I copied this from another thread I responded to.
Might be redundant!
OK here we go:
"As many of you know, I sell Pitbull lifts and provide a very good price to board members. This is not an advertisement for me.
I own both the Handylift platform lift with 13" front extension, 12" side extensions etc. Very costly. When i first got this lift, I was a proud daddy. I was just like the bike shops, big, proud and mean.
Then I bought a cheap small, frame lift (Sears) regrettably. I then purchased a used Pitbull off of this board and have never looked back.
Here are some differences by comparison. I use the frame lift about 20 times a week for customers and my bike. I use the Plate lift two times a year. Once for winter storage and once for summer storage.
The Frame lift allows you to get underneath the bike entirely, for work and inspection. The plate lift only raises the bike off the floor to make it easier to clean.
Changing oil/filter on the plate lift, is not much different than doing it on the floor of the garage. The plate restricts your space and view, much the same as any floor would, no matter how high you have the bike lifted.
Pulling front and rear wheels can be done on a plate lift, but not anywhere near the ease of a frame lift.
Frame lift takes very little foot print of the garage space. Plate lift takes up the best part of a bay.
Very easy to situate bike and lift it with a frame lift, not so with the plate lift. It can be very daunting to put a bike up on a plate lift by yourself. Especially for us height challenged folks.
If I could do it all over again, I would never have purchased either the cheap Sears frame lift nor the HandyLift. "
"If you like it, I love it"
Bulldog