I've not seen any builds myself, but I would suspect you can adapt a boat lift to a sled size and get a decent result. Cable and pulley system tied to the winch, but you would want some sort of safety catch so that a failed cable or free-wheeling crank don't take out a wrist or worse.

At least could give you some ideas for your own design?

 

Yeah im thinkin using an electric winch, just unsure on how to rig once winch to lift on all 4 corners of the shelf

 

Several pulleys, you can either use 4 individual cables(probably the safest) or use 2 cables being shared.

There are several ways to configure this. I would like to do some sort of a lift as well, just haven't figured out the best way.

 

Try this. You would need to build it up a little to support the weight, however it's the same concept

Panofish » Garage Trailer Lift

 

Save yourself some time and aggravation.

Purchase a used 4-post 7000 lb car hoist for about $1000.

Then, use it for many purposes. Mine lifts the car or sleds to a height of around 8 ft. My shop has a 12 ft ceiling. You can then park under it. It comes with removable casters that enable you to roll it around. when lowered.

ARESCO Inc.Seller of auto lifts and garage equipment

 

hmm I think ill stick to building one, I have acess to all the materials at work plus it will be fun to design and build to suit.
that trailer lift is really cool I think that pulley set up would work for what im thinking.

 

Google image search will get you a few ways. Here is one I found quickly.

http://www.lakeshoreproducts.com/imagesFaq/howCablesAreStrung.gif

Again, more than one way to do it, but you can put an electric winch in place of a hand crank with little trouble. Especially if you are committed to doing a custom build.

Oh yeah, post pics here of the project!

 

yeah for sure, house is still being built just trying to get my ducks in row.
will draw something up using cad and go from there ill post what I come up with for sure