If you run a farm shop in east-central Iowa and you’re weighing a used forward 9000 2 post lift against a new one, the decision usually comes down to more than sticker price. We’ve pulled pumps, swapped cables, and rebuilt cylinders on plenty of Forward lifts sitting in dealership bays and back-forty shops alike, and we know exactly where these units earn their keep and where they wear out. Between grain trucks with dropped exhaust and pickups needing driveline work underneath, a shop lift has to give you real working room, not just lift height. Before you hand over a check for someone’s old equipment, run it through the same checklist we use.
Browse new and rebuilt-ready two-post lifts sized for farm shop bays, or call us for a straight answer on a used unit before you buy it.
Why a Forward 9000 2 Post Lift Fits Exhaust and Driveline Work
Farm trucks and grain haulers don’t sit up on the frame the way a passenger car does, and exhaust runs and drop-down driveshafts on a lot of these trucks hang lower and farther back than what a shop lift was originally designed around. A forward 9000 2 post lift gives you asymmetric arms and enough reach to get pads under the frame rails without fighting a dual exhaust or a driveshaft carrier bearing. That matters when you’re pulling a cat or doing u-joints on a farm pickup between planting and harvest, because you don’t have time to reposition the truck three times to get clean pad contact.
We’ve been out to shops running these lifts on everything from half-ton pickups to one-ton duallies, and the arm geometry is usually the deciding factor over lift capacity alone. A 9,000 lb rating covers most farm shop traffic, but if your fleet includes bigger grain trucks or service trucks with beds full of tools, you want to double check axle weight, not just curb weight, before you settle on this model over something heavier.
Used vs New: What Actually Changes the Math
We get calls on both ends of this. Some shops want a rock-bottom used unit because they just need something working; others want new because they can’t afford downtime during planting season. A used forward 9000 2 post lift can be a fine buy if it’s been maintained, but the used market is full of units where nobody kept records on cable replacement or cylinder service. If the seller can’t tell you when the cables were last swapped or whether the lift has ever had a pump replaced, budget for both right after you install it.
New units cost more up front, but you know the arms haven’t been bent from someone dragging a truck onto the pads sideways, and you’re not guessing at hydraulic condition. For a farm shop that runs one or two lifts hard through fall harvest and spring planting, we usually tell people: buy used if the price gap is large and you’re comfortable doing your own inspection, buy new if you want to skip the guesswork and get a warranty on top of it.
The Pre-Purchase Checklist We Actually Use
Before you commit to a used lift, walk the whole system. Check both cylinders for weeping seals, cycle the lift fully empty and listen for the pump straining or the lift hesitating until the button is pressed a second time — that’s usually a sign of a tired pump, not just dirty fluid. Look at the cables for fraying near the sheaves, and check that both sides raise evenly; uneven travel usually points to cable stretch or an equalization problem that’s cheap to fix now and expensive to ignore.
Pull the arms out to full extension and check for slop in the pins and locks. On a forward 9000 2 post lift specifically, ask when the stack adapters were last replaced, since worn adapters change your effective lift height and can throw off pad contact on lower trucks. Also ask if the unit has ever failed a switch inspection — a lift that doesn’t stop reliably when the button is released is a liability, not a bargain, no matter how good the price looks.
Concrete, Clearance, and Bay Layout Before You Buy
A lot of farm shops were built for tractors and combines, not for a two-post lift bay, so before you buy anything, measure your ceiling height with a truck raised to full working height plus the driveline hanging below. We’ve seen shops buy a lift only to find out the cab of a raised one-ton clips the rafters. Also check your slab thickness and rebar; anchoring a forward 9000 2 post lift into thin or cracked concrete is asking for a lift that walks or leans under load.
If you don’t have a pit and you’re planning a surface-mount install, you need flat, level concrete rated for the anchor pull-out specs the lift manufacturer requires. We ask every farm shop the same questions before we quote install: is there a forklift or loader on site to help unload freight, is the floor free of old bolts or anchors from a prior lift, and how far is the delivery truck going to have to back in. Lead time on freight can run several weeks depending on the season, so don’t wait until you need the lift running to start planning the install.
Common Wear Points on Older Forward Units
We’ve replaced pumps on plenty of older Forward lifts, including 9000A and DPO9A2 models, where the symptom is the same complaint every time: you press the button and nothing happens until you mash it a few more times. That’s a pump on its way out, and it’s a straightforward repair if you catch it before the pump fails completely and strands a truck mid-lift. Cylinder reseals are another common job — a slow drift down overnight or a cylinder that leaks under a parked load usually means the seals are shot, not that the whole unit needs replacing.
Cables are the other big one. Older units, especially ones that have sat outside or in an unheated shop through Iowa winters, tend to show cable wear faster. If you’re buying used, factor a full cable replacement into your budget even if the cables look fine today, because rust and stretch on farm-shop lifts tend to hide until the lift is under a full load. None of this makes a used forward 9000 2 post lift a bad buy — it just means you should price the likely repairs before you agree to a number.
Installation and Setup Specific to Farm Shop Bays
Farm shops often have wider bay spacing than a typical dealership service bay, which actually works in your favor for a two-post setup, since you get more room to swing doors and maneuver equipment around the lift. But we still see shops that underestimate how much clear space they need in front of and behind the lift for pulling driveshafts or dropping exhaust systems in one piece rather than cutting them.
When we install a forward 9000 2 post lift in a rural shop, we walk the owner through post spacing relative to their widest vehicle, confirm the electrical service can handle the motor without tripping breakers shared with welders or air compressors, and check that the runway between posts clears dual rear wheels on the trucks they actually service. Getting this right before the concrete work and anchoring saves you from finding out six months later that your biggest customer’s grain truck doesn’t fit between the posts.
Warranty, Service, and What Happens After You Buy
New units typically come with a parts and sometimes labor warranty that covers early failures, which matters if you’re not comfortable troubleshooting hydraulics yourself. Used units carry no such protection, so any repair — pump, cylinder, cables, arms — comes out of your pocket starting day one. That’s not a reason to avoid used equipment, but it should factor into what you’re willing to pay.
Whichever way you go, plan for annual inspections and keep basic maintenance records, especially cable and cylinder service dates. We keep records on the lifts we service across Iowa, and it’s the shops with a maintenance history who get the fastest, cheapest repairs when something does go wrong. If you’re buying a forward 9000 2 post lift secondhand from another shop, ask if Auto Lift Services or another installer has serviced it before — a documented service history is worth real money in a used lift negotiation.
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