Wanted to drop my long legs on my HF cherry picker, but the 4 wheel upright design (when stored) prevented the legs from going lower. (obviously) The low rider trick is something I didn't even envision. Great idea, nice workmanship on the 'Z'. I'm in line to steal this great idea as well! Kudos to the man in O-Z, this will be popular as hell with us Yanks!
Harbor Freight has one that I've used for several things at work. It's under $30. It's a one ton rating but you can use a block to double the line and the weight. I removed the crank handle, welded a nut on the shaft and a socket to the handle so the handle can be removed to use an cordless drill and socket to turn it faster if needed. You do need to lube them up when they're new and occasionally after that.
Those worm gear winches are tough as a gorilla's knuckles, but slow. My favorite fishing hole is on a river with a swift current and steep landing and my river boat is pretty heavy. I was tearing up a ratcheting winch about every year for a while loading that boat, even the double reduction heavy duty ones. Switched to the worm style 20 years ago and have had no problems since. I did add another knob on the handle about 3 inches from the shaft to make it faster to spool out without a load. Here's the boat I'm talking about. Sorry, no video of loading. Pretty far off topic.
Instead of wheels on the front legs, I wonder how ski s made from old leaf springs would work, especially with the low rider idea. Sent from my ahooga horn using Morse code.
Here are the modifications I have done to my 2 ton shop crane. I bought it knowing I would modify it this way. I am not using it to hoist engines but to lift a milling machine of a euro pallet. I figured I would register and post in this thread because it was among the first results when I googled shop crane modifications and I figured maybe people would get some useful ideas. First step in that was making the legs wider. I was able to look at an assembled crane in the store and measured it's width and found it was perfect for my plans. The legs can be used in the factory position as well: Working as intended! What I still need to do is add two more castors on the new U-profiles I made to increase stability. I could move the existing wheels too, but I think distributing the weight over more wheels is better. And if I moved it the inner U-profiles might be a weak point because they would no longer have any support under them, I can imagine them folding under heavy loads. I could fix it by welding on a top cover though. What I have planned next is to make some kind of removable counter weight system so I can lift lighter things without using the front support legs. I might also make a pair of shorter, low profile legs to complement this. The legs as they are now are too big for me ot effectively get around my small shop. I was going to remove the vertical head of my milling machine last weekend but was not able to move the crane to the bench I had intended it to go on.
One of the best engine hoist "mods" I found is to place your car or truck tires on these dollys. Then you easily push, pull and move your car rather than the engine hoist. Engine hoists typically don't roll very well and the casters are always pointed in the wrong direction. Moving your car with these is almost a one-handed job and also allows you extra space to get under the car to verify clearances when installing an engine. - EM
Welded a couple of pegs on the end of the boom to catch the loop on the parts basket to lift it out of my hot tank.
Here is my Caddy Crane. I built The Judge completely alone but it would have been impossible to do without this little modification. Probably not patentable. https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/Caddy-Crane/ https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/Building-the-Frame/i-48MCXqR/A https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/Building-the-Frame/i-zPFrGjV/A https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/Prepping-for-Engine/i-FqK8BjF/A https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/Prepping-for-Engine/i-DrNGx4J/A
Thanks for posting, I have been thinking of doing the same and wondered if you could make those small adjustments.
I got tired of trying to manoeuvre my engine hoist in limited floor space in my shop plus having to shorten my boom length on heavy lifts which stole movement when trying to install. So, I built an overhead gantry that covers an area on my shop floor of about 16 feet in two directions and uses an electric winch for lifting. It is the best darn improvement I have made in my shop. I still keep the hoists out back for minor lifts, but in my shop things are now simple and easily managed. It cost me under $700 between materials that I had and the beam and winch that I had to purchase, plus a few miscellaneous items. My biggest problem was working out clearances and re-routing cables, air line and raising lights. Since then, I have made a simple spreader bar for body lifts and have purchased a variety of lifting slings at the right price and all is good. I save a fortune on beer now, since I don't need to bribe helpers as often as I used to...
put a body on a chain fall in the air off the frame. used the adapted hoist to move it up and down. the legs extend
I like the drop front legs for clearance and the steel non swivel front wheels; I built one like that many years ago..I put a winch on it and used it to drop stuff down the cellar hatchway.. I had it hooked to the front of my tractor so I could go all over the property moving things around, wish I had some pics from back then cause it probably looked comical but worked great ..I bought a HF 1 ton a few years ago and used it to get the 200# engine out of my skid steer after extending the boom about 6" farther than it was supposed to go, lucky I didn't have to add weight onto the back..I plan to make the legs and boom extendable with a drop in the legs and maybe a step up in the boom..I will all so rotate the hyd cylinder to get the pump handle to point to the rear a long with the valve which I will set screw a universal to with a shaft extending up with short lever or large knob for easy manipulation..Um after I get the larger dials on my lathes so I can see the lines!!
I built this add-on beam to my hoist. It goes on after you flip the main beam and pivots on the bolt. I can load and unload a cab, body, or bed by myself. I put a couple old towels under the door jams, rails to pad the edge.
I did the same thing this past summer when I needed to maneuver a big block into a Corvette. It was a lot easier to adjust the car than the engine hoist. Also had more room under the frame with it up on the dollies.
Noticed in the pics of the Caddy-Crane that the wire rope clips were installed 2 different ways, the better is on the interior ends of the support cables rather than on the ends attached to the hoist........''never saddle a dead horse"....... Otherwise a nice job. I built a similar rig for the back of my truck and it worked well over the rough outside ground over distance. I should have hooked the cables to something attached solid to the frame instead of just to the body. Body mounts to frame were rusty, started to give way and the front of the body started to break away from the frame. I'll have to modify that part before the next use, all part of learning by doing............ Ed
I channeled the wheels up into the legs and Zed the frame on mine to fit under low front ends. I built a wooden cradle to lift the cab of my '36 Ford on and off. Best thing I did was put a swivel on the hook. Gary
I've got a set of those and I can't move a car with them. Right now they are under my 3'x5' X1" welding/Fab table and that's far lighter than a car and it's difficult to move on those castors.
We used to do a "permanent loan" thing with friends. It could be a car, use it but bring it back when you're done with it. We did it mainly with tools... lost a good torque wrench though... I had a Yale chain hoist in my possession from 1973 to around 1991.
The Jalopy Journal
