Boys and Girls,

I'm in the advanced hemming and hawing stages of preparing to replace the 351W in my F250HD 4x4. Pros and cons please for the various engine hoist options.

I don't own a cherry picker roll-around hoist. For other vehicles, I've used a beam across the rafters in my garage as a hoist point for a come-a-long. Low buck, and works great. Raise the engine and roll the vehicle out of the way. But my house was built in 1937, and the garage is too small for the truck to fit.

I'll be working outside, under a carport. I'm not opposed to a cherry picker, but it seems it would be very unstable, having to lift the engine so high to clear the radiator support. And since storage space is limited in a small garage, I really don't want to have to store a hoist (even if it folds up) for the next 20 years until needed again.

I'm leaning towards rigging an overhead beam across my carport. The carport roof itself isn't designed to support much weight, but the vertical posts are quite sturdy and are well anchored to the adjacent garage. I'm thinking of securing a pair of vertical 4x4 wooden posts to the existing metal posts. The wooden posts would support all of the weight of a large horizontal beam. From what I've sketched out on a cocktail napkin so far, the whole arrangement would be quite sturdy.

Any other ideas? I'm not totally opposed to a cherry picker, but am concerned about stability at such height.

 

In my experience, Cherry picker barely lifts enough to clear the rad cradle and you have to chain the engine real close even for that.

 

FWIW, here's mine that I bought back in 2005 from Northern Tools, I still have it. These were taken April 2012. I paid $199 for it. You may be able to find a used one that someone near you is selling, or rent one for a few days. With a short chain, I think it would go high enough. To bad your on the other side of the country, I have let people borrow it.


I've even used it to lower the generator in place.




Used it to do a generator at a buddies house. So there may be other uses for it over time.

 

https://www.bandrrental.biz/equipmen...VE%20EQUIPMENT

That's near you for $84 a week.

If you think about that $84 as a down payment, towards the full price of buying one, it makes buying seem like a little less money...it's all in how to rationalize it...

 

Get the engine all ready to pull, all bolts removed, wires unhooked etc. Then remove the front tires and lower the truck to the ground. That should give enough clearance.

 

Mine folds up so dose not take up much room and as said if closer I also would lend it out.
IIRC I found it on Ebay NIB and I also bought a engine stand from the same person as the one I had was being used.
I had to go pick them up but was not far from me at the time.

As for lifting it so high you could pull the radiator support but leave the fenders on or if you have help or a hoist pull the full nose off the truck.
Because I was by my self I used the hoist to remove the full nose of the parts truck, no picture of that
Use the hoist to remove the cab

Or the bed

and it works for motors & transmissions also

Dave ----

 

You are still obviously alive and I guess you have all your fingers and toes, but I don't like those cheesy ratchet straps being used to lift the engine and trans.

As far as a homemade hoist, My father made my daughter a swing set. It had 4 4x4 posts at a angle with metal brackets holding them to a 4x6 going down the center. It worked great for pulling engines

 

Will the proposed beam arrangement give you easy side-to-side flexibility to tweak engine position as you’re dropping it in? I’ve not installed one yet but I imagine some side to side adjustment could be required, unless you plan on a way to easily readjust truck position.

 

This hasn't been a problem on other vehicles, using a fixed hoist point in the rafters. When the engine is lowered into position, there's no problem pushing it several inches to either side as needed. When the engine is raised high to clear the radiator during removal, the hoist cable (and moment arm) is fairly short and you couldn't easily swing the engine very far to the side, but then again there's no need to do so during that stage. But when you extend the cable and lower the engine into the engine compartment, the moment arm is much longer.

Something else I've done is to take note of where the engine hangs when first disconnected from the transmission, but not lifted up yet. Assuming the engine might swing a few inches to either side to obtain equilibrium, I just steer the vehicle an appropriate amount to that side when I roll it back under the raised engine during installation. Make a mark on the floor next to the tires to give you an idea how to reposition the vehicle side-to-side. Works like a charm.

 

Just saying, in the first photo I posted, I think you can see where it's possible to get some 5ft below the oil pan if needed.

People and shops use these cherry pickers all the time, they must work well.

Do I dare say, stop over thinking this.

 

Oh sure, crush a guy’s spirit, why don’t ya?

You're forgetting I have a Scotsman’s wallet. That’s the type with Velcro that screams when opened.

I’m sure a hydraulic hoist would do the job well, but gone are the days of $129 specials down at HF. A suitable model runs around $300 now. I’ve been browsing used hoists for sale and might go that route if I can find a beefy one. I’m still up against very limited storage space, though.

I also find myself in entirely uncharted waters of NOT wanting to buy a particular tool. Yeah, I know, seems strange.

Rent a hoist? Should I turn in my man card? Strikes me as admitting defeat. Not when I can come up with a solution on my own… Still leaning towards adding a hoist point to the carport, maybe $50 of lumber.

I’m still in the preliminary pondering stage. No decisions have been made nor money spent. How expensive is helium? How much would I need to lift 600 pounds? Maybe if I got a used weather balloon on eBay…

 

I can understand about the space limits. I can understand about admitting defeat.

In my old man opinion, just bite the bullet and rent one for the week. At least its moveable where the chain fall requires moving the truck from under the engine...unless you have the chain fall on a rail system...I'm more than happy to help you spend your money. LOL

 

As someone who's wallet emits moths when it's opened and geraldo Rivera is there to discuss the contents on live tv... I would also go with the wood hoist route

 

Just what you need. Engine Hoist down in Sherwood. This is the same two ton unit i used to lift my 5.0 up, over the radiator support and out. Then back in. Buy it, use it, sell it.

 

Notice it is the space saver type. Small footprint when legs are stored next to mast.