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Straight Through Hydraulic Press Straightenes 12 In. Wide Steel I-Beams
David Heinze, Belgrade, Minn., designed and built this 5-ft. 10-in. long "straight-through" hydraulic press to straighten out twisted 12-in. wide steel I-beams salvaged from old township bridges. He used the beams to build the steel frame on his 34-ft. wide, 72-ft. long machine shed.
The press is made from some
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Straight through hydraulic press straightenes 12 in wide steel I-beams FARM SHOP Tools 15-3-24 David Heinze, Belgrade, Minn., designed and built this 5-ft. 10-in. long "straight-through" hydraulic press to straighten out twisted 12-in. wide steel I-beams salvaged from old township bridges. He used the beams to build the steel frame on his 34-ft. wide, 72-ft. long machine shed.
The press is made from some of the same steel that it's designed to straighten. Four lengths of steel plate, 6 in. wide and 1/2-in. thick, are mounted on a pair of 42-in. long, 6 by 12-in. I-beams welded together with lengths of angle iron. An 8 by 12-in. H-beam on top of the press is 5/8-in. thick. The press table itself is 6 ft. 4 in. long and 20-in. wide. It's made from 3 by 12-in. channel iron, 3/8-in. thick, and can be raised or lowered by repositioning a 1 1/2-in. dia kingpin on each side. Heinze uses an IH 784 tractor to power the press's heavy-duty 5-in. hydraulic cylinder. The cylinder's 2 1/4-in. dia. shaft provides 25 tons of pressure at 2,500 psi.
"It's built so heavy that it straightens out a 30-ft. I-beam like it's playing with a toothpick," says Heinze. "When the press table is at its lowest position there's 3 ft. of vertical clearance between the table and the cylinder. I've used it to straighten out I-beams that had a 2 ft. bend. I block up the hydraulic cylinder and straighten the beams out 8 in. at a time. I built it because I couldn't find an affordable press built big enough to bend 12-in. I-beams. I tried driving my tractor over the beams to straighten them out, but itdidn't work. I've even used it to straighten out the 20-ft. long, 8 by 8 frame on a neighbor's 16-row Deere cultivator."
According to Heinze, the press isn't designed to press out wheel hubs be-cause it's so wide that it loses strength in the middle. "The real strength of my press is on the sides. If I could build it over I'd make it 1 ft. longer to get more leverage, and I'd install a 6-in. hydraulic cylinder for added down pressure."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David Heinze, 41008 275th St., Belgrade, Minn 56119 (nh 619 254-R41R)
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