What brand of engine stand do you use? Or make your own? What specific features would you look for or avoid? My garage sale engine stand is OK for a SBC, but when assembling the 354 Hemi (the heads alone tip the bathrooom scale at 74# ...each ), I'm thinking something more substantial would be wise. It would only be used occasionally, but safety is not something I'm willing to cheap-out on.
get the one with 4 wheels,3 wheelers are only good for SBF and SBC and the occasional rambler flathead 6.
This is a good question that I have also. I need to pull my 250 inline 6 out and an not sure which one to use.
I bought the Harbor Freight 2000 lb capacity engine stand years ago for about $90. It held up my '55 Mercury's Y-block and several friends big projects (Ford 460 being the biggest) quite well. The only problem was with the steel wheels. One broke at the swivel and had to be replaced. I think the stand is now $100. Not bad considering they'll ship it to your door for free.
Go for the 2K# stand. HF is okay but there is a noticeable difference in quality with that one and the one from Northern Hydraulic.
Like most things, if you want it done right, do it yourself. There are some fine engine stands out there but the really good ones are expensive. Most manufactured ones use light gage tubing and cheap wheel/caster assemblies. If you are serious about building engines get the material and build your own.. I agree the 4 wheel ones are more stable but a 3 wheeler is fine if built out ot some substantial material. I have several of the cheap ones that I use to keep engines off the floor but if I'm wrestling a big block doing assembly I put it on the heavy round pipe one I built in 1962. You can put a complete big block engine (any brand) on it and jump up and down on it and it won't flex. Overkill? Maybe, but I've seen several incidences of the cheap ones toppling over with a heavy engine and trying to rotate them to torque the bottom end down. Frank
I have a 2 cheap light weight harbor freight and the HF 2000# 4 wheel unit. The larger 4 wheel unit has had numerous complete bb chevys and mopars on it and still doing fine
i'd go with the 4 wheel engine stand, not just for strenght , but they are less tippy....if you use a 3 wheel and try to torque the heads , it will almost tip over i made my own engine stand and hoist , it's not hard to do. what ever you do, make sure your stand and hoist will work together. i freind of mine bought the foldup hoist from nortern tools ,and also their heavy duty 4 wheel stand...after we rebuilt his motor and getting ready to install it, we discovered that the front legs of the stand where too wide to go inside the legs of the hoist!
I had a 3-wheeler turn over on me once with a SBF long block on it. I was trying to wheel it out into the open to work on it and when I pulled it towards me, the front caster hit a teeny rock and stopped. It fell towards me, and I jumped/fell backwards and landed on my ass with the motor between my legs. The front of the head had the crotch of my jeans pinned to the floor!! It was maybe a 1/2" from me singing soprano... permanently! I'd say go with a 4-wheel, for sure!!!
a/fx, I haven't learned the photo posting thing . If I ever do I'll bore you to death with it. I'll be posting pictures of my dogs and anything else that stands still. Computers and I don't get along to well, so consider yourself lucky to be reading my crap. Frank
Harbor Freight #4420-5VGA, $99.99. 4-wheel, 2000 LBS capability, legs remove easily for more compact storage. You can find it on sale for less if you watch the ads....
[ QUOTE ] Go for the 2K# stand. HF is okay but there is a noticeable difference in quality with that one and the one from Northern Hydraulic. [/ QUOTE ] I agree, I have some of the lesser stands for anyone that wants them. The last one I bought was from Northern http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&productId=19976&categoryId=0 Looked at Harbor Freight and this one just looked a tad better..
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