Shop press Opinion

[halcyon0]

Hi all.

It's time to pick up a shop press for doing wheel bearings and such.

I am debating between a used Dake 25 ton manual press or a 50 ton electric hydraulic press such as this one:

http://stores.affordabletool.com/It...lectric Hydraulic Shop Press with Cable Winch

Primarily going to use it for wheel bearing and may get a brake attachment for some bending work.


Any opinions on US made Dake or the more than likely made in China 50 ton electric over hydraulic press?

 

[isr2kba]

While I wouldn't debate overall the value of having a shop press in the garage, I would ask what kind of bearings you are working on to require such hardware.

I have a 20 ton manual press (which is pretty small) but still much prefer to use an arbor press for races and bearings. It has a better feel and if something's misaligned, you catch it before you've done too much damage.

 

[NC-Fordguy]

I routinely use a press brake to bend 1/4 plate on a Harbor freight 20 ton manual shop press.

Every once in a while a stubborn wheel bearing retaining ring gets to be a problem, not so much with the press but with bending the bolts on the bearing splitter.

 

[halcyon0]

I have had to do axle bearings on my off road Toyota truck and something like an arbor press just doesn't have the capacity and space to do that.

I tend to go a little overkill on tools and equipment just because I don't want to buy something and later realize that I needed one with a little more power or size.

I'm not sure that I will be working on something that will require a press this hefty, but it is great to have a nice one vs wimpy one that will just fold up or twist and warp.

The question is should I go for a lower rated US made Dake or the higher rated electric China made one?

 

[amolaver]

dake is really the gold standard AFAIK. unless you have a need for the higher capacity, i'd probably go with the dake. i know i'd snap one up in a second if i could find a deal on one...

ahm

 

[Outlawmws]

I routinely use a press brake to bend 1/4 plate on a Harbor freight 20 ton manual shop press.

Every once in a while a stubborn wheel bearing retaining ring gets to be a problem, not so much with the press but with bending the bolts on the bearing splitter.

What grade bolts are these? 5? 8?

 

[bobcatdan]

Hands down the the dake. For the typical guy, a 20 ton press is all he need. Even if the dake is 50 years old, it will last you a lifetime. If that dake is in WI, I'll look at it if you don't want it.