Harbor Freight Chain Hoist.

Bought this 2 ton chain hoist from Harbor Freight (2 ton Manual Chain Hoist) to pull the engine. It actually worked out well. The only bad part was the chains were coated in oil, presumably to avoid rust in the salt water atmosphere trip from China. So first step, was to get a gas soaked rag and clean the chains. It was really messy but got most of it off. At least to get the engine out. However, I can see I need to put the chains in a bucket of kerosene and give them a good cleaning.

 

In my hurry to get the engine over to the rebuilder, I forgot to take a pic of it hanging. I have a bobcat so I put the forks on and put a very heavy 1950's era railroad pry bar between them and hung it from that with the boom raised to its highest position and the service safety brace in place just in case. Over kill picking the 2 ton unit, pry bar and service brace but was doing it all by myself so I wanted to take extra precautions.

 

I have one of the Chinese chain hoist hanging from a truss I built in my garage. I use gloves to handle the chain - it's still covered with an oil coating.

 

I still got some grease on my gloves even after wiping over and over with the gas soaked rag. So I've pretty much decided to put the chains in a bucket of gas and let them soak for a day. Hopefully it will get it all off. I just hate having to use tools full of grease. So before I put the engine back in Willie and before I pull the engine out of Wilbur (the 55 wagon) it's gotta get done.

 

I have one too. I use gloves to run the chain as well. The thing works well for engines, but I would make sure to leave a good margin between the rated weight and the actual weight you are lifting. Chinese cheap products do not equal safety.

 

That was part of my decision to get a 2 ton to handle a 500 pound engine. In fact there were comments to that effect in the reviews.

 

I have a performance tool one.. (90 percent likelihood same manufacture)

same as Tim.. I use gloves

its been wonky lately and the auto hold from time to time wont 'catch' well..
I only use it for up and down now.. no mid air acrobatics..

 

I have like a PTSD relapse going on from reading about these chain hoists. When I was an iron worker, our "bread and butter" jobs were building and installing the fire-safe stairwells in the four corners of new hotel buildings all over New England.

The stairwells begin life as a 3-to-5-story cement block tube with holes in the sides that our steel would stab into. We'd beg the jobsite's crane operator relentlessly until he'd drop a top truss on top to mount two of those chain hoists on, then lift every piece one at a time with the chain hoists. They were sooooo slooooow. And these old monsters had no release, so while one guy was lifting, another guy was cranking on the other one to lower it back down to rehook. Max the travel out on one, swap the load and do it again.

 

I can't even remember where I inherited it from I got an old Yale chain hoist. Had no use for one and couldn't hardly give it away..... I prefer a standard engine hoist.

 

I have an old American made chain hoist on my gantry,I like it much better than my hydraulic hoist,never drifts,can't move too fast(as in opening the valve too much)

 

I have the same HF chain hoist and I have pulled a couple engines and moved some trannies around with it - no problems so far - gets the job done. If I was a pro mechanic though I'd invest in a better one. Is it just me or is HF stuff getting a bit better over the years?

 

On Garage Journal, it was suggested that HF is actively moving into the space left by Sears when they sold the Craftsman brand. Supposedly Stanley-B&D is moving to offer the brand under some new retail arrangement, but right now there is an opportunity for HF. They have many new brand names that may have been introduced to escape the stigma of the older names. Just speculation ...

 

Being a Retired Ironworker, I have all the different safe hoisting tools I need. My Boss would give me anything I wanted, but after the job was over. I don't need a lot of big heavy duty stuff we used, just the little stuff, half ton stuff.