BendPak PCL-18B-6 — Six Columns, Built From Parts You Can Buy

Here is the detail on this lift that almost no competing column set can match, and it has nothing to do with capacity: the PLC and the main system components are standard off-the-shelf brands, not proprietary printed circuit boards. Anyone who has waited three weeks for a sole-source control board while a bay sits empty understands what that is worth. A column lift is a fifteen-year purchase, and the question that decides its cost of ownership is not what it lifts on day one but whether you can get a part for it in year eight.

The rest is a six-column, 460/360V three-phase system rated 18,000 lbs per column, giving 108,000 lbs across the set — the configuration for three-axle vehicles.

Six Columns, One Control Point

All six columns connect into a single control system, and any one of them can program and drive the whole set. In practice that means the technician commands the lift from wherever he happens to be standing rather than walking to a designated master column, and every column carries the emergency stop that halts all of them together. The columns can also be run individually or in pairs when the job is smaller than the set.

Levelling is measured, not assumed. Each column carries a sealed, enclosed linear potentiometer that reports carriage position continuously, and the columns compare those readings throughout every raise and lower so the vehicle stays level rather than being nudged level. Sealing that sensor is what keeps it working in a shop where the floor is covered in dirt, salt and brake dust. Smart electronics add self-diagnostics and self-calibration, safety circuitry runs at 24-volts, and the electronics are multi-fuse protected.

Will It Fit? Power, Slab and Ceiling

Power. This package is wired for 460/360V three-phase. The PCL-18B feature list gives a 208-240V three-phase main power system as the standard, with optional voltages available on request — this set is that option, so it is the right choice only if your building genuinely has the high-voltage service. Have that confirmed by an electrician at the point of use before you order; the check is the customer’s responsibility and it is a great deal cheaper than a commissioning visit that cannot proceed.

Slab. Mobile columns are not anchored and need no pit, which is the reason many shops choose them, but it makes the floor the whole foundation. Each column weighs 1,450 lbs empty. The slab must be flat, level and sound; if you are unsure of it, have it assessed before the columns arrive.

Ceiling and doors. Maximum fork height is 71.5", and your clearance requirement is that plus the vehicle plus working room overhead. Height limits can be programmed if the roof is low or a particular job needs a fixed rise. Be careful with the published overall-height figures — 101" and 146.5" are labelled raised and lowered in an order that appears transposed — so if door clearance for a stowed column is tight, ask us in writing and we will confirm the figure in writing.

Moving Them, and Where They Live

Between jobs the columns wheel away against a wall. They roll on tandem 8" polyurethane-covered steel wheels with sealed roller bearings, and the steering wheels are pallet-jack style, so a column under load sits down firmly on the slab rather than perching on spring-loaded casters that can let it creep. The power units and cylinders are mounted low, which puts the centre of gravity near the floor — easier to push, and far less inclined to tip than a screw-drive column with a motor and drive assembly overhead. Forklift pockets are moulded in for relocating the set between facilities. Cabling is light for a system this size: a standard four-column arrangement uses only three 30’ cables, leaving one end of the vehicle clear.

Working the Set

• Forks that fit the wheel, not the other way round. Multi-width forks with locking pins adjust from 9.5" to 35", and extend for wide tyres and deep-dish wheels, so specialty adapters are not part of the routine.
• Two lowering speeds — a brisk setting and a slow one for the final approach.
• Automatic mechanical locks engaging at close intervals as the carriage rises, independent of hydraulics.
• Inverted cylinders with an integrated safety valve, so a loss of oil pressure cannot become a free descent.
• Manual override valves on every column for lowering during a power failure, without hand cranks.
• An enclosed electric-hydraulic power unit, which is quieter than an open unit — worth having if the shop shares a wall with an office or a waiting room.

Perfect For

• Three-axle work — the configuration this set is sized for.
• Mixed fleets, where the same six columns cover heavy-duty trucks and ordinary passenger vehicles.
• Shops that cannot install a pit or drill anchors, including leased units.
• Operations that keep equipment a long time and care about parts availability more than badge appeal.

Specifications (Per Column)

Certification

BendPak states that the PCL-18B meets or exceeds the standards prescribed by ANSI/ALI ALCTV-2011, the North American standard covering the construction, testing and validation of automotive lifts. In a commercial shop that is a document your insurer may well ask to see, and it is a claim a great many imported column lifts cannot make. If you need it evidenced against the serial numbers you receive, ask us and we will obtain it from BendPak.

Shipping and Delivery

The set moves as freight within the lower 48 states, with each of the six columns weighing 1,450 lbs and crating at roughly 106" by 55" by 41". Freight is quoted live at checkout against your delivery address; a residential address attracts a residential fee, and collecting from the freight terminal avoids it. BendPak equipment can also be collected from a warehouse — ask us which is nearest you.

Arrange unloading in advance, because taking crates of this weight off the trailer is the receiver’s responsibility and needs a forklift or a dock. Check the count against the paperwork and inspect each crate with the driver present; anything missing or damaged goes on the delivery receipt before you sign it, not in a phone call the next morning.

Warranty

BendPak’s warranty document for this equipment is available on this page, and the terms there govern — we would rather you read them than take a paraphrase from us. Two things worth doing regardless of the term: register the lift when it is commissioned, and never disassemble a failed power unit, control box or cylinder before the claim is open. The manufacturer has the right to inspect the part as it failed, and a stripped component is the usual reason a good claim is turned down. Call us and we will start the claim with you.