hi lift jack farm jack thread

[fordbroncodave]

who owns a farm jack or hi lift jack? what have you accomplished with your jack?

i did a one on one comparison with an actual hi lift brand jack and a $30 off brand jack (torin?)

both are identical in every aspect all functions and dimensions. the only thing that may differ is the material used and the metal treating process.

by the way, amazon.com has a hilift jack with free shipping for a really good price!

 

[Hank McMauser]

I used mine the other night while doing a delivery, 15 miles from the nearest paved road, was driving a 2wd pickup and tried turning around where the road wasn't wide enough, being a 2wd p/u I wasn't able to back up to make a multiple point turn, so I lifted up the back several times and pushed it over till it was on flat enough terrain to go in reverse w/o spinning the tires.
My jack was free I found it at the local dump.

 

[atari]

I have a HiLift, I keep it in my Bronco actually. Well its for the Bronco, some day I will get to change a tire on the side of the road. That would imply that it was actually on the road and not on jack stands in my garage. (details)

 

[Scout Driver]

I remember using Hi-Lift jacks on the farm when I wasn't even as big as the jack. Dad would tend to the "technical" part of the job and I would run the handle up and down.

For all the times that I have used Hi-Lifts, I've only used one in the house once. It came in handy when leveling an LP gas fireplace during its installation. The heavy fireplace insert was too heavy to lift by hand, and a smaller jack wouldn't reach between the hearth and the insert. The Hi-Lift worked great for the job.

Scott

 

[t100]

I can lift the whole driver or passenger side if I wanted.

 

[Craftman]

I call it hospital jack!

 

[tonydanzah]

Hilift a are awesome, don't get the imitation version. The only question you should ask yourself is if you want the cast iron or steel version. Examples I have used mine for. Picking up a concrete slab. I folded over the tooth on top and used it to break the bead on a tire. I have used it as a winch in a pinch and finally as a bumper jack and I have lifted a truck by the holes in the rims.

 

[D9H 90V]

I use mine for everything from using it to straighten race car parts to working on heavy equipment, pulling posts, "winching" vehicles, breaking beads on tires, you name it its probably done it

 

[Hiball]

"Finger Mashers" LOL... Ive worked on 100's of those Import High lift Farm Jacks, For some reasons everyone thinks since i work on Hydraulic jacks that i should be able to figure these out. I will have to admit ive never seen the high end (Hi-lift) version but ive had plenty of those other ones apart. The biggest problem i see out of them is the Cross pin that goes thru the Top and bottom (Holding pins) gets bent and it wont allow the mechanism to Retract properly. Most people try and fix them thereselves beacause they are a simple design and fail to notice that the Holding pins are beveled a certain way to allow up and down movement. They are without a doubt a handy tool and a must if you are doing any offroading.

 

[t100]

I call it hospital jack!

people can get hurt from drinking coffee, brushing tooth.

 

[Rockford514]

Most have 3-4, two 60" love them

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

"the only thing that may differ is the material used and the metal treating process..."
That is what is impossible to adequately compare for most of us, but it is also the difference between a jack that bends or breaks and one that holds up.
How to judge??

 

[Cummins_Powered]

I have an actual hi-lift brand and i used it for offroading with my jeep. On a vehicle with rocker guards (like t100 shows) or aftermarket steel bumpers they are awesome! I cant tell you how many times i used mine to lift the jeep a little bit to help get unstuck. I also used it as a winch to help get unstuck. Even used it to pull out my bumper on my truck where i got rear ended.

Love mine.

 

[Griff93]

Don't even bother with the imported copy. They don't retract correctly. I have one and know about 5 or 6 other people that have them. They also don't have the lip on the end of the lifting foot. I have had two real hi lifts, one 48" and one 60". The only bad thing about the 60" is trying to mount it someplace. I've used it to compress the CJ skidplate after it had taken a hard hit to be able to line the bolt holes back up. I've also used them for breaking beads on tires. As others have mentioned they work as a hand powered winch. I really want to buy the offroad kit with two grab hooks. It lets you winch continuously up a chain. I have been witness to the bar and a couple of bolts being used to get a rig out of the woods that had a broken tie rod. I've also seen the handle used for the broken tie rod trick. I keep thinking about making a quick pin on shovel for the jack handle.

 

[csp]

They are without a doubt a handy tool and a must if you are doing any offroading.

That's what the guys with the lifted pavement princesses that have the fancy racks and gas cans also on their rigs want you to believe. Most of them never get closer to off-road than speed bumps at the mall.

My hi-lift catches dust for the most part. Occasionally it might get used to pull a fence post that I can't get to with my tractor's loader.

Off-road I'm much more comfortable with a bottle jack on a stable platform when the need arises to air up a tire that's lost a bead or swap out an axleshaft. I haven't had my hi-lift on my Jeep since 2000 and haven't missed it yet. None of the people in the group I wheel with use them either.

Jacking up a vehicle with a flexy suspension with a hi-lift as t100 showed is impossible unless you chain the axles to the frame too.

 

[Rockford514]

Have used them to put a coils back in,change trailer tires,jack a roof up after a boo boo,slide the truck sideways off a tree,break down tires.Could go on forever

 

[t100]

I got high-centered few times, and it always happens on a slope. Hi-Lift is the only tool to get me out on the trail without causing damages to the T-case or diff. floor jacks are completely useless in those conditions and flat out dangerous.

my is still old school made in Indiana with a home made slider adapter. I put in new pins and springs every year and lube them regularly.

 

[1969]

I inherited 4 of them, gave one to my son. Rarely ever use the 3 that I have. Plan on keeping them because of personal reasons. Years ago I helped my father in his junk yard many times, they were very handy.

 

[DaleK]

Completely useless to me. Everything I own is either too heavy, so I use my hydraulic jacks,or else it's easier to get a loader tractor instead.

I'd stay away from the Torin's though. Wife got me one for Christmas two years ago, that spring I thought I'd try it out on the tongue of my disk to lift it up a bit....bent in half with less than 1000lbs on it.

 

[Gary S]

I've had mine in my pickups for the last 40 years. Before that, I used my Dad's jack on his pickups. I have no idea what brand either jack is, but since they are both over 40 years old, I doubt they are Chinese.
Twice I've used them to lift the trucks out of holes or ditches and get back on the road. They are a great tool if you know how to use them.

 

[KEH]

The one I have is some variety of import, but works well. I apply oil occasionally.
I recently used it to pick up one side of a round hay baler that broke an axle and was flat on the ground. There is a large piece of steel sticking out from the frame that is used to guide the tailgate in place and I was able to get the jack under it. It required some effort to work the handle but I got it up. I would jack it up some and then put wood blocks under the baler for safety. Baler weighs a little over 2 tons.

KEH

 

[Flatland Dave]

Stretch fence.
I always had heard them called "Handy Man" Jacks, though I don't know where that came from.

 

[matthew]

Always called 'em JackAlls around my grandfather's farm. Most of them we had were JackAll brand, or HyLift. I lifted quite a few implements, pickups, etc with them.

I kind of think of them as the Vise-Grip of the jack world - they're very useful at getting you out of a jam, but not necessarily the tool of choice Not always the most stable, or most safe, either, but they do work.

 

[Scout Driver]

Stretch fence.
I always had heard them called "Handy Man" Jacks, though I don't know where that came from.

Might be a mid-western thing. That's what everyone 'round here calls them too.

Scott

 

[atari]

I got high-centered few times, and it always happens on a slope. Hi-Lift is the only tool to get me out on the trail without causing damages to the T-case or diff. floor jacks are completely useless in those conditions and flat out dangerous.

my is still old school made in Indiana with a home made slider adapter. I put in new pins and springs every year and lube them regularly.

Ok, now thats cool!

 

[aczr2k]

Never had a "handy man" jack on our farm and never will. Dangerous tippy jaw breaking bastards.

 

[Hiball]

Never had a "handy man" jack on our farm and never will. Dangerous tippy jaw breaking bastards.

I dont know a farmer here in the Midwest that doesnt own at least 1 of these jacks, They are life savers if they are used within there means.

 

[highland512]

Might be a mid-western thing. That's what everyone 'round here calls them too.

Scott

Back in the early days of these jacks they where called "HANDYMAN" jacks. They had wooden handles and where painted dark green.

I got high-centered few times, and it always happens on a slope. Hi-Lift is the only tool to get me out on the trail without causing damages to the T-case or diff. floor jacks are completely useless in those conditions and flat out dangerous.

my is still old school made in Indiana with a home made slider adapter. I put in new pins and springs every year and lube them regularly.

Good news folks! The REAL HI-LIFT jack is still made in Bloomfield Indiana, I drove by the factory everyday on my way to high school, out in front of the plant there is actually a fully functioning 20' tall jack sitting on a concrete stand. I will have to run through town tomorrow and take a picture for all of you.

 

[rocketman]

If you own a lifted Jeep most likely you own a hilift. It's the only thing that can get your vehicle high enough off the ground to change a tire on the road or the trail

 

[mjozefow]

Buy the real thing. The real Hi-lift is like $35 more than an import, and fully rebuildable. I used mine to help unload a 5000lbs shaper this weekend. It is great for pulling fence and fence posts too.

 

[twostrike]

Like everybody else has said used them as winch, leveling buildings, offroading jack in rivers, one of the ones I have now I got from my uncle. I remember using it on the farm in 1961 or 62 to help jack up the front end of the grain truck to drain the grain out of the back into the auger. It is still going strong almost 50 years later. Hard to get that kind of quaility now days.

 

[mjozefow]

Another thing to mention is a real Hi-lift is serviceable to a great degree. The handles especially can get messed up on a ranch, but readily accept round stock until a replacement is ordered/made.

 

[CRTDI]

These certainly appear to be useful tools with a lot of different applications.

http://www.hi-lift.com/hi-lift-jacks/index.html

 

[highland512]

This is a short story I found on there website it's a good short read.
http://www.hi-lift.com/company/index.html

 

[e-tek]

people can get hurt from drinking coffee, brushing tooth.

Only real rednecks get hurt brushing their "tooth"

 

[mkirkpatrick]

Only real rednecks get hurt brushing their "tooth"

That is funny Etek,

 

[csp]

If you own a lifted Jeep most likely you own a hilift. It's the only thing that can get your vehicle high enough off the ground to change a tire on the road or the trail

Really? Hmm, I never use mine in conjunction with my Jeep. 12 ton bottle jack and a chunk of 6x6 is my preferred method. My high lift (48") would be maxed out before the tire ever left the ground, unless the axle was chained to the frame first.

 

[mrpowderkeg]

who owns a farm jack or hi lift jack? what have you accomplished with your jack?

How about lift a building three feet higher. It was a larger pole building that the engineers messed up, and it was built three feet too low putting it in the flood plane. It took a team of men, and I think we had 16 of the widow makers.

Please don't even think about commenting on what we did wrong and all the bad stuff that could have happened. It's not my baby, nor is it my building, and some of it I though was pretty sketchy.


I think we had about 4 inches lift here:

Getting ready to go up:

Finishing the final lift:

It's gonna take a heck of a lot of dirt now:

One more:

 

[Brandon_Lutz]

Growing up on the farm we had 3 of them and used them for all sorts of things. Each one of them was anywhere from 30 to 40 years old the last time I used them.

Handy jacks to have if you farm and have lots of implements that you service.

Walked into the shop the other day while visiting my folks and dad had two of them holding up the bank end of our old cane loader.

 

[KPSquared]

Have 1000 uses for them, but they require a little safety first... I've know guys to lose teeth and one guy got killed a couple years ago. That handle can fly pretty fast if you lose your grip.

I prefer the Jack-All brand made by Masdam. They have a wider base and some of the components are a little stronger than the H-Lift. Although all the aftermarket support is for the Hi-lift. I think Jack-All may be a Canadian only thing...

I have a 48" on my off road rig and it is an invaluable tool. Great for lifting my rig off a rock or log, and easy to just push over to get it off the jack...