HF Engine Stand ?

[Swoboda]

Harbor Freight has a coupon floating around for their 1000# engine stand for $40.

Is this a decent engine stand?

I know some items at HF are hit or miss.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts/comments.

Lawrence

 

[digdug18]

Have you tried reading the reviews on their website?

 

[srmofo]

how much money are you going to have wrapped up in this engine? is it worth the additional money for something a little more stout? Ive seen HF welds break on things like their rolling scaffolding. Those are meant to support people, I cant imagine what their quality control is on items that dont support people.

I have no personal experience with their stand, but I have experience with their other products...some things are just not worth risking to me


btw there is a pass/fail HF thread around here somewhere, Im sure its in there

 

[Killer95Stang]

I bought the HF 1000# stand a few years back when I built my 347 stroker for my Mustang. I built the engine with full accessories and even the long tube headers on the stand. Worked like a champ!! After the build, I put it on craigslist for $30 and sold it a few days later. Not bad for a $10 out of pocket.

I would say this is a PASS... although I think my engine is no more than 500# fully loaded.

Also.. I had about $8000.00 into that build and didn't worry one second about it. You would be hard pressed to find a stand made in the U.S.A., that wasn't some crazy $500.00+.

 

[Horseshoe Jack]

Have you tried reading the reviews on their website?

That would be a complete waste of time, since HF screens reviews and deletes any negative ones. You'll only find glowing praise in their "reviews."

 

[BrandonS]

Worked fine for me. Iron block/Iron Heads. Originally had the engine on there with all the accessories attached. Didn't sag sitting still. If you pushed up and down you could probably get it to bounce. It was also not the most ideal thing when it came to moving it. I would imagine this is indicative of a 3 wheeled stand though.

 

[SkinnyG]

I've got a couple of them and have never had any problems. They've held several fully dressed engines for me (some for several months at a time). I would definitely recommend the 4-wheeled one over the 3 wheeler. Otherwise, like I said, no complaints here.

 

[Mike662]

I have this one (listed as 750 lb capacity, 3 wheels).

I think Brandon is exactly right about the stability while moving. 3 wheels is not ideal. Looks like their 1000 lb model has 4 wheels. Probably a lot more stable than the 3-wheeled ones Brandon and I have.

For the infrequent use that mine gets, it's OK for me. Build quality seems OK, and I'm not scared that a weld is going to fail (at least, not yet).

 

[scott37300]

I've had a full 5.4L engine on mine for about 4 years now and it doesn't sag. I think I will make my own stronger one when I get some free time. Couple sticks of square tube and good to go.

 

[Torque1st]

The 4-wheel units are fine, no worries.

 

[LWW]

I think I will make my own stronger one when I get some free time. Couple sticks of square tube and good to go.

If you've got the welding skills, I would simply reinforce the existing one rather than build a new one from scratch.

I've got the 3 wheeler that holds my gas motors and a 4 wheeler for the diesel motor I'm working on.

 

[howellusn]

I have one out in my garage that has never failed me. If you were close I would sell it to ya for 20 bucks cuz I havent had a use for it in some time and dont see a use for it any time soon. I am in north texas if you are close and want it.

 

[SGKent]

jut realize that 3 wheeled stands are less stable than 4 wheel when pushing, turning and putting sside weight on them. Same principal as a three wheeler atv vs a quad and why 3 wheeler atv's went extinct. Pushing and turning they can pitch. As long as you keep the movement forward and back or sideways near the rear you should be Ok. I use a 4 leg stand, more awkward to lift from but more stable.

 

[Eggman]

I first bought the 1000# stand, hung my IH 345 V8 on it, moved some other things out of the way and it was sagging a bit and moving farther. Put the hoist back on it and went and bought the 2000# engine stand and returned the 1000# one. Much happier with the bigger stand. Buy the 2000# stand and don't look back.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

I've got a 4 wheel cheapo (1000 lb) which I have only used a few times...I actually might turn it into a tool cart..For home use it's ok, for a working shop I'd get a better one..

 

[A1an]

That HF stand looks to be about the same as the one I had for my 302 build. I use the term "build" lightly as it supported a motor that sat on my back porch for about a year before I sold the car and the motor. It worked well. Despite the exposure to humidity not one single bit of rust or whatever on the stand.

 

[J Persons]

I have a 3 wheel HF stand that I got second hand in 1986. It has held numerous engines, some for months at a time. The only complaint I have is with the cheap wheels. It does bounce a bit when loaded, but I don't think that's a problem.

 

[GTOGreg]

Will it hold the engine, probably. However, my experience with the one I'm using on my back up motor is that it buckles a bit under the weight of my 600 lb Pontiac motor, so much so that it makes it difficult to rotate. For just a bit more, I much prefer my Torin 4 legged stand (1500 lb?) that I got from Northern Industrial. It is easy to turn and supports the motor no problem. I would not buy another HF stand. JMO.

 

[digdug18]

That would be a complete waste of time, since HF screens reviews and deletes any negative ones. You'll only find glowing praise in their "reviews."

http://www.harborfreight.com/750-lb-capacity-engine-stand-32915.html

Wrong, otherwise they would have taken down atleast 2 of the reviews. You might want to actually check into something before making yourself look like a total dumb@***

 

[bobabuee]

if you were going to buy one this is one to buy:

http://www.harborfreight.com/2000-lb-foldable-engine-stand-67015.html

it is very stable not like other ones when rolling your engine around .

question to ask yourself ? can you afford to drop your engine with 3 leg model and (if not very careful you will)

is the $40.00 one worth the couple grand or more into your engine or spend 70 more and have no worries and when you are done sell it.

 

[willbrown82]

I have had the #1000 pound model for 2 years now and it has held a 302 on it for that time frame. It is a little hard to rotate but has worked well holding my engine. I recently used it to work on a 4.7l dodge engine and it worked fine for that too.

 

[Chris Adams]

If you look very closely in the corner you see a blue version of the 1000 lb engine stand. I bought it from a competitor of HF, thus it is blue, but the parts look the same.

I've had about two dozen engines on it over the years.
In the picture is a 400lb V6 (spare engine, don't know what to do with it) and have had big block Chevy, small block Chevy (lots) and various other brands on it.
Only motor made it sort of sag was a 305 V6 out of a 59 GMC. Dang that was heavy. Had it on there for a few months.
Turning it is a problem though.
I use a five foot long steel pipe with a plastic sleeve slipped over the steel pipe. That way I can adjust any engine with one hand.

Can you get a better engine stand? Sure, why not?
But why pay that unless you are doing a LOT of engines.

 

[ket-tek]

I had the 3 wheeled HF stand quite a few years back and built a 5.0 on it with iron heads and full accessories, it held the weight without issue, but it was very dangerous to move it around as it want's to dump over if you hit a crack, pebble, or turn to harsh..

I would suggest no matter what brand to get a 4 wheel model to eliminate the possible tipping issue.

 

[scooterseats]

I definitely will ditto the people that say the 4 wheel 1000# HF stand is satisfactory. Right now I have my 221 cu in Flathead Ford hanging and no problems. Of course I did make a different adapter to hang the Flathead by the exhaust flanges to protect the fragile bell housing on the Ford.

 

[scott_one]

Will it hold the engine, probably. However, my experience with the one I'm using on my back up motor is that it buckles a bit under the weight of my 600 lb Pontiac motor, so much so that it makes it difficult to rotate. For just a bit more, I much prefer my Torin 4 legged stand (1500 lb?) that I got from Northern Industrial. It is easy to turn and supports the motor no problem. I would not buy another HF stand. JMO.

I also have the Torin Engine Stand from Northern Tool. It is a 1500 Lb. Capacity stand. It is extremely strong and sturdy.

 

[C G]

I have the Harbor Freight 1000lb stand. Ive had a complete Caddy 500 sitting on it for three years with no sag. I do move it around once in awhile and the wheels that are supposed to turn (steer) dont turn easily. A little tap with a block of wood gets me going in the right direction.

 

[RAPID49]

I have used these cheap 3 leg engine stands for many years . Right now I own three of them . I have never dropped an engine . I would recamend tack welding the joints and a gusset from the horzontal to the upright . This will stiffen it up if needed.
Evan

 

[RAPID49]

I just checked out the 2000 # stand from HF . I would add tha I'm using mine for small block chevy engines . It would depend on what you want to put on it . If I wanted to work on a cummins for my pickup I would want a heavy duty stand.

 

[Falcon67]

I have the 3 wheel 750# item and a 3 wheel Eagle stand from 1975. The Eagle has had a lot of motors over the years and you can readily see the difference in metal thickness LOL. I bought the HF unit to hold another engine coming apart. That was an iron 351C, which weighs in at about 550#. No problems. I did mod the stand to ditch the weird lock pin - welded a nut on top and use a threaded handle to lock the head in place. Those holes in the head mount make it a bit of a PITA to line up with the lock.

 

[Aspen RT]

Here is a couple of pics of the one I have in my basement, it at least works good for decoration

 

[mmb617]

The four wheeled stand worded fine for me.

 

[Falcon67]

Zombie Thread - update: Hot Rod Magazine just did a "test" on the HF engine stands. They managed to put about 2000lbs on the small ones before the engine support began to fail. Welds held, only the metal bent. I think December issue, but will probably be in the tech part of the web site in a month or so.

 

[SuperSocket]

I have heard good things about this stand. If it's built anything like the engine hoist then it should be really solid (I have exceeded the lift capacity of the engine hoist and it performed remarkably well).

Worst case I heard that they have a good return policy.

 

[01ssreda4]

4 wheeled one worked great for me with several engines hanging on it.

 

[uhcrandy]

I have a Ford FE 390 on the 4 wheel for a year, works well for me.

 

[Jim Stabe]

if you were going to buy one this is one to buy:

http://www.harborfreight.com/2000-lb-foldable-engine-stand-67015.html

it is very stable not like other ones when rolling your engine around .

question to ask yourself ? can you afford to drop your engine with 3 leg model and (if not very careful you will)

is the $40.00 one worth the couple grand or more into your engine or spend 70 more and have no worries and when you are done sell it.

I totally agree, get the one linked to above. I have both the 1,000 lb and 2,000 lb one from HF and the difference is significant. My SBC really makes the 1,000 lb model droop under the 525 lb weight of the engine, the 2,000 pounder doesn't move at all and is much more stable rolling around the shop.

 

[wornoutoldman]

Go with a 4 wheel one. I was moving a SBF on a 3 wheeler once caught the front wheel in a crack and dumped it right over. Thank God it didn't land on my foot.