If it’s stupid but it works….

[b_hill_86]

…..is it that stupid?

I’m sure I’m not the only one that has rigged something to do something it wasn’t meant for or made something to get the job done. I’m not talking about doing things unsafely but more so thinking outside the box. Today was one of those days for me.

A few years ago I replaced my split rail fence that was falling down when we bought our house. I left a sturdy post that had a small gate on it but apparently it wasn’t as good as I thought as it gave up the ghost the other day and broke. Today I decided to dig out the old post that was still in the ground so I could replace it. When I did the fence, none of the posts were in concrete (thankfully). Guess which one was? This last one. I dug around it a little bit then had an idea. Not knowing how much concrete was there or how deep it was I figured this was worth a shot at least.

I decided to try using my engine hoist to yank it out and by-gosh it worked like a charm. Didn’t end up being a ton of concrete but enough that I think the hoist was a good gamble.

So, what kinds of things have you guys done or used in an unconventional way but still got the job done?

[Wallington]

They'll have to add that to the box applications! I'm just as impressed that you could get the rope to stay there long enough.

[aussieta]

i always go straight to my highlift jack for fence posts as my first attempt
then start digging if no joy

[roadking77]

Great idea!  Over the years I can say probably a dozen things. A lot of those 'do what I say not what I do' kind of things. Cant think of any off hand right now. Its early, LOL.

[b_hill_86]

They'll have to add that to the box applications! I'm just as impressed that you could get the rope to stay there long enough.

To be honest I was just as surprised. Thankfully the shape at the top was just enough to hang on to. Any more resistance coming out of the ground though and it would’ve slipped off. My next step was to try tapconing a chain to it.

i always go straight to my highlift jack for fence posts as my first attempt
then start digging if no joy

My dad actually said the same thing to me. Hadn’t occurred to me before but I can definitely see how that would work.

Great idea!  Over the years I can say probably a dozen things. A lot of those 'do what I say not what I do' kind of things. Cant think of any off hand right now. Its early, LOL.

My dad and I have done the same over the years. Mostly when trying to accomplish something with just the two of us that probably should’ve required more people or more equipment. One thing I can think of is when we replaced our dock at the cabin he made a contraption out of some long small diameter pvc pipe with a reducer on the end that would attach to a hose so we could shoot water down next to the posts and “blow” out as much sand as possible in order to help get the posts out easier. Worked like a charm.

[wheels78ta]

I've use this a couple of times to pull out fence posts.

[FormTA]

I have always used my front end loader with a chain to do exactly what you did. I try to wrap a chain around it like you did with the rope. On ones not in concrete I screw in a large eye hook I have and then pull em out. My back can't handle pulling them out by hand and who wants to dig....

Great idea using the engine lift though!

[b_hill_86]

I've use this a couple of times to pull out fence posts.

I like your style 

[b_hill_86]

I have always used my front end loader with a chain to do exactly what you did. I try to wrap a chain around it like you did with the rope. On ones not in concrete I screw in a large eye hook I have and then pull em out. My back can't handle pulling them out by hand and who wants to dig....

Great idea using the engine lift though!

I’ll have to get me one of those someday 

[79merlin]

i used mine to mount my hood on my TA. It was a reasonably windy day, and I was working on it by myself. I have a strap that is basically made of seat belt material. I ran that around the front and out the shaker hole. it worked like a dream. I would imagine that it would be helpful for handing the crazy heavy doors as well, but I have not had to do that thankfully.

[tajoe]

We should change this thread title to, "101 ways to use an engine hoist". 
(Or pull fence posts(?)

[b_hill_86]

i used mine to mount my hood on my TA. It was a reasonably windy day, and I was working on it by myself. I have a strap that is basically made of seat belt material. I ran that around the front and out the shaker hole. it worked like a dream. I would imagine that it would be helpful for handing the crazy heavy doors as well, but I have not had to do that thankfully.

I’m not going to lie, I considered that at one point. I know they make adapters for such a thing. I figured I could make something. Didn’t end up trying as a second set of hands became available.

We should change this thread title to, "101 ways to use an engine hoist". 
(Or pull fence posts(?)

I’m good with either one 

[rkellerjr]

Now that was genius! Some years ago we bought a house and the previous owner must have loved azalea bushes. Some 30+ and they were over grown. So, I thought lets get rid of most of these so I started cutting and sawing and, of course, lots of stumps, these things were huge. So I noodle on grinding them or pulling them out. I was standing there and looked over at our driveway and thought, hmmm... I have a 4x4 jeep, I'll just pull them out! So, I got some pulley straps (didn't want the rear glass to get shattered if the strap came flying off, and whalla, worked like a charm and didn't tear up my lawn either.

[FormTA]

I'll have to look but somewhere I have pictures if using my engine lift to mount and align the doors on my TA

[b_hill_86]

I'll have to look but somewhere I have pictures if using my engine lift to mount and align the doors on my TA

O yea I could see that working well. Good idea.

Now that was genius! Some years ago we bought a house and the previous owner must have loved azalea bushes. Some 30+ and they were over grown. So, I thought lets get rid of most of these so I started cutting and sawing and, of course, lots of stumps, these things were huge. So I noodle on grinding them or pulling them out. I was standing there and looked over at our driveway and thought, hmmm... I have a 4x4 jeep, I'll just pull them out! So, I got some pulley straps (didn't want the rear glass to get shattered if the strap came flying off, and whalla, worked like a charm and didn't tear up my lawn either.

Also not bad. That idea crossed my mind for the concrete/post removal.

[roadking77]

In the 'what can an engine hoist be used for' category.... Quite a few years ago I was setting a pre-cast stone facing around the top perimeter of a bank. The building was a couple of stories high with roads running beside it on a couple of corners. The stone pieces were several hundred pounds but almost too small to get a crane, not to mention no where to set one up without major distractions. We put an engine hoist on the roof, stacked counter weight on the base and let the boom hang over the roof edge with an electric hoist to lower the pieces into place. Working off of scaffolding set up on the sidewalks to guide them into place everything worked like a swiss watch. Wish I had taken pics, but I doubt I even had a cell phone then.

[Jack]

I love this post but don't want to give anyone any ideas of all of the stupid things that I've done.
Maybe I'll just do one... Has anyone else used a tree limb to hoist an engine out?

[b_hill_86]

I love this post but don't want to give anyone any ideas of all of the stupid things that I've done.
Maybe I'll just do one... Has anyone else used a tree limb to hoist an engine out?

 

[Gene-73]

Two things that I bought for the Firebird restoration that I continue to use for way more than I thought I would - my welder and my engine hoist.

Thought about selling the hoist once, glad I didn't. Here's a few pics.

[FormTA]

I love this post but don't want to give anyone any ideas of all of the stupid things that I've done.
Maybe I'll just do one... Has anyone else used a tree limb to hoist an engine out?

Yup! But I had to puy a 4x4 at the end if the branch so it wouldn't bend so much. Pulled and engine and trans out of my 81 Monte Carlo back in the day. It was really sketchy using a really, really old farm style block and tackle. (No internal brake).

[roadking77]

Jack, Im a country boy, that kinda of thing just comes natural around my area

I lost my engine hoist in the fire years ago and have to replace it. Every once in awhile I find myself doing a job that would be made easier with it. Need to get it replaced one of these days I guess.

[b_hill_86]

Not sure how I missed these responses way back but I did. I like your ideas for the hoist Jack. The tree branch idea sounds sketchy at best lol but it worked.

I added another use to my list today. Wife has a Durango with very corroded aluminum rims that leak air especially in the winter. I got her some new rims and tires off of a newer Durango but the TPMS on the new ones won’t communicate with the car so I decided to remove the old ones myself. I’m tempted to make a bead shovel I can bolt to the bottom of the ram so I don’t compress the new tires as much as the old ones. Then again I may just pay a shop to install the new ones. We’ll see.

[tajoe]

Good idea with the bead breaker Brian. But the hard part is peeling the bead up and over the rim. With a couple tire irons working around the edges, can be done. And it's a great cardio workout too. And sometimes you can invent a new language, when fighting with it. (I know I have).

[b_hill_86]

I can imagine just from seeing how the bead of the tire behaves. It seems like low profile tires might be worse than standard but I don’t know. The large flat part of the ram wasn’t particularly nice to these tires but they’re old so I didn’t care. I’m tempted to make a bead breaker shovel, I think they’re called, that I could bolt to the bottom of the ram that would act more like a manual breaker and hopefully be nicer to the tire. Then again, a local shop quoted me like $21 a tire to reinstall the “old” TPMS into the new wheel/tire combo. So I guess I saved myself $84 assuming they’d charge me to remove from the old. And I know I can do it now too.

[firebirdparts]

That's pretty ingenious.  I would think a block of wood would do pretty well, but of course for real bead breaker tools there is a shape to that.  Ideally you want to push right at the edge of the rim, and the old hand bead breakers did just that with no shovel shape.

[5th T/A]

This last fall my neighbor had a couple large Oak trees fall into my yard. One of them took out about a dozen buckthorn trees. We decided to remove the roots and plant grass seed in that area. I briefly thought about using my engine hoist, but the ground was pretty soft and muddy. I would have needed some large sheets of plywood to move the hoist around. Instead, I used the old-fashioned method and really did a number on my back pulling the roots out. If I had known how badly I was going to screw up my back, I would have used my wife's SUV and a chain, as I have done in the past.

Does this count? After I had my sub-frame powder coated the hoist allowed me to move it off the trailer without scratching it. It also made it easy to align while I was bolting it back on to the body.

IMG_7137 by Lawrence Alexander, on Flickr

[b_hill_86]

5th, absolutely. Why not? I actually thought about using mine to help remove and install my hood by myself the last time I pulled the engine. Ended up with a set of second hands so I didn’t have to but still.

Firebirdparts, I agree a more purpose built shape would be better. Which is why I opted not to break the bead on the new tires this way. I really think I’m going to make a shovel to bolt on the bottom of the ram though to do just that. More because I want to see if I can make one work. As if I don’t have a hundred other things more important to do lol. We’ll see.

[roadking77]

Tires are something I leave to the pros. Seems like whenever I get the urge I end up fighting for what seems like hours. Take them to a shop and bing bang boom! Theyre done I used to drive a dump truck, the shop I would use for tires had a guy that all he did was big trucks. His bead breaker was a 12 lb sledge with a 'spoon'/wedge on one side. He could do a full swing and hit the tire just right without hitting the rim. I never saw him miss. Then again you do this all day every day of the week I suppose you get good at it. He used nothing but muscle power to change tires, and was quick. Last time I got tires at the shop he was an assistant manager working the front desk, I felt glad for him that he was no longer swinging that beater!!

[Jack]

I tried removing tires from wheels once but decided to take a sawzall to it. it was not fun.