I borrowed a friend's engine hoist and it was really cool that everything slid together so that it could be ***embled and dis***embled in a few minutes. His dad bought it a few years ago before he pased away and he doesn't know where he got it. Anyone have an idea where I could buy one of these? I tried Harbor Freight but they only had the bolt together type. Thanks for any help- Jim
Advance Auto Parts used to have one like that. I think it was under $200. Had 4 castors so that the legs could fold up and let you hide it in a corner without using so much floor space.
YES! I think Advance is another name for Checker Auto Parts & I bought an engine hoist 2 or 3 years ago you can take it apart fairly easy if you need to. Works great. Gary 4T950 Chevy Guy
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200305213_200305213 try this link.
No, it didn't fold up- the lages and everything slipped together. Legs slipped into the upright and the lifting bar slipped into that- NO BOLTS, super easy to tear down. Let me know, Thanks Jim
I'm with grumpy blues about Northern tool if there is one in your area. That place is addictive though so proceed with caution. Hehehehe
Hey that's mine. Awesome as hell. I was impressed when I was able to use it to pick out two inlines out of the bed of a pickup from the side. Up over the side of the bed and down then rolled into the shop. I molded my grill in on my 53 so I kinda needed more extension and height than usual and this one really is the hot ticket. Bought it from them as well, now here's the bad news: Northern is awesome but they don't carry this tool, it's dropped shipped and the shipper ****s complete monkey ***! Northern had to ride their ***es every day for a week to get them to move it. When it arrived, it had been beaten around hard, scratched all up. Now this didn't bug me since I knew it's gonna get abused in my shop anyway. ***embly was also a *****, easy, just time consuming. Took about an hour and was missing a couple bolts because the bags were busted open. So yeah, lousy shipper. That said, it's still awesome. I use it all the time and it does a great job and the price was right on.
Harbor Freight has em... http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93840 I don't own one of these so can't comment on quality I just posted this to help out..
Anyone else agree that habor freight ****s but ya go there anyway because of the cheap prices? Customer service ****s, quality ****s, but the prices are good. I try to avoid going there but sometimes don't have a choice when they're the only store that carries what I'm looking for. God I hate that store! I'm just wondering if it's here only that ****s or all around.
our Harbor Freight used to **** really bad, but then they started cleaning up the shelves and putting better displays out...but they're still somewhat disorganized with the displays, the bigger stuff that's on display you always have to ask if they even have any, and sometimes they're waiting for a shipment (it should be here tomorrow, so stop back and check it out..."ummm, I live 3 hours away and happened to stop in, I'm not coming back for a LONG time"...oh, well come again)...I don't mind their tools, their warranty is useless though, if you're buying something that's cheap and electrical it's GOING to blow up...ALWAYS buy the Heavy Duty versions of electrical stuff... how did we get off-topic? sorry man...I used to see those engine hoists you're talking about at old auctions and such all the time...looked like a damned good idea...the fold up roll-away ones still get in the way...
Yeah sorry to get sidetracked, was just curious and everyone I know is, well, in this area and use the same store.
i'll try to find a picture but at a shop i was working at had an old otc one that you just put it together no bolts and it had a cart to carry all the pieces.
I'd imagine it was a BlueBird brand. That's what I have and it's exactly as ou describe. It completely asembles without tools. You slide the pieces together and lift a little spring loaded pin to lock them together.
bluebird is the winner . i made an exact copy of one i borrowed http://www.bluebirdintl.com/node1269.asp
Jim, I see you live in Torrance. You might want to check one of the outo swapmeets in your area. When I was stationed in SanDiego I remember alot of the swaps down there and in the LA area had tool vendors. Some had good **** some had junk. When I was looking fo a hoist most people want big $$$ to ship it because of the weight. I ended up getting a folding hoist off Craigslist for $75.00 including and engine stand Todd
I bought one of the fold up hoist from Harbor Freight. Its a snap to fold and unfold once it's ***embled. Works great. Best money I ever spent!
On engine hoists, engine stands, jack stands, etc. make sure the thing is built to ANSI Standards! Your life depends on it. Everything I've seen at HF is NOT ANSI rated. For those who don't know, ANSI stands for American National Standards Ins***ute. For engine hoists, the standard specifies materials, welding, etc. Most of the cheap Chinese stuff uses inferior steel, too thin wall thickness and poor welding. Best idea, check the Garage Journal. They have had plenty of tool discussions and threads on this very topic. Good stuff. And you'll make Ryan happy you tried one of his other sites.
I bought one at HF the best money I spent for my friends to have an engine lift, I never see it and it it isn't at my house now. but I do have a car lift and gnatry and a tractor I put a boom on. But I think I want it back and use the cylinder for a tranmission or rear end lifter under the car lift. Ed ke6bnl
Bought one that looks very similar to the Harbor Freight hoist at "Retool". They sell used tools but also carry some new stuff. Engine hoist was new, folds like the one pictured by chop49. Works good, only thing I'll probably change is to put non-swiveling casters on the back. With all the casters swiveling it kind of has a mind of its own trying to roll it on my ****py rough concrete shop floor.
Kaydee 1500 or the 1200 with the caddy looks like the otc on i used. on a side note i always rented one because i don't have room to store it ($16 an hour), but when i got the 327 a few weekends ago i couldn't find one to save my life. so i had to buy one at pep boys $139.99 with a mail in rebate of $20 and now it's in my way.
I've got this exact model. It works very well. The ONLY complaint I have is that, depending on teh project, it may not go high enough. It will lift the motor and trans out of a '55 Plymouth on low jack stands though.
It's definitely the Blue Bird, but I don't have a local supplier- they are all lawn mower shops- NOT auto parts suppliers. Any ideas?
I have one I bought at HF, thick enough steel, but improperly designed. I had a 302 Ford on the hook, not the heaviest engine by any means, but fairly high to clear the radiator support, and the mf'er started twisting at the legs, I almost dropped it. After I got it on the ground I took the hoist apart, welded about 15 pounds of reinforcing on it, and added some gussets. Since then it's done all right with even heavier engines. The hydraulics are a POS tho. It pisses me off that no one locally even carries an alternative to the cheap ****.
I used a friend's HF hoist once. It worked fine, but I'm not convinced it's made for the long term. If I expected to use it more than once or twice I'd get a better one.
Sounds like a Bluebird KD 1500 with 3 ton hydraulic lift. Good stuff, built in Nebraska by real farmers, but it is difficult to get information on anymore. I have one that needs a cylinder. Anybody know a good parts outlet?
The BlueBird Engine Hoist line was purchased from BlueBird International by ICF Industries Inc. ICF currently manufactures and ***embles the entire line here in the US. Our manufacturing facility is located in Pleasant Hill, MO. The only difference from the original BlueBird line and ours is the branding on the hoists and a slight change in color tone. www.icfinc.com
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