Home-Built 100-Ton Hydraulic Press

Home-Built 100-Ton Hydraulic Press FARM SHOP Tools 23-6-39 Fred Gibbs, Greeley, Colo., made his own 100-ton hydraulic press using a 1/2 hp electric motor and hydraulic pump off a "Perfect Circle" center pivot irrigator. He used 10-in. I-beam to make a 6-ft. high press frame and mounted the pump, electric motor, and oil resevoir on top of it. A junked 10-in. dia. hydraulic cylinder does the work. "It's a nice looking unit that cost me very little to build because I got the irrigation components cheap," says Gibbs. "I use it to press bearings and gears on and off shafts and to repair gearboxes for center pivot sprinklers. "The Perfect Circle irrigation system had an electric motor, hydraulic pump, and reservoir on each tower. Each motor ran continuously. If one of the towers got behind, a valve would open to move that tower forward until the valve closed. There are a lot of these old power units on the market that can be bought cheap." Gibbs also made his own easy-to-use bulk oil system that mounts on a steel frame above the press. There are four barrels, with two containing hydraulic oil and the other two containing motor oil. The barrels are mounted two high, with a gas pump nozzle and hose connected to each of the bottom barrels. "It's a gravity flow delivery system that delivers oil directly to our tractors or to filler cans on a drain rack that's mounted on the shop wall below the barrels," says Gibbs. "The drain rack consists of a 12-in. dia. length of pipe cut in half, with expanded metal grating on top of it. It bolts to the wall. A length of clear tubing connects each pair of barrels to serve as a site gauge for filling." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Fred O. Gibbs, 1001 O St., Greeley, Colo. 80631 (ph 970 454-3311).

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