Now I know many people have the basic cherry picker engin hoists…great handy portable compact cranes.
Now I am using mine for all kinds of things…
moving full sheets
moving heavier part sheets of thicker gauge
odds and end lifting around the shop.
but what I hate is the manual hydraulic pump…you know the ones where you pump 30 times to go 3"…makes me feel like being single again…
back the point…
I have seen some people install a battery winch on the back of the crane to operate a cable hoist on the end…
What I am looking for is changing out the hydraulic cylinder with a …More civilized …way of raising the boom without having flashbacks to my single days…
has anyone done this or seen this…not my single days…the conversion of the hydraulic unit…
This isn’t with a hoist but the principle is the same. Converting a ram from a manual pump to electric. The presentation isn’t the best but it covers the main points.
You can buy an electric hydraulic pump… there are some cheap options(Vevor) and not so cheap options.
For a hydraulic hoist I think it would be best to change the ram from a single action cylinder to a dual action.
You could use springs also I guess but seems like the could get in the way.
I extended the boom on my harbor freight engine crane, with a length of 2x2 (if I remember right) tube steel. Obviously lifting stuff with an extended boom risks putting the center of gravity past the front wheels and overloading the frame/welds/piston, but…
Its very useful for lifting stuff that weighs a decent amount (150-250 lbs), but less than the crane itself. Especially when you can’t get the wheels under the thing you’re lifting. For example, came in handy when I had to hoist my new wood stove up a few steps from my garage to my living room.
If you are going to stick with the single action ram and use springs to retract you could just convert the ram you have following the process in that video and use an air/hydraulic pump.
@amosdudley i did that ofr when I lifted my air tanks up on the wall…and still have the thick walled extra boom for specail lifts…
@jamesdhatch the problem with the bottle jacks is they are usually 6" lift…the cylinder on the hoist has a 16.5 " lift range…
@72Pony now that is cool…i like the concept but not sure I need the spring retraction as it is heavy enough to lower it…but the foor pedal seems a little awkward…
Of course you are right… not sure what I was thinking… those do go down on their own… I was overthinking it… I can’t help myself… it’s what engineers do best
Where are you reading it is only until it hits a load?
If the reviews…I think it is still working as advertised, just slower because it has a load on it. I have been using 20ton air/hyd bottle jacks for 20+ years and they run fast until it hits a load then it does take another quarter second to pressurize the air to actuate the motor.
If you want a rapid raise, then you have to go to a straight up electric hyd pump. $$$
I have a Vevor air over hydraulic jack on my 20 ton press that will keep going into it breaks something under air pressure. No hand pumping required.
Be prepared to change the air fitting. The one that came in mine was some weird formed sheet metal thing that didn’t resemble any air fitting I’ve ever seen.
I installed a air over hydraulic cylinder from Harbor Crap, works great no more hand pumping and still have full height of lift. I will get pick later today. Cylinder is 26" collapsed.
You could use the Harbor Freight 20 ton recommended by @jamesdhatch
Move the jack to contact the boom very close to the fulcrum point. With all of that power it would not take much movement to effect the moment arm. This would place tremendous force on the pivot bolt but may work.
Edit: I must have too much time on my hands right now. I went on the this Vevor website with the other air assisted jack and here is a picture description of how to connect to air. There is no way those two fittings make a connection. Am I right???
I don’t know how they connect air lines in China, but that male connector is what came on mine. I have never seen anything like it. It sort of looks like what we use, but there is no way it would connect to any fitting we use in the US.
That is a very good idea. Harbor Freight does not sell that particular jack but I did find a similar model on Ebay (Vevor brand…same one that I was picking on their hose connection earlier).
U.S. $$ price shown.