Engine Crane/Hoist

[gtipping]

Now I have my donor it wont be long before I need to pull the engine and gearbox. Been looking at the cost of renting a Crane/hoist and it seems that it wont take much use to justify the cost of buying one.

I have seen plans for a couple of self made ones but it seems that the cost would still be in the region of £110.

On ebay there are cranes for £119

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-TON-FOLDING-HYDRAULIC-ENGINE-CRANE-HOIST-LIFT-NEW-/120551234986?pt=UK_Lifting_Moving_Equipment&hash=i tem1c1169ddaa

So looking for some advice here

Do people rent ?
Is it worth building your own ?
Is the above good value or is it poor quality ?

Any other advice you have on the subject ?

Cheers
GT

[DaddyA]

Hi GT,

save your money - cut the grill area out and drop engine and gearbox on a trolley.

I managed on my own with a skateboard and some broom handles cut up into rollers.

See link here;
http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/u...y/DSCN2888.jpg

[dan_g8]

if i was you i would buy/build a crane. i bought my from machine mart at one of their vat free days and i have used it so much since then. in my opinion it really isnt worth renting one as you dont know when you will need it.

[tex]

you could prop the engine up on a board straight and near true as you can get it - get it to the right height you need - then couple of mates lift the chassis over the engine - fit mounts using trolley jack to get the chassis level enough to lift both together - leave engine in a bare state to fit it thro the gap

[davidimurray]

I bought a similar crane, although rated at 2t to the one on your ebay link for £120. I find it is so useful. I've used it numerous times for all sorts of jobs - not just heavy lifting. Even for small items like getting the diff in or lining up your engine and gearbox. I also bought a cheap load leveller (£20) and have found it really useful particulalry for getting the engine/ gearbox in. I've done 95% of the work on my car by myself so the crane has been really useful. If you have a look at my gallery 2 in my signature you will see how the engine/gerabox was mated together then lifted into the car.

[aerosam]

I have a chain block suspended from a beam in the garage.

The beam is a scrap length of 25mmx75mm 3mm thick rectangular section steel. The chain block was £35 from ebay and it can lift 2 tons.

I was using it to lift the engine from the donor, hadn't noticed the gearbox had got stuck, and carried on lifting till the whole car was off the ground, and a 5-series ain't light either!

[leroybrown911]

Same as aerosam, i use a chain and block suspended from an rsj in the garage, definately a good option if you have a beam in yours. Only issue is you can only lift under the beam. I once dropped a Mitsubishi Evo 4 box and engine onto the floor using the crane then used it to lift the front of the car up so the engine could be slipped out from under the car. Took the weight no issue!

[gtipping]

Cheers guys for the advice.

Unfortunately I don't have a garage (building in a shed) so the cheaper block and chain suspended from a beam is not really an option. My old man had that arrangement in his garage and it worked really well but with the obvious limitations.

DaddyAlove the way you improvise

[David_17]

I bought one off ebay from here

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Liftmaster-1-T... tem3cb075582a

As already been mentioned, renting doesnt really work, as you don't know when you're going to need it. Also, as already mentioned, you'll use it more than you'd expect

[monsterob]

why not use a block and tackle?

i built a set of "goal posts " and hang my block n tackle off that basically welded 2 scaff poles together and made a football goal with a hook in the middle

lifted many an engine for £40