Mechanical jacks are handy
- Thread starter Garwood
- Start date
alphonso
Well-known member
No picturess. We shifted a 60" VTL with chains and a 5 ton chain hoist on the floor. Chain hooked to base of two 14 inch I beam columns. Chain wrapped around base of VTL. Chain hoist hooked to chain between columns and chain wrapped around VTL. A little grease on the floor. Moved it about 5 feet.
Mud
Well-known member
If you ever encounter one of these, grab it. It's terrific for very small increment movements like lifting a VMC head to align a ballscrew.
Kustomizer
Well-known member
They work in any position and don't leak down, I have a mechanical floor jack and a couple of the high lift ones and several screw jacks down to an inch and a half tall too
mach ramsey mn
Active member
Some of the attachments they have for the high lift jacks are very helpful!
Freedommachine
Active member
I bought a hi lift a few years ago thinking it'd be the coolest universal tool. Maybe I'm using it wrong or something but that damn thing has nearly killed me a few times. It's fine for pushing things apart or pulling things together but it's absolutely useless for jacking up a vehicle.
I agree.
But, I can tell you a hi lift will bust 3/8" gr70 chain wrapped around a USFS gate. So they do have a place lol.
mach ramsey mn
Active member
More at home jacking up a farm implement unless it’s a lifted truck with stout bumpers!
If there ever is a machinery hall of fame, a Simplex jack would have to be in it.
Only because you saw it on Youtoob, right
??Yeah, uh, of coarse I did!Only because you saw it on Youtoob, right
Last summer one of the trailheads I went to for a hike had the parking fee payment box damaged. Someone had tried to pull it out. No idea what they were using to pull it but pretty sure it got hurt. That thing was made of 6x6 square tube probably 3/8 wall and mounted into what looked like about 2 yards of concrete. As far as I could tell, contents were not accessed. Seemed kinda dumb trying to steal something like that for the maybe $100 that it might have inside.
The USFS gates often have multiple locks on one chain. Often times contractors add their own locks to the gates when their working in an area. The gate that I busted the chain on had a contractor lock in it's own loop on the chain so even though I had the codes to the USFS lock, I couldn't get through the gate.
It might have been somebody just being a dick. Maybe they found the lock unlocked and put it like that. They did it in a way there was a big loop of chain. Plenty of room for bolt cutters or a hi lift. The locks are normally up inside a can so you can't cut them off.
Some of the USFS gates I see I'm astounded at how well made/overkill they are. I always feel bad for the poor bastard that had to drive a concrete truck 10 miles on 10% grade rip rap roads.
It might have been somebody just being a dick. Maybe they found the lock unlocked and put it like that. They did it in a way there was a big loop of chain. Plenty of room for bolt cutters or a hi lift. The locks are normally up inside a can so you can't cut them off.
Some of the USFS gates I see I'm astounded at how well made/overkill they are. I always feel bad for the poor bastard that had to drive a concrete truck 10 miles on 10% grade rip rap roads.
Machtool
Well-known member
I have I think its an 86A. I thinks its rated 5 tonne / 11 000 lbs. I googled the specs on it once. You get 5 tonne gorrilla gramming 200 pounds off the end of a 3 foot handle. I've knocked myself into shape since covid, just by eating better. I'm just under that 200 lb's. I think I'm only rated 4.7 tonnes off that jack. There not a faster jack in the trade. I'm fairly certain mine was stolen, I bought it off EBay from a local Melbourne bloke. It was sharpie marked "Seimens". My best guess that was the railway division. I still have guilt every time I use it, no matter how much I love it.
As always best regards Phil.
Machtool
Well-known member
Mud
Well-known member
I should have guessed there was knowledge of variations of jacks out there. That's a photo I googled, but mine is exactly the same, but a little less dirty. I have 3 big Simplexes besides. I had a track jack also, worked like a simplex except it had a quick release that dropped it when you pushed the handle all the way down. I assume that was to speed up track work but it was hazardous for moving large objects.
Machtool
Well-known member
My simplex does that, provided you have your tongue and mouth pointing into the direction to the wind. Its rather impressive if you get it right. The up / down ratchet lever has to be down, theres this other thumb switch lever gizmo, then you have to crack the Da Vinci code of where the main handle click / clack should be. All of a sudden it will drop. Bonus points if it hasn't chewed the end of your finger tips off in the rack.