Engine Hoist Modified For Finger Touch Control

Engine Hoist Modified For Finger Touch Control FARM SHOP Miscellaneous 31-1-38 Next time you're trying to crank the lift on a hoist at the same time you guide the engine in or out of place, think how nice it would be to have remote control. Robert Sladky modified an engine hoist to respond with finger touch control. "I restore old cars and trucks and need to do a lot of work by myself," says Sladky. "A typical engine hoist with a hydraulic jack can be dangerous to handle by yourself. I decided to develop an engine hoist with battery-powered hydraulics." Sladky started with a standard engine hoist, but stripped out the hydraulic ram with its jack action. He replaced it with a hydraulic cylinder with the same reach after welding new brackets to fit. To power the cylinder, he installed a 12-volt pump and motor designed for use with a pickup-mounted snowplow. The motor and pump were bracketed to uprights on the backside of hoist upright. Power for the motor is provided by a deep cycle battery that sets on the hoist base where it also provides added counterweight to the lift. "I use the remote control that would have run from the snowplow hoist to the pickup cab," says Sladky. "Hydraulics move the hoist up, and gravity lowers it. I put flow controls on the system back by the pump so speed is infinitely variable." Sladky says the flow controls are "gotta have" items. He explains the original system had an orifice that slowed upward movement and a control valve for downward movement. "It was still too shaky," he says. "With flow controls, I can lift or lower at a snail's pace without a bunch of jerking. I set it on slow, and it stays there for the most part." Sladky made a few other modifications to the hoist, replacing the original castors with larger, heavier duty castors. The larger ball bearings make it easier to roll the hoist into place and swivel easier under load than the smaller originals did. The larger castors required welding bigger mounting plates. Sladky estimates the original hoist cost him around $200. Modifying it cost another $450 plus his time. It has all been well worth it, he says. "There's no such thing as a powered hoist on the market like this, as far as I know," he says. "I use it for all kinds of things. It really saves my back." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert Sladky, 10940 North 142nd, P.O. Box 149, Waverly, Neb. 68462 (ph 402 786-2604; robert_sladky@yahoo.com).

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