will I overload dual Kapex tables at 400 lbs?

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aafoote

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I'm about to arrange a table to hold a 400 lb Harley (it used to weigh 500 but is stripped down now to 400lbs). I like the Kapex table's height and width etc. and propose to buy 2. I would then attach them end to end with Festool steel splicers (mft/3 type) and then place a 3/4" thick full length plywood"deck" to distribute weight better (and to protect the kapex from stains). This plywood deck could sit free on top of the Kapex tables and steel jigs would bolt to its' top to clamp the motorcycle...  This would sidestep the tendency for the tabletops to sag under excess loads in the center of the top. Does this weight sound practical for the Kapex tables?

I like the idea because I could pick up the motorcycle, (swinging it off of the two Kapex tables) with a tractor and set it aside, (still attached to it's plywood deck) 
 
I know I can easily sit on my MFT/Kapex with no problems and I'm 200 lbs...however, I know the answer you're going to get from Festool is the table is designed for this kind of use. 

Besides, I wouldn't want to find out the hard way that it can't stand up to the weight while you're working on the bike.
 
thanks. I like your answer anyway. I was wrong to ask the Festool guys. I wasn't worried about the project on the tables; I was only worried about the Kapex tables staying perfect. The news that a full sized person sits on one of these is just the clue I needed.
 
aafoote said:
I'm about to arrange a table to hold a 400 lb Harley
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static versus dynamic weight is a big difference.  If you are planning on working on your Harley on those tables is a different thing than just using the tables to display the Harley.  Even with just displaying the Harley, you want to make the sure the tables won't give way if some 200 # Festoolie were to hip check the thing.  [eek].
 
I'm just making a semi-educated guess but I'd be comfortable doing what you propose. I'd be willing to bet that these tables have been destructively tested and the answer to their capabilities is knowable.

I like your idea of mounting the bike to a removable platform. For added safety, you might want to consider some system to make use of a few holes in the tabletop for lateral stability and an overhead support once you are up on the table(s). Something like a taut hanger. Then if you get a hip check, it shouldn't go completely out of control.

Tom
 
Tom Bellemare said:
I'm just making a semi-educated guess but I'd be comfortable doing what you propose. I'd be willing to bet that these tables have been destructively tested and the answer to their capabilities is knowable.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's just me and my skepticism, but I'd be very hesitant to work on a bike on an MFT. As well as the static weight, working on a bike entails a lot of removing and replacing of bolts and the replacing of parts. The use of wrenches and such with arm muscle moving them in all sorts of tangents. These tangents would produce forces to add, subtract and possibly cause racking. I don't consider those actions safe on an MFT, however supported, not when there's 400 lbs of bike present to possibly cause injury.
 
Bill Hendrix said:
For $9 more than the price of one MFT/Kapex, you can buy a motorcycle lift from Harbor Freight that lifts to the same height as the MFT/Kapex.  1000 lb. capacity.  On sale now for $399.
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Other than safety, the main downside to a motorcycle lift is that it's pretty well limited to use with a motorcycle. Counterpoint to my original comment on safety, the MFT is very versatile.
 
If I was in the same situation as you I would probably use the MFT, though I'd seriously consider using a set of the MFT3 leg braces on each table.  I highly doubt the 500lb static load would be a problem for the tables, however, add in the dynamic forces of torquing on wrenches and you may overwhelm the aluminum stops that hold the legs in their vertical position.  Better safe, then sorry.
 
If working on the bike only his one time then the dual Kapex MFTs may work out. If yo wil be working in the bike more often then the lift would be better, no?
 
BigHonu said:
If working on the bike only his one time then the dual Kapex MFTs may work out. If yo wil be working in the bike more often then the lift would be better, no?
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It's up to you what you want to do. However some of us are suggesting that it might not be safe to put a motorcycle on the MFT. It only takes one time to experience a serious injury. Your choice.

One other question I've been tempted to ask, so it might as well be now. How exactly would you get your bike up on and then off the MFT?
 
Just remember to consider point loading on the MFT.  Somebody's 200# fat buns spread the load on an MFT much more widely than the footprint of one tire of a Harley.  MDF, however thick, does not have the strength of a decent motorcycle lift to resist point loads.  MDF breaks catastrophically, unlike steel that bends.  I'd rather be working under steel than under MDF when the point load limit is reached.  [scared] 

 
thanks one and all for the comments.I'll let it percolate for awhile before it's time to act. (I'm crazy about the Festool tables. They're so effective and then they disappear when I want.)

The hip check hazard idea: seems real and true.  I would have to be in the grip of terror first, but yes definitely smasho. Panic induced project hip check. I'll think further.

The harbor freight moto lift idea? I'm going to look into it.(Does it get tippy when all the way up is one concern.) I'm pretty sure that storing the lift would drive my fairly crazy though (I have pretty severe space problems)

  The breaker bar and socket launch scenario? Yes and no. It depends on the experience of the worker and the frailty of the worker. Much experience and great frailty guarantees no chance of working that way. I would use either the opposing force method or air impact. Further note on the "wrench launch":
It's not really wrenching so much-this project. It's more fabricating work. Cardboard and pencils and measuring sticks.Making parts on a side bench somewhere else. Keeping records while disassembling, and while assembling. Wiring things down so they can't vibrate loose. Making a completely different bunch of wires and switches. A long term project that I'll want to fold away at times.

specific answers to random queries:

I do a vertical lift of the bike with a chainfall  I have a lot of lift plates-some of them out in the middle where I would want to set up the motorcycle project. Chainfalls are rattly but nice otherwise. They are nice and safe for one person to work with.
 
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