Help with ID of old Walker floor jack

[jdelliott1976]

Hello all, new member, but I have learned so much over the years from viewing the forums, but never had a reason to register until now. For those of you that have posted so much great advice, I thank you now.

On to my question. I purchased an old Walker floor jack at a garage sale a few days ago. I saw the jack, and knew it was old, but had no idea what it was, other than hearing the name sometime in the past. Asked the guy what he wanted for it, and when he said $25, I whipped out my wallet, and didn't even bother asking if it worked, because I figured it could be rebuilt.

Got it home, and looked at the name plate on the base of the handle. At some point this behemoth was sent back to the factory, to live life again. Name plate says "Factory Rebuilt", but where the model number should be has been gouged, and there is no chance of being able to see the number. I found it holding a trailer tongue up, which gave me hope. Got it to the shop, and it pumps fairly quickly, but I have not put a serious load on it to see if it will lift anything close to it's weight capacity.

From Googling around, looking at old advertiesments, looking at posts that the master, HiBall, has made, and more stuff, I gather that what I have is either a 2T Tom Boy, 3T Shop Boy, or 4T Big Boy jack, from the 1930's. I am basing that on the fact that my jack looks, to me, exactly like the picture from this old ad:

http://s171.photobucket.com/user/BB767/media/Early%20Timberhaven/Items%20Left/PaperMaterial/WalkerAdSm1.jpg.html
My question is, how to I tell which jack I have? I will include a couple pics at the end of this (long) post. I know that I can get parts from blackharkparts, and I will probably go ahead and rebuild it at some point.

I have seen where some people have repainted these beautiful jacks, and I am thinking about doing that. I will probably be back to ask about proper shades, making it last, etc.

Thank you for reading through this. I know it's long, but I've tried not to make it a wall of text.

The first picture is a picture as I found it, holding up a trailer tongue, the second is next to a Harbor Freight 3-ton (yeah, right!) jack.

 

[cubfarm 1]

Looks like a 882 walker 2-ton. Lucky find! Great price too.

 

[jdelliott1976]

What are the defining characteristics to know for sure, other than the ID plate that is unreadable? I'm going to want to rebuild the cylinder here soon, and I know HiBall's advice is to take it apart first, then order parts, and I will do that, but I will need to know what I have to begin with, right?

I saw a list that referred to wheel size, body length, etc, I think, but I cannot find it now.

 

[jdelliott1976]

Oh, also, there is a movable pin under the release knob that slides back and forth. Any idea what that does?

 

[Hiball]

Oh, also, there is a movable pin under the release knob that slides back and forth. Any idea what that does?

I believe it's a 4 ton model 784/884 judging by pictures, the sliding pin under the release knob is a safety device. IRC if you slide it one direction the knob will just spin on the shaft, push it the other direction and it transfers movement to the release rod.

 

[jdelliott1976]

HiBall, I appreciate the info. What is the difference between the 784 and the 884? I am going to get some help and load it into the truck (no way I can load it by myself), and take it to the car wash for a little cleaning action. Once I do that I am going to take it home, split the frame, clean everything I didn't get with the car wash, and change out the oil, by filling , dumping, filling, dumping, until I get clean oil out.

With it (apparently) being rebuilt, if it works just fine after an oil change, should I leave well enough alone, or has the rebuild been far enough in the past I might want to freshen things up now while I can still get the seals, etc? I have no idea when the Walker factory shut down, to give me an indication of when it might have been rebuilt.

Thanks again for the response, Hiball.