"Floor Jack" Shop Hoist

Floor Jack Shop Hoist “I sat in my shop thinking one day that I needed a hoist for my riding mowers and ATV’s I didn’t want to spend a lot of money so I built one that makes use of an ordinary wheeled floor jack ” says John Blackwell Brantford Ont     The jack is used to raise and lower ramps made from a pair of aluminum running boards off an old Ford pickup Each running board is reinforced with bolted-on 2 by 8’s underneath A 4-in length of angle iron connects the running boards about 3/4 of the way toward the front end of the ramps The angle iron stabilizes the ramps and also serves as a lifting point for the floor jack A pair of 2-ft high wooden blocks bolt permanently onto the back end of the ramps     To operate the hoist Blackwell starts with the front end of the ramps laying on the floor He rolls the floor jack under the angle iron and then backs the tractor up onto the ramps Then he manually pumps the floor jack to raise both ramps until they’re level To drive the tractor off the ramps he simply lowers the floor jack     “I modeled it after a commercial frame straightener that I saw at a local car body shop I have a one-car garage and do part-time small engine repair The ramps sit about 2 ft off the floor which allows me to work safely and easily around all sides of the equipment I can lay on a creeper all day without ever having to stand up which is a lot better than laying on my back on a cold cement floor It saves me an hour of labor per tractor ”      Contact: FARM SHOW Followup John Blackwell 1092 Colborne St Brantford Ont Canada N3T 5M1 ph 519 755-9446; sue laidlaw00@hotmail com

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