on their own.

If we contrast that with something used in a commercial setting, which will be in constant use by employees that didn’t pay for it, don’t care about it, quite possibly abuse it and probably don’t maintain it.
Yes, it may get a regular mandatory inspection - but much like PA testing or an MOT this is only as good as A) the inspector and B) on the day it was inspected. Neither are a guarantee it will actually be safe in use.

One could apply the same argument to a pit – has it been dug by competent people, and constructed with appropriate materials together with the relevant structural calculations to ensure it won’t collapse?
How many home hobbyists do this as opposed to just digging a hole and lining it?

I know what you are saying, but I suppose my point would be safety primarily comes from the personal responsibility to ensure the equipment you are using is appropriate and in good condition and having a level of imagination to foresee the potential dangers in what you are doing and take suitable precautions. Testing and inspection can’t ever replace that.

 

[Matchless]

The "engineer" who inspected the four old two post lifts at my old workshop knew nothing about them! he said they were older than him, took a quick look and went away, but they made me fit arm locks that I did not want or need as they were a trip hazard when the ramp was down and we were careful, a few weeks later I saw the same "engineer" investigating how an Iveco van had fallen off a new two post lift, all the bells and whistles, installed outside a garage over the road from me, NOT Robbie's, basically they let the van down onto a gearbox jack to compress the suspension, you can't fix stupid, not sure how that translates into Turkish, when the van fell off what did they do? chased each other round the forecourt brandishing large spanners and shouting...…...

 

[Parm]

The "engineer" who inspected the four old two post lifts at my old workshop knew nothing about them! he said they were older than him, took a quick look and went away, but they made me fit arm locks that I did not want or need as they were a trip hazard when the ramp was down and we were careful, a few weeks later I saw the same "engineer" investigating how an Iveco van had fallen off a new two post lift, all the bells and whistles, installed outside a garage over the road from me, NOT Robbie's, basically they let the van down onto a gearbox jack to compress the suspension, you can't fix stupid, not sure how that translates into Turkish, when the van fell off what did they do? chased each other round the forecourt brandishing large spanners and shouting...…...

Yep, ive seen some really good CCTV of how cars, vans and pick ups "Fall Off" lifts. Honest Guv, wasn't me, never done that before, no idea what that stand / jack was under there

 

[Matchless]

I actually went over and mentioned that the arm locks did not seem to have helped much...…………… as my lifts were so old I had to design and manufacture my own locks, what a pain...……………….

 

[Parm]

More accidents and injuries are caused by Lifts than pits. There are some figures somewhere. If I remember ill try and dig them out