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It’s the first question we get asked about 2-post hoists, and the one that decides everything else: do I have the ceiling height?
Here’s the straight answer, the measurements that actually matter, and what to do if your shed comes up short.
A full-size clearfloor 2-post hoist — the kind with the crossbeam overhead and nothing on the floor between the columns — needs a ceiling of roughly 4 metres to install and use comfortably. The Apex AL10CS, for example, stands 3,759 mm overall, so a 4 m ceiling gives you the clearance to install it properly with margin above the overhead beam.
That’s why the classic home for a hoist like this is the high-clearance double shed. If you had the roof raised — or built with a hoist in mind — you’re exactly who this style of hoist was designed for.
1. Overall height of the hoist. The AL10CS is 3,759 mm to the top of the overhead assembly. Your ceiling (or lowest truss, beam, or garage-door track — measure to the lowest obstruction, not the roof sheeting) needs to clear this.
2. Floor to the overhead shut-off bar: 3,619 mm. The padded safety bar under the crossbeam stops the hoist automatically before a roof or tailgate touches the beam. It’s your working ceiling.
3. Maximum lifting height: around 1,943–1,994 mm at the pads (with the 63 mm adapter). Add your vehicle’s height on top: a typical sedan at roughly 1.5 m tops out around 3.4–3.5 m under the bar — comfortable full-rise working height in a 4 m shed. A 4WD at closer to 1.9 m will meet the shut-off bar before full rise — you still get a very workable lift, just not the full 1,778 mm of travel.
4. Drive-through clearance: 2,618 mm between the columns’ working width — wide enough for pretty much anything you’d park in a home garage, with mirrors folded on the wider 4WDs.
A standard-height garage (2.4–2.7 m ceiling) won’t take a full-size 2-post — and there’s no trick that makes it fit. But it doesn’t rule out a hoist:
The right answer depends on your ceiling, your slab, and what you actually do in the shed — talk to us and we’ll point you at the right fit rather than the biggest one.
Ceiling height gets the attention, but a 2-post hoist also anchors into your concrete. You’ll want a sound slab of adequate thickness and cured strength at the mounting points — something we’ll walk you through before anything is ordered.
The Apex AL10CS is our new 2-post clearfloor hoist built for exactly this buyer: 4,536 kg capacity, commercial-grade construction, certified for Australia, and shipped with the Australian 240 V power unit — backed by a 36-month warranty.
It’s landing in October, and until then it’s on a genuine introductory offer: pre-order for $3,998 inc GST, or $4,998 once stock arrives. Prices include GST and exclude shipping.
