What hydraulic press to get?

[tarmy]

I did the search thing...really couldn't find good advice for my condition....

Looking for suggestions about what good quality 20-25 ton or bigger if you guys think it should be...press to get. Will mostly be used for bending and fab of metal for welding projects.

Will probably be getting the Swag off road finger break as well. I have seen all the folks comments and ideas about HF 20 ton...but would like to get advice about something of better quality...possibly with hydraulic pump instead of the jack set up...

Enlighten me guys....

 

[Spencer Was Here]

Dake seems to think they have "The best presses in the business"

http://www.dakecorp.com/

 

[disston]

I use my press mainly for pressing bearings on and off of transmission shafts.

Buy a name brand to get quality. I had a Harbor Freight press. It was bent when put together.

This is a table top model by OTC. Rated at 16.5 tons it will out perform many 20/25 ton presses. You'll pay around $750 for this.

 

[anndel]

I was going to buy a Sunex 20 ton but have absolutely no room in my garage shop. Had to settle for a Dake 10 ton benchtop press which so far had no problems pushing out/in wheel bearings and wheel hubs.

 

[matt_i]

My only form of reference is an Enerpac 30t I got at an auction. This has an electric-hydraulic power unit, and a long-stroke "jack" on the side with a length of chain for lifting and lowering the crossbar. Strong press. Stuff gets smashed if you do it wrong ...meaning try to press something that wasn't press fitted or had a pin in it or....heaviest job thus far was the ball joints on my truck. If in doubt I usually start with an arbor press first as there's enough feel and limited capacity not to twist any parts if there's a question on how the thing was assembled.

A really useful accessory is to scrounge up lengths of heavy-wall DOM (drawn over mandrel) steel tubing and Sch40 & 80 pipe, its hard to get every size you ever need but they come in quite handy.

 

[Bob P1]

Stay away from the china made ones, the metal isn't right & things bend that aren't suppose to bend. : (

 

[afsar]

If you want an American-made hydraulic shop press, I suggest checking Redline's shop press models. Some of them are American made, and some have components from the USA.

 

[Firebrick43]

Enerpac is over priced garbage

OTC and dake would be my choice as top pick.

Sunex as a value pick.

 

[GeoBruin]

Maybe a hot take here but a press is an extremely simple thing. If you've got some fab skills, have you considered building one?

 

[Steve_P]

Whoops...

 

[brownbagg]

i bought some equipment from a surplus house, you pay shipping but get some industrial equipment dirt cheap. they had many presses and other equipment like drill press, mills, saws

 

[B_Bimmer]

Enerpac is over priced garbage

OTC and dake would be my choice as top pick.

Sunex as a value pick.

I have never experienced anything from enerpac that could be described as garbage but have no experience with their presses. What makes you not like them?

 

[infinite97]

Enerpac is over priced garbage

 

[IndyGarage]

Honestly the HF 20 ton works fine for me. I can't say I've used it a lot, but I've pushed many bearings and straightened lots of metal with it.

 

[tak1313]

Honestly the HF 20 ton works fine for me. I can't say I've used it a lot, but I've pushed many bearings and straightened lots of metal with it.

I've had the HF 20 for years now, and it's done anything I've needed it to do with no problem, but I'm a just a home DIY kind of guy. Haven't experienced any bending/breaking/warping of anything.

 

[d9gdon]

My HF press has been fine for me, think it's a 25 ton. I really hate Chinese stuff but had to have one that day to press some pins out of a steering clutch.

 

[Firebrick43]

I have never experienced anything from enerpac that could be described as garbage but have no experience with their presses. What makes you not like them?

Were I worked had close to a hundred fixtures that had enerpac pumps, swing clamps, straight clamps(same/similar cylinders to the presses) and valves.

Their electric powerpack pumps had a higher rate of failure than OTC powerpack. Even their manual "portapower" hand pumps that we used for pullers and lifting machines had a higher rate of failure than the OTC. I don't know if their compact high pressure cylinders had a higher failure rate(than other companies) as we did have more of them, but it was pretty high.

The fixture swing clamps and valves, vektek and roemheld was significantly better. And enerpac valves, especially the sequencing valves were a common and Everday replacement compared to vektek. Even their 10,000 psi gauges needed replaced much more often than I feel they should have been. The forklift tire press seems like it needed one ever other year or so.

 

[Doubled33]

Look for a press where the ram is stationary.
The cheaper ones use a bottle jack on a wobbly top plate With return springs to pull the jack back in.

When you are doing some heavy pressing the wobble on the top plate can launch what you are pressing, or make it press crooked.

I have a 20T dake and it is very solid.

 

[tarmy]

I am still looking. Got sidetracked with college kids and life.

thank you for continued comments and suggestions…and…I need to finally get one cause wifey’s car needs some front end bearing work.

 

[Relax]

I bought one of the cheap 20-ton bottle jack presses from Princess Auto and it arrived with the ram welded onto the plate crooked. So I've been considering returning it and getting a stationary ram model at a much more expensive price. How many tons of force does a home mechanic / hobbyist really need, though, if I'm mostly just doing automotive bearings or bushings? The only thing I tried to do with it so far has been to press bearings onto an axle, but that will be a rare occasion. Mostly motorcycle wheel bearings or automotive suspension bushings. I've been using threaded rod so far, but I do enough that I'd rather move up to an actual press.

 

[Doubled33]

I bought one of the cheap 20-ton bottle jack presses from Princess Auto and it arrived with the ram welded onto the plate crooked. So I've been considering returning it and getting a stationary ram model at a much more expensive price. How many tons of force does a home mechanic / hobbyist really need, though, if I'm mostly just doing automotive bearings or bushings? The only thing I tried to do with it so far has been to press bearings onto an axle, but that will be a rare occasion. Mostly motorcycle wheel bearings or automotive suspension bushings. I've been using threaded rod so far, but I do enough that I'd rather move up to an actual press.

I know on press Fits there are some tried and true engineer rules of thumb for sizing I suspect these could be related to force.

I used 10t for along time with wheel bearings etc… not too many struggles and the occasional light “tap” needed while under pressure.

20t works a lot easier with the smaller things.

Is there a chance you could spend a little of your time and fix the press you purchased and add too it to make a even better press? They may entertain a discount in lieu of a return.

It seems the nice fixed Rams are easily 4 to 6 times the cost of the HF models.

I don’t use mine near as much as I used to and purchased this one towards the end of when I used a press quite a bit. It collects a lot of dust these days but I will have a nice press for the occasions I need one. I don’t regret buying it.

 

[turner66]

I have a 20T press (Strongway) from Northern Tool.
Over the ~10 years I've had it, I added a cable winch for raising/lowering the bed, a 20T air over hydraulic jack, a pair of SWAG machined arbor press plates, and a SWAG Heavy duty finger brake. It's proven to be quite the solid and capable press for my shop...

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200641786_200641786

 

[Relax]

Last night I brought home a like-new King Canada 10 ton with fixed ram (and most importantly, the ability to order individual replacement parts if needed). Seller let me test it out on an original, crusty ‘99 BMW E46 front control arm bushing (aka lollipop) and it only took 1/4 of the max rated pressure. Unfortunately it’s too narrow to do motorcycle wheels, but for the build quality, portability, and price I paid, I’m ok with that for now.

10 TON HYDRAULIC SHOP PRESS WITH GRID GUARD KING Canada - Power Tools, Woodworking and Metalworking Machines by King Canada

• 10 Ton manual hydraulic jack • Heavy-duty grid guard protects user during use • Heavy-duty "H” frame with pressure gauge • Great for straightening, pressing, bending or stamping Used to install or remove gears, bushings or bearings

www.kingcanada.com

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Last year I bought this new...

Hydraulic Press: Dayton Hydraulic Manual Pump, H-Frame Frame, 25 ton Frame Capacity, 10 in Stroke​

https://www.grainger.com/product/DAYTON-Hydraulic-Press-Hydraulic-467L09

Id recommend this as a " dont buy " or any of its close relatives. Its on sale right now, for $1800, they try to get close to $3k for this turd.

The quality of the press is offensive, for the price point. Yes, its China made, by " who knows " with a really nice " Dayton " name plaque on it. Easily the nicest part on the press, the plaque.

I dont recall what I paid for it, I got it at the scratch and dent store, maybe I gave $500-$600. I likely got what I paid for, but wow is this thing poorly made. It does have a " 2 speed " hand pump...

I used to have the hobo freight 20T, the price is right for what it is, but if youre actually going to use it frequently to make a living, its just a POS.

Have plans to covert this over to a power unit for high frequency use.

Id like to find a press like this that has a trolley for the ram... for offset.

If money was not object, Id buy an domestically made Dake ( Dake sells offshore presses as well ).

 

[ex-x-fire]

Check market place. I seem to see some good units along with the budget ones too.

 

[gmcgeo]

I bought a hf 20 and changed it over to air ram. no complaints, it works great

 

[Steve_P]

The issue with the HF 20T is the frame/bed depth; I can't do most wheel bearings without a stack of steel plate as there's not enough room between the beds inner structure

 

[tester19]

Another vote for the HF 20 Ton unit. I added the air over hydraulic jack after my manual one started leaking. HF was very nice and allowed me to trade in the leaking manual one for credit against the air powered version!

I laugh at anyone recommending a manual pump press.
Have you actually ever used a press? Because if you have after the first time you will throw away the manual pump and get an air over hydraulic model.

I added caster's and really like that SWAG off road finger brake too. Have not got it yet but have used it at a friends house and it really adds to the usefulness of the press. Like the boat winch idea too for raising and lowering the beam.
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[Renegade1LI]

I bought a 20 t sunnex , made in USA, air operated pump works great.

 

[waltermitty]

What I have been working with is just fine for my home hobby/chores e.g. bearings, sheet metal bending, fence bracket and truck-motorcycle suspension/mount fabrication:

• Harbor Freight 20-ton air assist jack,
• SWAT finger brake,
• Aluminum diamond plate sheet to tie the feet together for more rigidity
• 4" flange mount metal casters (not spindle post).

You can put lipstick on a pig and it can do the job adequately. Just pick the right tool for the task

 

[F-22]

I have a probably chinese 25 ton press for some 7-8 years. It works fine... The piston/rod leaks very slowly a little bit, if I was in the market for a new one I'd want it to be chromed. Otherwise I don't think I ever had any fault with it. The bolts seemed cheap but they hold up, and ultimately it's all thick steel so you can always easily weld up the connections if you're really worried.


I'll probably end up swapping the seals and making a nice chromed rid for mine, but still have too many projects at the moment...


This is one of those tools where the electric pump is too pricey and hand cranking gets annoying. Would be so cool to have an option of a "hand crank" pump where you could use a power drill to crank it down. Keep it as cheap and simple as the manual one, but makes the job easier for the average home user.

 

[slowtwitch73]

+1 on the HF press.... I don't really like like it.... but for the money it does pressy things pretty well.. just not real fast, and not without wondering what it would be like to have a top shelf press someday.