homemade engine hoists?

[colt.45]

thinking about taking half of the chassis rotissirie i had and making a mod to bolt onto to use it as an engine hoist

looking for any awesome homemade engine hoists that people have seen over the years

also anybody know any good sources for the hydraulic i would need for a hoist

 

[raley]

you probably cant build one for less than you can buy a HF unit...

 

[colt.45]

normally i would totally agree but i have a bunch of steel kicking around, so the only cost would be the hydraulic ram

 

[rsanter]

the coolest one I have seen was a super sixed one that could lift up car bodies.
the guy used it for pulling and placing street rod bodies as well as engines

for the cylinder you can get them from HF
I would look for a used engine hoist as they are on CL for like $100
you can use it and/or use the ram off it

bob

 

[IDASHO]

I have never really liked the "cherry picker" style hoist.

Ive used one a few times, and was always working around it. It was in the way ALL the time.

So I built a gantry crane.

I cannot seem to remember how much the entire thing cost me, but it wasnt much. Less $300 I think. That includes high end casters, all the steel, the harbor freight 500# hoist, and a chains/hooks.

It is SO much better than a cherry picker. Never in the way, and has proved itself to be useful in so many projects.

Ive done nearly a dozen motor pulls with it now, and cannot imagine being stuck with a stupid cherry picker. This thing kicks ***.

The hoist itself is the limiting factor. Its limit is very near the advertised limit of 500#. A fully dressed SHO Taurus motor full of oil weighs just about 500#. The cheap hoist did it, but only just.

 

[ar2stp48]

First "cherry picker" hoist I owned, I designed and built myself. I didnt like most of the ones on the market, and in the late 70's there were fewer than today--never heard of HF at that time. I wanted a different reach (height) ability and a couple of other changes over the units available. Cylinder came from NAPA; lower frame was 4" channel; upright was 4" sq tubing; lift arm was also sq tubing (3" and 2 1/2"). Hook would not lower closer than 32" from floor, but would place an item on a high storage shelf. A friend worried me until I sold it to him; dont think I have any pictures. Probably have the plans in the file

Like the gantry and need to build one. What size tubing was used for it?

 

[bradweingartner]

normally i would totally agree but i have a bunch of steel kicking around, so the only cost would be the hydraulic ram

And your time.

 

[IDASHO]

The frame is 1/4 inch 2x2 for the verticals and upper bracing. 2x3 square/rectangular tubing for the base and beam. The braces from the verticals to the base were made from some leftover street sign posts that I had laying around.

 

[nissan_crawler]

normally i would totally agree but i have a bunch of steel kicking around, so the only cost would be the hydraulic ram

And the swivel, hook, bolts, wheels, pins.

We had a nice one back home built from 1/2" wall 4" pipe, and a hf ram. It lifted an entire datsun, no sweat. The only downside was that you would have to put a low car on ramps to get it under. It would go from 2' off the floor to 8' or so, though.

My hf hoist works fine for me now.

 

[colt.45]

once again, all i need is the ram, i have everything else i could need.


why do i even wanna do this? its a combination of needing a hoist, having steel, and wanting a new project.

if i use half of my homemade chassis rotisserie, then most of the work is already done

 

[raley]

HF has replacement rams at some stores... and can order then for all of them.

i hate gander cranes for what i work on, I need to get at the sides of the motor not the front/back... so the legs always get in the way.

 

[nissan_crawler]

once again, all i need is the ram, i have everything else i could need.


why do i even wanna do this? its a combination of needing a hoist, having steel, and wanting a new project.

if i use half of my homemade chassis rotisserie, then most of the work is already done

Then buy one from HF. Using half of the rotisserie seems quite dangerous to me, but each to their own.

 

[gorilla]

you may want to reconsider using your rotisserie, to be stable the load should be between the legs of the hoist and the boom should not extend beyond the ends of the legs. Note the common U or V frame on most hoists. Harbor Freight sell 8 ton long stroke bottle jacks that work well for hoists. If your engineering abilities don"t allow you to do the stress calculations copy something commercially made, don't skimp on materials go bigger rather than smaller. Good luck!!

 

[colt.45]

yea im not using the chassis rotiss anymore, design wise its basically two big *** engine stands. so i was gonna one of the stands, and make a boom that comes off the upright, forward to the midline of the stand. , its a combo of 2x4, 3x3 and 4x4, all 1/4 inch wall, so strength wise, it should definitely be good, im hoping to get a chance in the next couple days to layout what im gonna do, will start a new thread when i start the build,

the goal would be to make it so with a couple of nuts and bolts, i can take the boom off and use it as a chassis stand if needed ever again,
thanks for the suggestions

 

[Zeke]

You could sell that rotisserie set up and buy a whole bunch of hoists.

 

[colt.45]

indeed i could, but ive always had trouble selling stuff i built

 

[Krr1967]

harbor freight has a lot of stuff you could use to build with if you were concerned with cost , or you could contact a local shop in your area that repairs hydraulic equipment they may have used stuff left over from another job

 

[2mJps]

I would buy a good ram/jack if i was you. I have a HF style one and it leaks like most of the cheap ones do. My hoist that i built has only 3 wheels and dosent take up alot of room. I built it before the foldup ones came out.

 

[LAROKE]

I bought a homemade hoist from My friend, Bill Carroll, a few monthes ago. This thing is a heavy duty monster and it has a history. Bill was the driver of the Bill Carroll and Roger Taylor Drag Racing Team and they campaigned a 40 Willys gasser in the sixties, winning the Indy Nationals in 1966. They were inducted into the East Coast Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2009. This hoist was used during their racing days. I asked him if he wanted to sign the engine hoist for me and he just gave me a "Don't be an *******" look. I'm a geezer so this thing takes me a while to set up but I'm pretty sure it will pick up anything I need it to.

 

[Steelhorse27]

indeed i could, but ive always had trouble selling stuff i built

Where are you located? I know myself and many others would love to have a rotisserie and don't mind good homebuilt stuff

 

[astroracer]

I would hesitate to use any part of the rotisserie. Most engine hoists have the main upright angled back 15 or 20 degrees to pull the load back into the middle of the hoists "footprint". Your rotisserie probably has verticle end beams or tubes. These will be very prone to tipping with any kind of load on the end of the lift beam.
There are a number of plans available on the net, do a search and build a dedicated hoist designed as it should be.
Mark