Harbor Freight engine stand

[randy73]

Pulling my engine to rebuild and also going to get the car painted, just wanted to see if anyone has used a Harbor Freight engine stand?

It is just a 340, but I do not want anything bad to happen either.

[ACUDANUT]

You should be fine.

[Troy]

They have 750, 1,000, and 2,000 pound stands. The 750 only has 3 wheels and only 1 of them is under the engine (and it also swivels). There's too much going on with the 1 wheel for me to feel comfortable with it. Even with a moderately light engine, think about having to tug on a torque wrench hanging way out over the front end.

I have the 1,000 pound stand and it's reasonably stable and rolls easily. There are 4 wheels - although the front 2 are fairly close. There's a stripped 340 on it right now but I have had fully dressed 340 and 440 engines on it. For extra assurance, I do usually put a "support" of wood between the engine and front cross beam to minimize sag and keep things from bouncing when rolling. Obviously that has to be removed for spinning the engine. It is currently only $12 more expensive than the lightweight model.

The 2,000 pound version is about twice the price as the middle model but is built almost the same as their engine hoist (which I also have), has side supports, better wheels, and it folds up. I haven't used one but would feel fairly comfortable based on past experience. It might conflict with the hoist when loading/unloading engines due to the width of the legs but will certainly be the least "wobbly".

Find a 20% off coupon and just buy one of the more expensive versions. Bouncing an engine off the floor (or your leg) because you wanted to save $5 will not be a happy experience.

Troy

[Chargen69]

an H stand is very close on one of my hoists, but more than okay on another hoist

[ODZKing]

Yep, bought one when I tore the 73 apart.  400 sat on it for 2 years. It was fine!

[toocheaptosmoke]

I have a 750 lb. 3 wheeler, it works but like already stated I never really like using it.   I recently got the 2000 lb. one for a tractor engine, it is beefy and very stable.  The legs are in the way though if you try to transfer from the hoist onto it though.

[375instroke]

I bent a cheap one that came with a motor I have.  It went from the nose being angled up, to dropping about four inches, so I guess they'll do that instead of just outright failing and dropping your motor on the ground or you.  It was the arms that bolt directly to the block that bent, not any of the welded parts or box iron pieces.  Now it had a 4X4 under the crank pulley giving it extra support, but I removed the intake and heads before pulling the 4X4 out so I could remove the crank, and it just dropped down.  You can see it says 750lbs, and just a short block has got to be less than half that.  Just a 440 short block was too much for it.  The casters are always crap, too.  Next time, I think I'm just going to bolt some outriggers onto the base of the better stand I have to stabilize it when I'm working on a motor because even the stronger one with four casters I have doesn't give me confidence in it's stability.

[randy73]

Thanks everyone, I went with the 1,000 one.