Ther are a ton of options here. What is your lift height? How much are you lifting,pounds that is, 1 actor or ten ? some things to think about, will your load be evenly distributed across the
platform?
No matter what you wind up using, and the Harbor Freight motor cycle lift is a good idea, you need to be careful with an interlock
system. you don't want to squish the actor against the bottom of the
platform < no really you don't no matter what> Lift speed is another thing to think about, the hydraulic lift will have the capacity but you'll need to modify some stuff to increase the supply volume. I'll check back for your responses and see if I can help somemore.