cherry picker engine hoist question

the Pittsburg hyd jack (harbor freight) takes dozens of pumps to get it up, is it OK to leave it up in between jobs? thank you for your time. RR

I am going to say NO. Unless you have some way of supporting the boom, so the weight is off the cylinder. I don't trust any hydraulic device for holding weight for any length of time. Best bet, be safe.

RR ... how far does the ram move ... say for 6 strokes ?

I don't like to tax the seals, so if I don't want to collapse the ram I support the boom.
My old HF cherry picker is also slow to pump up, been that way for 20+ years and I've used it a fair amount that way.

Taxing seals ? ... I have a couple of motorcycle jacks that have supported two bikes for going on two years !

Also have a Hobo Fright cherry picker that is collapsed now ... but had supported a short block in the air for about a month

Hmmm.... I replaced the jack on my engine hoist several years ago with a HF Pittsburgh jack. Seems to work as well as as the old one and doesn't require an excessive amount of pumps. Maybe I got lucky.
And I have never left an engine dangling on a hoist, at home or at work. I just don't trust them.


Tim

I just let the short block dangle maybe 8 inches above a junk tire ... just to see if it leaked with a load ...

No problem...

Mine (from Kragan/O'Reilly's several years ago) will slowly go down so I never leave anything hanging. I also don't want any part of the piston exposed to moist air very long. Best to keep it down to avoid rust and most loss of seal.

I would not leave the cylinder extended. Leaves it exposed so it can possibly rust, then the rust screws up the seals.

I have a northern tool hoist(it sucks because the front wheels don't swivel) and when it is all the way down I can just lift the boom up and it will catch it. You have to lift it pretty far past the height you want or do it twice but it is way way better than pumping that whole distance. This obviously doesn't work with a load.

A friend of mine has the best cylinder for his and I need to replace mine with it. It pumps on the up an down stroke so if you are moving an engine from the ground to stand or install height its super fast. Its the only one I have seen that way and it is awesome.

I have a gantry crane I built, uses a chain hoist, though I could put one of those 110v electric hoist on if I wanted. It was built to clear the ceiling support beam in my garage. It can be built taller for the same cost. No need to pump anything on it.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthread...mber/397808/filename/20200620_143804.jpg

Alright I will start letting it down (I need the exercise anyway). thanks guys. RR

I’ll have to take a pic of a small bottle Jack I used to support an overhang of my truck camper that I used for years .....

Outside .... in the snow and rain and humidity... partially extended .....

It’s got some rust “stains” on it but it’s works fine ...and never leaked or dropped an inch ...

I always lower the boom because with the boom up the machined portion of the portion of the ram shaft is exposed to air, moisture and eventually rust.

I know this because I loaned my best hoist to a friend who stored it boom up for a while. I went over to get it and found the shaft rusted.

Luckily I was able to polish it enough still use it but if the pits had gotten deeper it would have been junk.