Looking to buy a new engine hoist

[mikester]

Right now I have an old HF engine hoist that I bought used for $65 from a guy at work. Its the older style "non folding" hoist. It takes up a lot of room, the front casters have been replaced with a set of cheapies and the pump is starting to leak.
This isnt something that I use often so I dont want to spent big $ but I dont want another HF one either. I was looking at the Torin Big Red 2 ton. Pep Boys has it on sale for $199. Do any of you folks have this hoist ? Pros or cons ??

 

[spclk]

@Mikester - what makes you think there's any difference between the Torin and the HF hiosts?

 

[Den69rs96]

I have this hoist. Check for rebates with Pep boys you might be able to get 20-30 bucks off. This hoist is decent still made in China, but I've never had any problems with Torrin stuff. Only thing for me is the boom extension length was a little short for me to pull the engine out of my 69 camaro from the front. I had to go over the fender. It was a few inches to short to do it from the front using a carb plate and the hook. Other than that I had no issues. They sell replacement pumps for this one too.

 

[brownbagg]

i got the fold up type and if you not careful. that leg will fall and put a dent in the noggin

 

[Falcon67]

My big red folding hoist looks just like that. And looks like the HF unit, except theirs are orange. I paid $119 at Pep Boys several years ago, really good unit.

 

[turbodave]

I've got the Torin 2 ton you're looking at. Had it about 5 years now and no issues with it. I did add a caster that bolts on where the back handle mounts to let it roll into my truckbed instead of digging into the plastic bedliner. I move it back and forth between my garage and storage barn fairly often. It's light enough that I can get it in and out of my truck without any help which is nice.

I got min on a Pep-Boys sale, and I can't remember what I paid, but it was pretty much the same price as a HF one (pep boys is 1 mile from home vs 15 for HF). Other than paint color I couldn't see any difference between the Torin and the HF hoist, so my advice is to get whichever is a better deal at the time. Usually there are some good coupons for the HF 2ton hoist in some of the car magazines.

 

[mikester]

I just got off the phone with Torin. They make theirs in red, black and grey. The red ones are sold in a few places, the black are sold at Advanced Auto Parts and the grey are sold at Auto Zone under the Duralast name. Also the older version has a different boom. They had an angle at the pivot point that may have made the boom a bit shorter. The pics on their site show the older style.

 

[automobiliben]

I just bought the HF 2 ton unit for $175.99 with coupon on Saturday. Seems like a good unit to me!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Angelfire]

I purchased the HF unit a few months ago. It's grey/argent in color vs. the orange they used to be. It appears to be a decent unit but I really haven't put it through it's paces. At the end of the day, they are all probably coming from only a handful of factories in China and just labelled for whoever's selling them.

 

[mad57]

Just bought one about 2 weeks ago from hf, nice new grey metallic powder coating, and have done 2 motor swaps so far works great cant complain. I wouldnt pass on the hf one its a good hoist and folding is a plus, with that being said i still have my old non folding one, heavy duty and after looking at how the hf folds its an easy conversion and might do my old one as well.

 

[pipsters]

I've had the folding HF 2 ton for over 2 years taken a good 3 motors out as well as using it to install shelving, no issues.

 

[trboxman]

I've never seen the appeal to the folding hoists, I have a non folding hoist that I just disassemble and store behind a bench when I don't need to use it. It only takes about 10 minutes to assemble and disassemble and takes up very little space when not in use.

 

[MustangRick]

I bought one similar to this one about 15 years ago. Mine is is heavier then this one, but mine is over built. It has a big enough base that you can stack blocks on it for extra weight incase the boom is too far out for the load. Ordinarily, that would be a safety issue but the boom was so solidly built, it was not in any danger of being damaged. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089PZ58A/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[SGKent]

you might want to look real closely at the Harbor Freight one so you recognize it under other names. We have one and have seen it under many other names - just a different color. The parts, welds etc are all the same. I suspect that it is the most common one available and is rebranded by many names. Consider a used USA made unit if you want something better. Lots if engine hoists get purchased and used for a one time project. I see them all the time on CL.

 

[brownsl]

Another option is Tractor Supply Company. They have it at $199 and it looks like a non-sale price.

TSC Engine Hoist

 

[Brian_B_]

Does anyone know if Sam's still carries the "goodyear" line? I have the engine lift and have been very happy with it. The fact that I have a small garage makes the folding work well for me...Pull pins...fold..insert pins..roll away in the corner. It is a lot heavier than the HF model I looked at.

 

[HaroRider]

I dont know what the old hf hoist look like, but the new 2 tons are pretty decent.

I had the one ton and used it on a truck motor worked well just was a bit short.

 

[tskills10]

I've had my hoist for over 15 years. I don't even know what brand name it is, I know I bought it from a tool distributor at a florida flea market. I think I paid about $200, which seemed like a good deal at the time. I've pulled so many engines with this thing I can't even begin to count. The legs don't fold up but they slide in and out and have pockets for them to stand up for storage. I've replaced or rebuilt the ram atleast 3 times. I've had to replace a leg after a buddy dropped a engine/transmission on it and bent it. I added a tube so that I could slide a steel rod through and put wheelbarrow type tires on it and roll it where ever I needed. This beat dragging it in the sand to pull a engine at the junkyard.
I'm sure that either the HF or the pepboys unit will be just fine, look for the best price/deal.

 

[machine_punk]

If you wanted to just replace the hydraulic cylinder of the hoist, HF has an air-over-hydraulic replacement pump for about $80. Whenever I need to replace the hydraulic cylinder, I am definitely going that route.

I agree with the disassemble-and-store method...it really goes together much faster than I expected. I have a little tool box to hold all the extra bits. You can also label the bolts and holes, so you can get the right bolt in the right place quickly.

M_P

 

[HIRISC]

Right now I have an old HF engine hoist that I bought used for $65 from a guy at work. Its the older style "non folding" hoist. It takes up a lot of room, the front casters have been replaced with a set of cheapies and the pump is starting to leak.
This isnt something that I use often so I dont want to spent big $ but I dont want another HF one either. I was looking at the Torin Big Red 2 ton. Pep Boys has it on sale for $199. Do any of you folks have this hoist ? Pros or cons ??

Hi have the Torin Big Red folding model.. love it. The leveler that came with it is so/so, but it's great to be able to fold it up for a much smaller footprint.

 

[mikester]

Does anyone know if Sam's still carries the "goodyear" line? I have the engine lift and have been very happy with it. The fact that I have a small garage makes the folding work well for me...Pull pins...fold..insert pins..roll away in the corner. It is a lot heavier than the HF model I looked at.

I checked the local Sams and they dont have anything like that in the store. Nothing shop or tool related.

Last night I went on the Pep Boys site to print out another page showing the stand for $199. Seems the first one was lost somewhere in my house. The good new is the hoist is now $179. I just got back from the Auto Zone thats 20 minutes from my house. They had the hoist in stock, matched the price and even loaded it into the back of my truck. Cant ask for more than that !
I'll be putting it together after I finish this post.