On the trail JACK

[73azbronco]

Use dry lube on the workings of the hilift, makes it butter smooth, and yes while finicky and potentially dangerous, treat it right, still great multi use jack. How else do i get the fence posts out??

 

[ntsqd]

On grandad's farm we used a tool that he built on the suggestion of a local. Built mostly of wood, but it had a welded hard point bolted to it where it engaged the T-Posts. It hooked under the lowest nub on the T-Post and when you pushed down on the ~3' long handle it planted the 2x4 cross-bar on the dirt and levered those posts right out of the ground. Once in a while it took two bites to get a post all of the way out, but rarely was more than one needed. Slicker than greased owl shiat on a door knob!

 

[FORD*DIEHARD]

Found this, anyone heard or seen this? Before hearing others comments regarding some hydraulic bottle Jack's leaking. This scissor jack has a center part that appears to help lift/support the center of the scissor (think this is a functional support or just for looks?) Also found a video.

 

[Beau Nugget]

On grandad's farm we used a tool that he built on the suggestion of a local. Built mostly of wood, but it had a welded hard point bolted to it where it engaged the T-Posts. It hooked under the lowest nub on the T-Post and when you pushed down on the ~3' long handle it planted the 2x4 cross-bar on the dirt and levered those posts right out of the ground. Once in a while it took two bites to get a post all of the way out, but rarely was more than one needed. Slicker than greased owl shiat on a door knob!

We have something like this, but it uses an old well pump handle. And you’re right. It works good

 

[Yeller]

Used my F350 jack this week, worked flawlessly and was on very uneven ground, only jack in the group that went tall enough.

 

[ntsqd]

Used my F350 jack this week, worked flawlessly and was on very uneven ground, only jack in the group that went tall enough.

Like this one on ebay?
Snowball came to me with the jack still in place, but the op-rod was missing. Found one of those in the JY and now it's complete. But the Wagon needs a similar solution.

 

[Yeller]

I use a factory bottle jack for a later model f350 bottle jack and really like it. And it works on the garage as well.

I quit carrying the Hi-Lift about 20 years ago. I used it once in all of the time that I carried it and the jack that I built above would have been a far better choice. That incident is why I built the above jack.

TS, it the hydraulic unit from a 2011 to current F350 dually. If you want a screw jack, most of the late model HD single wheel trucks have one with similar operating range. If looking for a hydro unit make sure it is the yellow one, they are 2 stage, the red one is taller and single stage and come out of 450/550 trucks, they require a 19.5 or larger wheel to get under it.

 

[ntsqd]

Now that you say it (again), I recall you previously mentioning that it was a hydraulic jack.

This yellow one, not this red one, then? Some of the ebay listings include what appears to be the factory mounting bracket for the jack. Those look like a good idea if you're going to carry it in a vehicle.

 

[.94 OR]

Where are these larger F350 bottle jacks typically being mounted?
I need to stop by the JY and see if I can round one up.

 

[bmc69]

I've got six of those "all in one" jacks but I only carry hi-lifts on my trucks. They've done amazing duty...everything from jacking my Bronco up in the middle of a swift-running creek to giving up parts for makeshift steering repairs to get back to camp, to creating a bending press to straighten a tie rod or three. I'd never leave home without one on the truck and I've never found anything better.

 

[ntsqd]

When MISF bought his first Hi-Lift (a cast one) it was wonky. It didn't work smoothly at all. We took it apart and gave it a 'trigger job'. Smoothed all sliding surfaces, cleaned up any casting flash/parting lines, just generally tuned it up. It was still wonky. Better, but wonky. He tried some dry lube (didn't last), some wet lube (it's wet & attracted dust and grit), even grease (well... ). None of it cured the wonkiness and all had their downsides. I think that the best thing that he did with it was to paint it with POR-15. Ironically that yielded the single best improvement of all of the mods when all that he intended was to keep it from rusting. Except for the climbing pins. Those rust no matter what because they can't be painted. If you could still get small lots plated in Electroless Nickel-Teflon I'd be tempted to run a batch of 100 every now and then. When I bought my first, and only, Hi-Lift I did everything that we'd done to his, to mine. Except for the POR-15 part. Got the same results.

Having used a old school GM bumper jack on a number of occasions I honestly think that they are a better jack. They're just not HD enough for off-road use, and a worn GM bumper jack is more dangerous than a new Hi-Lift. Which is pretty dangerous in the hands of someone unfamiliar with them.

 

[bmc69]

When MISF bought his first Hi-Lift (a cast one) it was wonky. It didn't work smoothly at all. We took it apart and gave it a 'trigger job'. Smoothed all sliding surfaces, cleaned up any casting flash/parting lines, just generally tuned it up. It was still wonky. Better, but wonky. He tried some dry lube (didn't last), some wet lube (it's wet & attracted dust and grit), even grease (well... ). None of it cured the wonkiness and all had their downsides. I think that the best thing that he did with it was to paint it with POR-15. Ironically that yielded the single best improvement of all of the mods when all that he intended was to keep it from rusting. Except for the climbing pins. Those rust no matter what because they can't be painted. If you could still get small lots plated in Electroless Nickel-Teflon I'd be tempted to run a batch of 100 every now and then. When I bought my first, and only, Hi-Lift I did everything that we'd done to his, to mine. Except for the POR-15 part. Got the same results.

Having used a old school GM bumper jack on a number of occasions I honestly think that they are a better jack. They're just not HD enough for off-road use, and a worn GM bumper jack is more dangerous than a new Hi-Lift. Which is pretty dangerous in the hands of someone unfamiliar with them.

I just give mine a shot of whatever rust lube spray is on hand before I use the jack and never a problem. I've seen the horror stories and "OMG a hi lift?..yr gonna die" stories but having used so many for well over a half century of farm and offroading use, I just shrug.

The only jack that almost did me major injury was a railroad track-lifting rachet jack. Was lifting one side of my Caterpillar D2 dozer to put the track back where it belonged on the sprockets/idlers and just as I was placing a block, the jack slipped. Dozer frame came down on my hand at first thumb joint...and was just barely over center on the joint in the direction to spit it out rather than crush it and take my thumb off at the root. I nearly passed out from the shock of realizing what had just happened...

 

[ntsqd]

Can't fault them for not working unless they're rusted solid, they're just crude to operate and in a not good way.

I've had it shown to me how they can be dangerous to the unsuspecting or ill-informed. "Yer gonna die!" is way over the top, but particularly NuuB's should use them with caution. Scissor jacks scare me more than a Hi-Lift does.

 

[Shimmy]

how about this one?

https://brennans-garage.com/products/tauler-jack-kit

 

[ntsqd]

I forgot about those and I built one. Mostly because I was curious about it. If it will do what you need it to do I don't think that it gets much better than that. You can't get nearly 60" of lift out of one without cribbing the load and re-setting it like you can with a Hi-Lift (IF you bought the only Hi-Lift worth owning), but they're far less crude and I think safer for anyone to use.

Lesson learned on that, use a MIG to weld the plate to the tongue jack. Unless you're a production TIG welder you probably won't move fast enough to not melt the plastic linear bearings inside of the tongue jack.

 

[Yeller]

Now that you say it (again), I recall you previously mentioning that it was a hydraulic jack.

This yellow one, not this red one, then? Some of the ebay listings include what appears to be the factory mounting bracket for the jack. Those look like a good idea if you're going to carry it in a vehicle.

Yes this is correct. The red one is taller and single stage cylinder. The yellow one is shorter and 2 stage cylinder. They both have about the same amount of total lift height. I have the red one in my Ram, works well with its 20” wheels. I carry the yellow one in the J Truck. They both lift up to approximately 17”.

I’d love to have a better mount for the yellow one in the J Truck.

 

[El Kabong]

I use an aluminum floor jack. Nice & light. It's been handy. I like being able to raise & lower it without crawling under. It has a single wide front roller instead of 2 small wheels. Easy enough to position even while working on dirt. I also carry a single axle stand in case I do need to crawl under.

 

[ntsqd]

Seems like a guy should be able to find the Ford mount for those jacks. Some use a big rubber band - which I wouldn't want and seem to be more used with the mechanical bottle jacks, but others use a strap-clamp. I've seen pics of both the red and the yellow jacks in them. From an ebay listing:

 

[Shimmy]

you could also use a fire extinguisher mount like this. bolt it to your rollcage

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=roll+cag...ps,228&ref=nb_sb_ss_p13n-pd-dpltr-ranker_1_15

 

[ntsqd]

With a fire extinguisher in those they wear out the whole locking interface and start to rattle when mounted on a desert racer. It takes about one season to do it. IF the driver is doing his/her best anyway. On a desert racer you'd never hear the rattle, but in an EB you likely will.