Hey guys, I've been in need of a floor jack for a while but I'm too cheap to buy a chicom unit from Harbor Freight that I know will eventually fail, and too poor to buy a nice higher end unit, so been keeping my eye out for a used one around here. As luck would have it an antique Walker 745 jack became available and I'm picking it up tomorrow. I understand these jacks have a reputation for quality and I am drawn to the early industrial style. It is complete but the seller thinks springs are bad/missing. Has anyone gone through one of these things before? I will figure it out if not but would be greatly helpful to tap someone's experience with them.
Cool jack and weighs a ton . I looked at one years ago at a farm auction, it went for next to nothing but I didn’t have the space for it. The mechanism is similar to a rail road jack I bought one of the 3.5 ton aluminum jacks from princess auto ( Canadian harbour freight ) about 10 years ago and it’s treated me very well. Compact and light-ish and works well . I ALWAYS use it with stands and blocks !
I have not looked myself but was told that Garage Journal has a section on old floor jacks. Might be a good source for info.
I picked it up today. It will work great with a general cleanup/oiling, I will just need to find a source for springs. Of the three, two of them don't look that hard to make and the other should be a pretty generic deal. Can't wait. It's a hoss for sure but it rolls and operates smoothly, should be a big help around the garage.
Pretty neat, functional piece. What era do you think that would be? That might be a stupid question, but 1920s or 1930s. Am I close?
The mechanical ratchet mechanism was patented in 1922 but from what I can tell, the 745 dates to the mid-thirties. I think the 745 is the biggest from this series of jacks. The marketing tag for it is "Roll-A-Car". It was designed to pick up the whole front or rear end of a car so you could wheel it around. It sits really low and the handle is adjustable to 3 different angles to help it clear bumpers etc, it seems a well designed jack. It is really heavy but the casters are good so it just glides around. I feel the weight contributes to stability. Things are a bit tight in my modern house's two car garage but I think there's just enough room to use it.
The Jalopy Journal
