Carolina Shop Crane?

[EE_Sparkie]

I picked up a shop crane from a company in my industrial park. It looks identical to the Carolina Shop Hand crane in the attached picture except that it is painted completely red. I grabbed it because it looked much sturdier than the HF model I was looking at. The HF uses 3” square tube with 5/32” wall thickness and this one has 4” tubes with 3/16” wall thickness. The shop manager claimed he purchased it about ten years ago from Contact East. It has an 8ton Chinese ram but he suggested that was not original. The chain and hook are labeled USA but the rear casters are labeled made in China. There is no name plate on it but there are two stickers with a logo that appears to have the initials CIF or CIT and a product number. My question are

-Is the crane I purchased related to the Carolina Shop Hand?
-Is the Carolina Shop Hand related to Carolina bandsaws or Carolina Industrial Equipment both of which I heard bad things about?
-Did other companies make similar engine hoists?
-Were they all made in china?
-Did industrial suppliers offer a shop crane like this ten years ago? If so was it made by Carolina?

 

[Heavy tech]

We have a ( slightly bastardized )Carolina shop hand 5000 at work that someone married to an electric pallet jack years ago to make a powered shop crane. That thing is a beast! It is abused regularly and has never or us down. I would say good find.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

[EE_Sparkie]

Here is a picture of the only identification on the crane. Does any recognize the logo?

 

[tool_scrounge]

-Is the Carolina Shop Hand related to Carolina bandsaws or Carolina Industrial Equipment both of which I heard bad things about?

Yes. This thread gives a general flavor of them and their sales techniques...

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/carolina-band-saw-85607/

 

[EE_Sparkie]

Sounds a little/ lot sketchy. The crane I picked up seems to be decent quality. Much better than the current imports. Of course I didn’t pay much for it so that probably factors into my opinion.

 

[woody 73]

I found this one but it has the look of made overseas to it.

http://dayton.craigslist.org/tls/4147236809.html

 

[EE_Sparkie]

It is the same design but with smaller front wheels. Mine has the large double casters in the front. The steel looks smaller as well but I can't tell from the picture. I think the 3tons refers to the ram and not the crane.

 

[scaron]

Here is a picture of the only identification on the crane. Does any recognize the logo?

unfortunately the tag isn't going to help you learn anything about the original manufacturer of the crane; the tag is from a long extinct trucking company called consolidated freightways. likely an asset tag, maybe the crane originally came out of a CF garage? that would be my guess.

 

[bluebolt]

I have a Carolina 2 ton hoist with the removable legs and it is way better than the thin HF hoists. It did get a new HF air over hydraulic ram when the old manula one went bad, really love that change!

 

[EE_Sparkie]

I thought that logo looked familiar. They bought the hoist 10 years ago which is around the same time Consolidated went out of business so it might of been part of a liquidation sale. There are absolutely no markings on mine except for those labels and a generic safety sticker and it does not appear to have been repainted so I am wondering if Consolidated made a special buy for their shops from the manufacturer.

 

[EE_Sparkie]

Bluebolt, does yours say made in the USA? Are the rear casters made in the USA as well or are they labeled made in China like mine? Either way I agree its much better than the HF model.

 

[jdjm]

unfortunately the tag isn't going to help you learn anything about the original manufacturer of the crane; the tag is from a long extinct trucking company called consolidated freightways. likely an asset tag, maybe the crane originally came out of a CF garage? that would be my guess.

That # is a tracking number.

 

[justanengineer]

Ive got one identical, but with single wheels and different "leg extensions" where yours has duals under the hook. Its Chinese IIRC but was originally sold and badged SO back in the 90s. I actually need to hit up the local truck driver for decals sometime since I just repainted mine.

 

[EE_Sparkie]

The tracking number makes sense. CF was probably the freight carrier. My opinion now is that it is an import sold by one of many industrial suppliers.

 

[Cedge]

Carolina Tool was (is?) made in Travelers Rest, SC for many years. They were known for selling their products by the pick up truck load to roving "tool gypsies" who wandered the US trying to peddle the whole truck load as a package. Typical load would usually consist of a bandsaw, hydraulic press, engine hoist, porta-power and bench grinder. The last two items were cheap Chinese imports and were not labeled. The asking price for the load was always pretty outrageous, but would drop like a stone once the seller encountered resistance. It got even cheaper after the guy had hauled the stuff around for a while. I bought a pretty decent sized metal saw for less than $200 because I felt sorry for the guy whose pickup truck suffered a breakdown on my yard.

It's amazing just how far and wide these guys traveled to find fresh territory. I know that their products have been seen in shops as far west as California and as far north as Alaska. You could always identify a new tool gypsy by the fact that he tried to unload his inventory in the local, very much saturated, area. I'm not sure if the company still exists, but I haven't seen the tool gypsies in the area for several years. The Hawkins family certainly made a respectable fortune the business, over the years.

Steve

 

[EE_Sparkie]

It looks like they are still in business making still bandsaws and presses. No hoists on their website but it sounds like they had their hands in a bunch of different things.

"Check to see if we have the automotive, industrial, or hard-to-find tool you're looking for."