Engine Hoists- What do YOU use it for?

[metalhead212121]

Crazy question to ask right? People ask me all the time if I've used my engine hoist a lot since the purchase. My answer? All the time! They look at me funny and say you've done THAT many engines? Truth be told I haven't done ONE engine in my garage (yet). I've needed it a couple times to lift my work bench up. Used it a couple times to lift my tool box (had a lot of issues bolting one KRL to another.. then bought a locker.. top piece had to come up AGAIN). One time I trying to bolt a FWD trans up to a engine after doing a clutch and kept having the trans slip off the jack. I was getting frustrated and thought maybe just MAYBE I can wrap a chain around the trans and get it lined up to the motor. Bolted up NO PROBLEM! Needed to pull a small tree out by my garage.. wrapped a chain around it came out no problem. Had a stump that I wanted pulled out. I wrapped it around one of the roots and it pulled a small part of the tree out. Better than nothing right?

What have YOU used your engine hoist for? Other than pulling/installing engines?

 

[ATC]

Other than engines (about 2/yr.), I use it to load and unload axles, transmissions, and other heavy items from my truck bed. I have 2 transmission/t-case combos in my shop floor that I move around with my hoist.

I want to find a cheap one that I can cut up and install in the receiver hitch of my truck as a mobile gantry crane of sorts...

 

[ddawg16]

Yep...more than just engines.....

 

[purplezr2]

Used it to lift my air compressor when repainting

 

[Jawn]

Hefting a 700lb mill/drill from my GF's S-10:

And later set it up on a stand using the hoist.

Next use will probably be unloading a jet ski from a utility trailer, and placing it on dollies. The next use after that may actually be pulling/reinstalling an engine.

 

[straightcut]

I used mine to lift a monster anvil from my truck bed to garage floor and a Warn 5687 winch with full spool of cable attached to heavy duty winch bumper to attach to a truck. It's much preferred over throwing your back out trying to do it alone!

 

[wafrederick]

Heavy cylinder heads,the Jeep 4.0 cylinder heads are heavy.My father used one for removing and installing cylinder heads for a Dodge V10 in a Dodge truck once.

 

[dlcwent]

Loading barrels full of oil or anti-freeze in and out of the pick up.

 

[Justanoldguy]

Yep...more than just engines.....

Exact copy of my one.

 

[GTA Matt]

Transmission rebuilds

 

[PCO6]

I've lifted the bodies of a few Triumph TR4's off of their frames. It worked great.

 

[Ray916MN]

Never have used it for an engine. Have used it to pull fence posts, move heavy stuff around, but mainly use it for working on motorcycles.

 

[Ben Buck]

I use mine to lift the kegs of beer out of the back of the pickup

The beer store guy helps load them, but getting them out, I have to have help!

 

[dlcwent]

I use mine to lift the kegs of beer out of the back of the pickup

The beer store guy helps load them, but getting them out, I have to have help!

This is why every man should own one.

 

[DodgeMech]

Pulling heads on B series Cummins engines...

Thing a 4.0 Jeep head is heavy? Try 250 pounds for the Cummins haha

 

[Dirty Diesels]

I use mine to lift bikes aswell, when i'm doing front fork oil seals, makes light work of the job.

 

[HD FLHX]

I use mine all the time for other purposes around the shop simply because a lot of the time I'm out there by myself. Just this week I unloaded a heavy *** bench from the back of my truck and then picked up a 1200lb 3-n-1 machine and placed on it.




Use it a lot for picking up frames, bodies, truck cabs and boxes

 

[woodstockva]

Let me think....

- Removing/installing engines
- Lifting engines slightly to replace motor mounts
- Removing/installing 20k-lb winches on 5ton Military Trucks
- Loading/Unloading 50 gallon oil drums onto a trailer
- Unloading my Coats 20/20 tire changing machine out of the bed of an F350
- Loading/Unloading 1 ton truck axles off of a trailer & into a truck bed
- Lifting a Jeep frame onto jack stands
- Unloading Rockwell toploader military axles off of a trailer
- ??

I am sure a lot more, thats just off the top of my head

Wow....I guess that $200 has really paid for itself over the years! Oh, and I upgraded the hydraulic cylinder to an 8-ton air-over-hydraulic version that runs off shop air to save my arms from getting tired.

 

[Zrexxer]

Used mine to unload an 80 gallon 2-stage air compressor off a trailer. Also use it for loading/unloading my Miller Trailblazer in the truck.

 

[Kevin54]

I used mine for pulling engines at first, then I used it to pick up the garden tractor to clean out the deck, I used it multiple times to take the bed on and off my truck when I was repainting it, used it on a friends truck to remove his bed, then it just sat in the corner collecting cobwebs along with an engine stand. After a couple years of not using it, I sold it. That was a dumb move on my part. Now I have to buy one. And the one I had, I bought at Advance Auto, it had a dual action piston, meaning that it raised the arm on both the up and down stroke. I haven't seen another like it.

 

[ascott172]

Unloaded my kubota g1800 I bought for $800

 

[JohnK007]

I used mine to pull out a couple of stubborn chain-link fence posts. Worked like a champ until I came across one that was so ornery that I actually bent the shaft of the hydraulic ram. Talk about overload ! An expensive lesson learned.

 

[sz0k30]

Used mine to pull the cast iron big block heads off my Chevelle before replacing them with aluminum.

 

[Farmall450]

I used mine for pulling engines at first, then I used it to pick up the garden tractor to clean out the deck, I used it multiple times to take the bed on and off my truck when I was repainting it, used it on a friends truck to remove his bed, then it just sat in the corner collecting cobwebs along with an engine stand. After a couple years of not using it, I sold it. That was a dumb move on my part. Now I have to buy one. And the one I had, I bought at Advance Auto, it had a dual action piston, meaning that it raised the arm on both the up and down stroke. I haven't seen another like it.

Your penance for selling a good usable tool you didn't have a duplicate of!

 

[Terracar]

I have used mine to..

lift transmissions (AWD trans with center diff are a PITA to maneuver onto the block)
move cars around
move heavy cabinets

I have not thought about removing small trees or fences posts with it, but that is fricken brilliant. Especially since I have a few that I need to remove this weekend.

-Terracar

 

[jayoldschool]

Truck bed removal/installation. Rear end unloading/loading. Transmission moving.

 

[wafrederick]

Pulling heads on B series Cummins engines...

Thing a 4.0 Jeep head is heavy? Try 250 pounds for the Cummins haha

Try putting in 4.0 Jeep head with a helper,a struggle without screwing up the new head gasket in the Grand Cherokees and Cherokees

 

[BD1]

My JD 750 tractor tire and wheel change over. Removed the turf tires and put the lug style ones on for winter.

 

[jsaw]

Putting up drywall

 

[Justanoldguy]

Putting up drywall

Love it. Very clever...

 

[TheEquineFencer]

I used my new one for the first time pulling the front axle, then the engine out of a tractor.

 

[jsaw]

Lifted a bike, unloaded a lift

 

[jsaw]

This picture isn't mine, but I think I got it off this site, someone made a transmission jack

 

[Ruger_556]

Almost never an engine I can tell you that, work great for picking cooling packages out of OTR trucks and differentials in a pinch too.

 

[machine_punk]

Lifting a 1300-pound 3-in-one off the pallets and up onto the custom bench...

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I'm glad someone mentioned fence posts...I'm going to have to pull a few of those soon.

Kev

 

[air8]

Ahhhhh, fence posts!!! Derrrr. AND motorcycles. Never thought about that. And I will be pulling some fence posts really soon.

Now I hafta go look at the crotch rocket and see where to lift it from.

I now feel dumb after reading the awesome ideas for using engine hoists and not thinking of them myself. LOL.

 

[POS Camaro]

Pick up bed
Buried concrete column
Rear of my trailer to work on axles
Loading / unloading truck and trailer

 

[sberry]

Makes a lot of chores easy. I have a dozen or so regular things I use it for.

 

[air8]

I thought the youngster there had a welding jacket on to work on the PW Escalade. I was getting excited cause I braced my daughters PW Barbie Jeep when she was little, and it wheelied all over the place. I had modified the Jeep to have rear traction with bicycle tires wrapped around the wheels and upped the power with stronger motor and really good battery.

 

[Oldsmobile]

Picked up the front end of a car after a helper drove up and on and OFF the tow dolly ramps. Car's hanging in the air, and I put him to work creeping the truck and dolly forward til I said whoa. Dropped the car onto the ramps as nicely as could be.

It's a problem-solver.