Harbor Freight 20 Ton Hydraulic Press Upgrades

[c7z06]

Here are some mods I made to my 20 ton Harbor Freight press:

Air/hydraulic jack, table winch, guide rollers, casters, pinned table plates, release knob, grade 8 frame bolts, finger brake, support pin shaft collars

 

[whateg01]

The bed on my press is probably twice or more the weight of that one. I've been thinking of adding a winch for your for years but haven't yet. Good idea!

 

[RacerX]

Very nice additions of the winch, roller guides, release knob, press brake.
Could you provide the source for your additions?

Worthwhile additions and would like to mimic your ideas!

 

[c7z06]

Very nice additions of the winch, roller guides, release knob, press brake.
Could you provide the source for your additions?

Worthwhile additions and would like to mimic your ideas!

Winch was from Amazon: Atlas part no. B085RTXMZX
I fabricated the plates for the roller guides. Rollers are 1" cam followers from McMaster-Carr
I made the release knob from an old timing pulley
Finger brake was from Swag OffRoad (https://www.swagoffroad.com)

 

[GeoBruin]

Very cool. I love the lift. My press is a bit different and there's a protrusion on top of the top crossmember that might cause some issues but I think I could work around it.

I recently got the air jack and I ordered a foot pedal for it but I'm now questioning whether to use it or just mount the hand trigger nicely.

Not to get too far off topic but how do you like the SWAG finger break kit? I assume you got the weld it yourself version?

 

[Vwpower]

Nice. The guide rollers are a great idea.

 

[c7z06]

Not to get too far off topic but how do you like the SWAG finger break kit? I assume you got the weld it yourself version?

I like the Swag finger brake, although I don't use the fingers that much - just the entire surface. It's a little tedious getting it in and out to use it as a regular press. Most of the time I just leave it in and use my arbor press. I got the already welded version, as it was worth the extra $150 to me to not have to fool with it.

 

[c7z06]

A suggestion: If you do everything i did, there's a lot of hole drilling. I bought a Rotabroach set, which made it a whole lot easier. About $85.00 with free shipping from Amazon - Blair part no. 11090. Probably even cheaper if you look around.

 

[PBCampbell]

Is that a bidirectional winch? 2 drums and 2 lines

 

[GeoBruin]

Is that a bidirectional winch? 2 drums and 2 lines

I think it just lifts from two sides so it doesn't bind.

 

[c7z06]

Is that a bidirectional winch? 2 drums and 2 lines

Two cables connected to single drum. One cable winds over the drum and the other under the drum. I modified the crank so that it clears everything when turned.

 

[PBCampbell]

Well that is clever. I doubt I would have ever thought do that. Excellant job all around.

 

[Ed in Virginia]

I fabricated the plates for the roller guides.

Can you share the dimensions of the plates you used? How wide/deep is the notch on the middle outside of each plate? Thank you!

BTW, badass ride you have.

 

[vwpieces]

I like those guide rollers.

I have the old Orange 20T one, might have had it 20yrs now.
Very first upgrade was polishing the jack ram because it was peeling rubber boogers from the seal. Machining grooves were pretty rough, definitely not ground. That jack still lives today.
Next was a set of casters and I mounted the 3/4dr Pittsburgh MM socket set case to the top of the press. I use that socket set more on the press than I ever did on nuts etc. Casters were taken from the small $8 movers dolly. Can't buy 4 casters for $8......
Last upgrade was the air/hydraulic. Searched for a deal and finally got one for under $70. That jack just quit on me, on the air side. I took it apart and found a sliver of metal stuck in the ball check on the bottom of the air pump. Hand pump still worked so I was able to get through the job at the time. Fixed again and I also extended the hose leader to the air valve.

Crappy press but it has survived and done what I have asked so far in the past 20yrs.

 

[c7z06]

Can you share the dimensions of the plates you used? How wide/deep is the notch on the middle outside of each plate?

See photos below. The cam followers are 3/4" diameter with a 3/8" diameter stud. 3/8" nylon bolt heads maintain distance between plates and upright frame steel channel. Plate is 3/16" mild steel.

 

[Farmall450]

I do want the SWAG brake (or to make one). However I found a steal on a NIB brake that you toss your own 20t bottle jack into, so ig I'm running with that.

 

[c7z06]

I like the Swag finger brake, although I don't use the fingers that much - just the entire surface. It's a little tedious getting it in and out to use it as a regular press. Most of the time I just leave it in and use my arbor press. I got the already welded version, as it was worth the extra $150 to me to not have to fool with it.

I'm in the process of dealing with this issue myself. This is the approach I'm taking.

If you have a winch installed to raise and lower the deck, the problem is easily fixed. Just lower the existing deck (table) way down, and fabricate a second deck from a length of channel. It can be quickly inserted above the brake in the frame and used for pressing. The second deck can be made as sturdy as necessary for the pressing you intend to do. Use a wooden block to raise the pressing surface as needed. See drawing below:

 

[GeoBruin]

I'm in the process of dealing with this issue myself. This is the approach I'm taking.

If you have a winch installed to raise and lower the deck, the problem is easily fixed. Just lower the existing deck (table) way down, and fabricate a second deck from a length of channel. It can be quickly inserted above the brake in the frame and used for pressing. The second deck can be made as sturdy as necessary for the pressing you intend to do. Use a wooden block to raise the pressing surface as needed. See drawing below:

Now we're talking. The swag finger break is on my short list of projects and so is a copy of your lift build.

 

[c7z06]

For any who may want to do something like this to their Harbor Freight press, here are some specifics about the parts used:

The brackets to be welded to the ends of the channel were CNC plasma-cut from 1/4" mild steel. The diagram below shows the dimensions. The 22 1/4" long channel is 4" wide, with 1.72" legs, and .321" web thickness. This is commonly referred to as 4 x 7.25 channel since it weighs 7.25 lbs. per foot. The two pins are 13/16" diameter, and 6" long. Shaft collars on one end will keep them from inadvertently slipping through the hole.

While heavier 4 x 13.8 channel is available, I didn't think I needed it or the extra weight for my purposes, as most of the time a 22" length of 6 x 6 will be on top of it.

 

[alfadan]

I made an adapter and put a 3/8 electric drill on my boat winch. Im kinda meh about it though; its a little too fast, have to be carefull.

 

[bb29510]

im sorry, Im not putting wheel on a press, I got a broken arm for a press dipping over on me, wheel would just make it easlier

 

[whateg01]

im sorry, Im not putting wheel on a press, I got a broken arm for a press dipping over on me, wheel would just make it easlier

Ok. Don't put a wheel on a press then.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

I put a wheel on my press, eventually the tire squeezed on.

 

[c7z06]

Here the 2nd table is installed in the press above the lowered Swag brake. Two of the height adjustment frame hole levels are still available above the brake. The 6x6 block of wood acts as a spacer, and adds stiffness if needed. The 18 lb. table can be removed and the brake raised for use in about 5 minutes time. The brake bolts to the frame in its raised position, which takes about 3 out of the 5 minutes.

 

[nickelTwin]

Nice set-up

I like that you pinned the plates also.

 

[nickelTwin]

Arbor plates

 

[alfadan]

Josh at Topper Machine has a video on facing the plates on a HF press on a lathe. They were pretty crummy but cleaned up well.

 

[imagineer]

This has been done for a while, but I was snapping pics today...

I added a strap winch to the top for raising and lowering the anvil beam. It was tricky getting the strap to spool from the middle and stay equal. I used a piece of PVC tube, slit, to snap over the arbor of the winch and clamp the strap. I ended up laying a bead of weld on the winch arbor to prevent the strap and PVC clamp from rotating on the arbor.

The ends of the straps have small d-rings bolted that hook onto eyebolts that are fastened to the anvil beam.

The winch I used ratchets in one direction only, so to lower the anvil beam, I've got to flip the ratchet off and "free-wheel" the winch. With my free hand, I have to insert the anvil beam pins.

The other upgrade was to add V-notch rollers to guide the ram.

Without guides, the ram beam has about 1/4" play in all directions and also can tilt out of horizontal by about 5 degrees. This excess play and tilt gave me trouble when using this press to rebuild a set of steering knuckles.

The brackets for the v-notch rollers are each made from 3 pieces of steel angle and a 5/16" steel base plate. I thought about just adding some UHMW pads to limit the excess play, but that would not have solved the undesired tilt problem. This system took some time to get everything adjusted, but now there's no noticeable play or tilt on the ram.

Not photographed, but the press is also on a rolling base that has storage and the anvil plates were drilled for roll pins to help them stay aligned on the anvil beam.

Next on the to-do list for this press is to make a finger brake (ala SWAG offroad).