Update: I got rid of the winch for safety reasons. Yes it worked but it was struggling and I decided to go with a 16,000 pound air over long ram.

I like this a lot more than the winch but that damn air ram takes a serious amount of air. I have a small air compressor that needs a pause to build up pressure to get it all the way up. My big air compressor (80 Gallon, 175 PSI) does the job nicely but even it kicks on each time I need to lift. It does not struggle but point is that the ram needs a lot of air for a full lift.

I also beefed up the lifting bars and the base with 2" x 1/4" straping. The base for the ram is 4" 5.8# channel.

The good: This thing is huge. It lifts a full 45" so no bending over to do oil changes.

The bad: this thing is huge and takes up a large foot print. Also I was off slightly on the angles on the ram and you will notice a cutout area on the front of the table top. Not a big deal and will be a non issue when I get around to building a custom wheel lock... I also plan to use an extra pneumatic ram for holding the wheel in place for a easier one man operation. I just hate the thought of dropping a bike and I have a couple close calls in the past.

http://s118.beta.photobucket.com/user/imabass/library/#/user/imabass/library/homemade%20bike%20lift?&_suid=136227013657108314827100178865