Anti-Crush Blocks

[Slinger646]

So I do most of my work alone and during the overnight hours so today I took a chainsaw to an old railroad tie and made me 4x 16" blocks. They are roughly 7x9 so I can flip them on end or stack them depending on the need. They also make handy step stools.

 

[Cahark]

Good idea. I always use jackstands myself, but I really like the idea of a back up plan. It only takes A second for something to go wrong.


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[F350]

Aren't they 'dyed' with rather caustic stuff?

 

[Slinger646]

Creosote? I'm sure I don't want to be bathing in it but their only purpose is to stop a car from completely crushing me and maybe help me get an extra 9" of height. Lowes sells them for landscaping timbers.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... You can never have too much blockin',....

 

[SARG]

When my Napa jack started to leak down I took a couple 2x6 boards and cut twenty or so 8" blocks .... and bought a new jack.

I have a half dozen jack stands around the shop but usually there isn't the correct amount of room available to make them practical.

 

[F350]

Creosote? I'm sure I don't want to be bathing in it but their only purpose is to stop a car from completely crushing me and maybe help me get an extra 9" of height. Lowes sells them for landscaping timbers.

That's it. Handle with care.

 

[jonesg]

So I do most of my work alone and during the overnight hours so today I took a chainsaw to an old railroad tie and made me 4x 16" blocks. They are roughly 7x9 so I can flip them on end or stack them depending on the need. They also make handy step stools.

Smart man,
my buddy killed himself when his truck fell off 4 jackstands,
never use 4 stands, the load will lack any stability.
Don't use jackstands that have no safety pin, (HF cheapos).
Never ever use cinder blocks.

 

[928'er]

Never ever use cinder blocks.

Why not...?

 

[DTE]

Why not....

You will only get one shot , so don't stop !

 

[928'er]

You can never have too much blockin',....

True....

 

[jakemac]

Gotta love RR ties.
50yrs ago, my grandfather and his BIL's used a pile of them to build cribwork to level out a camp on a hill. We only had to re-level it once about 10yrs ago. They're holding up a few other family camps as well.

I used them as a base frame for a storage tent.
I also replaced the sills on a house with them. Cut a few into blocks and used them as the base to jack the house up while replacing the sills.

The RR was nice enough to leave tons of them in the woods on my family's land when they rebuilt the rails. 10yrs later when they came back to pick them up, they asked us where the rest of them went. We told them to pound sand, or pay rent. Got a nice pile of rail cutoffs as well. Great for door stops and wheel chocks.

 

[Slinger646]

I'm always looking for cutoffs!

 

[hangfirew8]

So I do most of my work alone and during the overnight hours so today I took a chainsaw to an old railroad tie and made me 4x 16" blocks. They are roughly 7x9 so I can flip them on end or stack them depending on the need. They also make handy step stools.

Those should work fine... if you're 7" thick. Minus whatever protrudes lower on the vehicle, that you happen to be under.

I make mine out of a tree trunk, no dimension is under 12".

 

[bas157]

I've got a chunk of RR tie that I stapled a section of bailing twine to, knotted the twine on both ends to keep it from pulling out. Makes moving it around much easier.

 

[plumbing101mike]

So I do most of my work alone and during the overnight hours so today I took a chainsaw to an old railroad tie and made me 4x 16" blocks. They are roughly 7x9 so I can flip them on end or stack them depending on the need. They also make handy step stools.

The handles make this a great idea!

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[6PTsocket]

Smart man,
my buddy killed himself when his truck fell off 4 jackstands,
never use 4 stands, the load will lack any stability.
Don't use jackstands that have no safety pin, (HF cheapos).
Never ever use cinder blocks.

What do you mean. I have had trucks and cars on 4 stands for months. If they are the right size for the job and not extended to the last notch or pin hole, they are steady as a rock. I always give the vehicle a push to make sure there is no wobble.. i have also used concrete blocks with a 2 by board on top to spread the load.

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[disston]

Never ever use cinder blocks.

When I was younger, in the '60's, this was common knowledge. Cinder blocks will fracture and fail all at once as in causing a collapse. There were many stories of people being killed or maimed by cars that fell on them because they had used cinder blocks as jack stands.

Cement blocks may be a little better but they were generally avoided also.

Seems we used to do a lot more with a lot less in those days.

Railroad tie lumber is OK. Use it often even today.It is used in boat yards to hold the keel of boats. I have seen even bigger stuff than railroad tie lumber in boat yards.

Had a 1954 Cadillac convertible on jack stands for about 5 years in front of the house I live in. My house mate gets some pretty interesting projects. All he was doing was some refurbishing of the interior and exterior trim. The county inspectors who like to hassle us for having too many junk cars and trucks around were pretty nice those 5 years. Now that it's gone we have to clean up a little more. Pretty funny when i think of it.

 

[slip knot]

you can never have too much cribbing.

 

[Slinger646]

Those should work fine... if you're 7" thick. Minus whatever protrudes lower on the vehicle, that you happen to be under.

I make mine out of a tree trunk, no dimension is under 12".

They're 7x9x16; I have three settings or I can stack them.

 

[MushCreek]

I have several 6X6 PT chunks that I use all the time. Regardless of what I use to block up a vehicle, I leave the jack in place whenever practical.

 

[GasNSteering]

Smart man,
my buddy killed himself when his truck fell off 4 jackstands,
never use 4 stands, the load will lack any stability.
Don't use jackstands that have no safety pin, (HF cheapos).
Never ever use cinder blocks.

Jonesg

Sorry to hear about your buddy. Can. You share how this happened?