pallet jacks in garage??

[trdtaco]

Who has a hand pallat jack in the garage??

I just picked one up for free.. do not foresee ever needing to move pallets around with it bit just seeing if anyone is using one in another useful way.. this would have been perfect to move around my old kawaskai x2 jetski lol..

 

[kbs2244]

Depending on the vertical lift, I have used them for lifting cars, lawn tractors, work benches, and more.
I find them very handy, I even use them to move skids!
The only problem is the amount of floor space they take up.

 

[justanengineer]

Yup, Ive got an older Crown. Everything in my garage is either on a skid or wheels, mostly skids, and it makes moving things in/out and rearranging as necessary a breeze.

 

[Falcon67]

My shop isn't really big enough to get one of those up to racing speed.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

When I my Lanair used oil heater was delivered, the trucking company had one on the lift gate truck. It was crappy and leaked badly and would barely lift the pallets enough to get them out of the truck onto the lift gate and into my shop. After the truck driver left, I went straight into the house and got on Craigslist and found one on my side of town, for $100 while most appear to run in the $150 range. The ad was almost a month old. I called and left a message, the guy called me back within ten minutes, gave me directions to his house, and off I went. It was in nice condition, he had bought it new to move a bunch of safes he was selling (a locksmith) and had decided he no longer needed it.

I have used it to move the heater, fully assembled, into position in the shop, I moved workbenches, complete with everything on them, I have moved all kinds of stuff with it. One of the better tools I've had in the shop.

Charles

 

[Flatland Dave]

No, I do have a skidsteer with pallet forks. Would be handy tho.

 

[jimp]

I have one and likely use it at least once a month. Can not see doing without. Unloaded my mill with my lift, moved it from garage area to shop on pallet, store heavy items on pallets and you have no problem moving them.

If you get one and your garage is bigger than a small 2 car, you will find many uses.

 

[OccupantRJ]

If you check some of my threads on here, you will see that I have one and use it regularly, even though I also have a forklift. In a smaller shop, the jack will get into places that the forklift won't. I just used it last week to move in a power sheet metal shear I traded for that weighs 1,700 lbs, as my forklift was down with a leaky fuel tank.

 

[General Geoff]

I'm curious as to the feasibility of using a pallet jack as a car lift.

Obviously not for working under by itself, but it would make lifting an entire vehicle up a couple of feet and then placing tall and sturdy jack stands at all four corners, much much easier. Do they make pallet jacks with long enough forks to reach completely under a car (say, 5.5 or 6 feet)?

 

[mdbeck1]

I'm curious as to the feasibility of using a pallet jack as a car lift.

Obviously not for working under by itself, but it would make lifting an entire vehicle up a couple of feet and then placing tall and sturdy jack stands at all four corners, much much easier. Do they make pallet jacks with long enough forks to reach completely under a car (say, 5.5 or 6 feet)?

We used them in some of the warehouses I worked in. That was probably 30 years ago. Most of them were four feet long (maybe + a little) and would lift the pallet less than a foot. ...but that is from my failing memory.

 

[General Geoff]

I've already done a craigslist search and found several pallet jacks that will go up several feet (kind of like a manual fork lift), and appear to have slightly longer forks.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I saw a pallet jack a while back that had forks at least 6 feet long on it. My unit is rated at 5,500 lbs, and will lift to about 8 or 9 inches. In fact, I need to check that measurement. You can lift things fairly high by lifting, blocking up the item, placing 4x4 runners on the forks, lifting, then keep repeating this process until the point of instability, due to the narrow width of the pallet jack.
Here you go.
https://m.northerntool.com/northerntool/product/detail.do?itemId=143853

 

[kmkalf]

i personally don't have one but my old neighbor does- we both have the same plow set up (western conventional with cables) and he can move his plow any height/way and get his setup on faster than i can

 

[bygasper]

Nobody gets any younger. They are cheap (or free in this case). They can be stored whereever they forks will slide under something. I have mine currently under a warehouse cart. When I'm done building-out my shop, it will be under/against a shelving unit.

 

[GarageEnvy]

Probably the only thing that could get me to get rid of my lift cart is a scissor lift pallet jack. I can't justify both but if a scissor lift pallet jack comes along, I'm buying it. A normal pallet jack doesn't have enough lift height for my needs.

 

[trdtaco]

good ideas.. i will keep mine tucked in the corner till a use comes along...

 

[Too_Many_Tools]

Probably the only thing that could get me to get rid of my lift cart is a scissor lift pallet jack. I can't justify both but if a scissor lift pallet jack comes along, I'm buying it. A normal pallet jack doesn't have enough lift height for my needs.

Take a hard look at how tippy a scissor lift pallet jack is ....I have seen several tip over with easily 1/2 ton on them...bad news.

 

[GarageEnvy]

Good to know. At one point I used my lift cart to unload a 6' wide, 976 pound Stronghold cabinet from a trailer. With it hanging off either side of the 2' platform by 2' there was noticable sway but I never felt like the cart was going to tip. Mine is a Presto and it weighs a ton.

 

[Too_Many_Tools]

Good to know. At one point I used my lift cart to unload a 6' wide, 976 pound Stronghold cabinet from a trailer. With it hanging off either side of the 2' platform by 2' there was noticable sway but I never felt like the cart was going to tip. Mine is a Presto and it weighs a ton.

The problem is that the pallet jack base is narrow..no problem when you are a couple of inches off the ground...BIG problem when it is 24" or more up in the air.

If I had a scissor lift pallet jack (and I do think they are a good solution), I would add side arms to them to make the base much wider and lower them before moving the load. They have small wheels when raised...small wheels that will catch on a rock or crack and tip the pallet jack...and when you have hundreds of pounds up in the air really bad things can happen quickly.

 

[pmiranda]

My shop isn't really big enough to get one of those up to racing speed.

Plus you really need at least two of them to share the fun

 

[Jbullfrog]

It's way easier to turn a pallet around with a jack than to open the door, and drive the forklift outside to get to the other side of it. I have a narrow pallet jack that gets used for lift and moving things daily.

 

[alpinewhite]

I just missed one at auction. Lifted to 6 feet. I bid it to $110. I just wanted it to help get things off of my tommy lift that didn't exactly fit the lift. I loves my tommylift, I hate that it is only three feet deep.
My man lift goes to 25' and would lift a pallet [and will eventually] with modification.
I bought a storage unit auction that had a 16' hand crank one in it. Sold it while it was still in the unit.
The low ride ones would be perfect for moving tippy tool boxes and racks of steel and scuba tanks enmasse....
I'd likely use a low ride one lots of times a month.

25 feet????

 

[mdbeck1]

25 feet????

One man lift. It's kind of hard to explain. Take a look here http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=37572#post37572 at about post 1539 and on. They're really nice for smaller areas. I wish I had one but my garage ceiling is only about 9' so it's kind of a waste. I think the previous poster was talking about turning his manlift into a forklift.

A LONG time ago I ran forklifts and if you have the right racking putting things up at 25' is real handy.

 

[metaleltr]

25 feet????

man lift not a pallet jack

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Here is a link directly to post 1539

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2550084&postcount=1539

you get that link by putting the cursor on the post # on the top right of the post and right click/copy on it.

Charles

 

[mdbeck1]

Here is a link directly to post 1539

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2550084&postcount=1539

you get that link by putting the cursor on the post # on the top right of the post and right click/copy on it.

Charles

Yeah, but then it's a pain to go to other posts.... You have to edit the URL and reload and ..... ...maybe I'm just being lazy...

 

[digdug18]

At a warehouse job years ago we had one of the electric ones, if you put 2 pallets on it, and screwed them together, you could raise your car off the ground just enough to rotate the tires...

 

[GarageWarrior]

I have 2. Full-size 4400lb and 1100lb mini, for a typical residential workshop/garage I'd suggest a mini.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200419683_200419683

I have stuff on skids/pallets, no need to mess with mobile bases.

 

[goodwrench]

Anybody ever rebuilt the hydraulic unit on a pallet jack? I have a high lift one that I got cheap cause it wouldn't lift anymore. After refilling it with fluid it works and seems to hold but is leaking around the ram. I have thought about tracking down a dealer and seeing about parts? But was unsure if I could get it apart? So anybody rebuilt one of these?

Later!!

 

[mdbeck1]

Anybody ever rebuilt the hydraulic unit on a pallet jack? I have a high lift one that I got cheap cause it wouldn't lift anymore. After refilling it with fluid it works and seems to hold but is leaking around the ram. I have thought about tracking down a dealer and seeing about parts? But was unsure if I could get it apart? So anybody rebuilt one of these?

Later!!

Pull the manufacturer and part number off of the ram and send it (via PM) to Highball. He's a member here and does a lot of work with hydraulic jacks. I'll bet he can help you.

 

[quicknova]

I also use mine for my snow plow, take on/off. Much cheaper than the plow carts they sell.