Someone mention Hi-Lift jacks?

kcm.MN

Well-known Member
Location
NW Minnesota
Someone mentioned hi-lift jacks the other day and there was some discussion about how unsafe they were. I believe it was a thread about someone who got crushed while working on a bush hog? Anyway, this newer First Responder model does have some definite merit for properly trained personnel, but I certainly cannot see this as being the primary go-to tool for rescue operations, much less for day-to-day use! Three models - 36", 48" and 60", with each costing over $200!! Here's the youtube video, followed by a link to the jack models on Amazon. Enjoy....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nakSPmLpWsI

https://www.amazon.com/Hi-Lift-FR-605-Responder-Extrication-Rescue/dp/B006BQL4CK
 
It's like anything else. Safety begins with the operator, in the wrong hands they can be very dangerous. With all the safety devices they put on everything today people are getting really stupid when it comes to safety.
 
that Luminous tape must make it expensive they are still around $60.00 at the farm and home stores.
 
A neighbor calls them a widow maker. I've had one for close to 50 years. Some close calls,but no broken bones.
 

Any type of jack can be dangerous, including the Hi-Lift. If those things scare you, maybe you should leave that job for someone else.
 
Has anyone every had the pins fail so jack falls down.
I use two of the Hi lifts and as long as I keep the pins lubed and clean they
work to their rated capacity real good.
 
I have used them over the years but would never own one, most of the time they are dangerous. Leave them outside and let them get a little dirt in the pins and they don't work unless you soak them in penetrating oil. Years ago a good friend almost killed himself trying to change a tire on his pickup out in the hills with no one around. Somehow the pins didn't catch properly while he was leaning over the handle. They slipped out and the handle came up and hit him in the left side of the face, knocked him out and threw him about twenty feet away. He was a big guy too, probably around two hundred and fifty pounds. He said he was out for about twenty minutes. He stopped by about three days after it happened and the left side of his face was about three times normal size.
 
I have one I use and its no more a hazard than any other tool,it has to be kept lubed and have to operate it like it should be operated.They're great for changing flats on the front of a tractor.
 
(quoted from post at 06:13:10 05/27/17) Has anyone every had the pins fail so jack falls down.
I use two of the Hi lifts and as long as I keep the pins lubed and clean they
work to their rated capacity real good.

I own 2 of them. Both are kept inside now, but in the past there was always a handyman jack riding in the bed of the pickup. Every time I need to use one, the mechanism gets lubed, either from a spray can, or sometimes I just opened a 1 quart bottle of oil and dumped some on. Keeping those jacks oiled up is the key to being happy with it.
 


One of the most dangerous jacks to use. I have two of them in the scrap pile. EXTREMELY unstable vrs just about any other jack I have. Even an old time bumper jack has a bigger base plate. Should NEVER be used for a tractor or on soft ground, and dont even mention any mild slope.

Definitely the worst jack on the farm... right there with hollow bricks. A mild wind will blow a vehicle off a farm jack, a mild push, or bump. Argue all you want, but do your family a favor and get rid of them.
 
I never saw, nor knew what one was, at home, or at my job, until I went to work on another farm. This guy used it for everything. Some time later I was asking him how the strange looking crease got in the front of his pickup truck hood. You know the little part at the top of the jack you can bolt on perpendicular and then use the jack as a puller? That tooth pattern matched the crease in the hood! How could you miss that while jacking up the pickup from the bumper?
 
I used to live in Bloomfield, Indiana home of the famous Jack Factory where they made handy man or hi lift or whatever called, we called them Bloomfield Jacks. On the farm and in the pickup both with others in the barn and shop etc etc I wouldn't be without them HOWEVER they are NOT the safest tool in the box so use with caution. I found it best if they were kept well cleaned and light lubed so the pin would go all the way in and out.....

USE WITH CAUTION

John T
 

You can either like them, or you can hate them, but if used properly, and with common sense, they are one of the handiest tools you can have on the farm or shop. Many uses besides just lifting. Pulling fence posts is one use. Stretching barbed wire is another use.
 
That's funny Bob. I have a matching spot on the side of my tractor hood. Like you said - how could you miss that. In my case I thought I had locked both brakes, but was in a hurry and I hadn't locked the left one and the tricycle front spun to the right. Sickening when it happens.
 
Well, at least that's an excuse. The machine moved into the jack. But my guy was right there operating the jack when the damage occurred! Raised the truck right up into that little piece. I keep mine bolted on vertically, and only move it when desired.
 
They just lift too far to be that stable. If someone is going to work under something raised with any jack they should put something else more solid underneath. It's what jackstands were made for.
 

For all you safe to use guys.. I cant control where the tractor or equipment breaks down.. I cant control the slope, ground or about anything else most of the time.

Why in blue blazes would anyone argue for a jack that is only safe on level concrete and dangerous in about all other situations..

If I am going to carry a jack or use a jack (and I do have one on the all trucks) It will be a jack and cribbing that will safely work everywhere, even with my family members having to use it.

I will still argue.. its the most dangerous jack I have ever used. I have had a wind storm blow it over, have had a worker lean on a tractor and push it over, had them sink and fall over, compared to every other jack I have used. Even a blasted scissor jack is more stable in two dimensions than the blasted farm jack. And you cant use it on a car except for the bumper, so thats out, and some new pickups are out, so again, the most useless and dangerous jack on the place.. and rightfully relegated to the scrap pile. Again, I cant control where it needs to be used, therefore its not an option as opposed to jacks that work safely about everywhere, on everything. Its like you arguing to clean a loaded gun.. It makes NO sense. My 99 sense(cents) worth.
 
Have four of them including an old one with a wooden handle. Use them for everything. Keep them lubricated and be careful. Keep your face away from the handle. Kinda pricey for the new "first responder" jack.
 
(quoted from post at 06:21:29 05/27/17) I have used them over the years but would never own one, most of the time they are dangerous. Leave them outside and let them get a little dirt in the pins and they don't work unless you soak them in penetrating oil. Years ago a good friend almost killed himself trying to change a tire on his pickup out in the hills with no one around. Somehow the pins didn't catch properly while he was leaning over the handle. They slipped out and the handle came up and hit him in the left side of the face, knocked him out and threw him about twenty feet away. He was a big guy too, probably around two hundred and fifty pounds. He said he was out for about twenty minutes. He stopped by about three days after it happened and the left side of his face was about three times normal size.

This is exactly what happened to my neighbor a few days ago. He is ok, but one side of his face is discolored yet. He took a pretty good hit.
 
They work very well to move an auger sidewise when aligning to a bin, put it in middle of axle, jack up and roll to the side, bet that is not an approved method.
 
As long as the use doesn't include sticking your body under a heavy load, then I'd say it's probably an approved use. :lol:
 


As with every other tool I can think of, you have to be smarter than the jack to start with. All the safety engineering in the world will not defeat the casual efforts of your average idiot. Any failure I've experienced can be directly attributed to the guy running the jack!
 
After reading the posts, I wonder how many of us have read the operating instructions that come with the jacks. I own 3 of them and they are handier than a pocket on a shirt if used as intended. they are not intended for use if you are going to crawl under the equipment lifted without cribbing. They must be kept oiled to operate properly. But being a retired fireman, I sure can see where these jacks in the rescue movie would be so much quicker for light extrications than unloading the compressor and getting the Jaws of Life out and dragging the hoses down over a hill to get to the victim when 1 person could just carry the jack. Just my thoughts, Keith
 
As you said "Common Sense" is the key.Just like a nail gun use common sense and they're great for nailing boards don't use common sense and put the nail thru ones foot or hand.
 


Would you let your wife, daughter or son use one unsupervised ?

Common sense would tell you NO, when there are many many many other jacks out there that will do the job and not kill or injure someone. Some people juggle knives, but common sense tells most people its not a wise thing to do. This jack has a long history of injuries, and mishaps, even on this forum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Hwm0ei1UM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDVau7w-WIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtGeBgTY7fk

This guy adds an attachment to make the jack safer...only problem,,you cant get the tire off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHvGspsZD6A
A whole forum dedicated to the hi lift safety or lack there of.
http://forum.expeditionportal.com/archive/index.php/t-113963.html

Death...
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2015/06
Another forum... suppose to be for them...
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-28025.html/19/man-injured-hay-baler/29005005/

"Wow, I didn't know that Dr. Kevorkian had started building suicide machines out of Hi-Lift jacks and Toyota trucks."

Gosh, guys,, I would only use as a very last resort.. Believe me, they will get you. There are too many better ways out there.
 
If my highlift jack ever breaks or gets lost or stolen I'll go buy another right away. I don't use it
for lifting as much as for moving things and putting pressure where needed. Just a week ago I used it by
setting it on the disc gang and running a chain under the gang shaft to lift the gang up to attatch it
to the disc frame. There is just nothing as useful as a handy man jack.
 
Please explain to all of us dumbies what you use, and how you use it to lets say jack the front of your tractor up in the back forty to change out a flat tire.
Inquiring minds want to know.
Loren
 
As I said, as long as you don't get your body underneath it, then it's likely an approved method of use. I had one of these many years ago as well, only I called it a toothpick jack. That's because when jacking something up, it was like trying to keep that load raised with a strong toothpick - it often wanted to fall over, often at the most inopportune time!

I'm with Keith here - I see definite prospect in the emergency field due to readiness, ease of use and portability. But this in no way would become my "go-to" tool, simply because when used as a jack to lift things, the ground is usually soft or not level. You're not likely to find many perfect conditions at an emergency scene. I know I rarely did.
 
send them to me Live close to factory where rebuild kits are almost free. Have one in each pickup. Very useful but just like a shotgun must know how to use.
 
In my truck, I keep a 4-ton and 6-ton hydraulic bottle jacks, as well as an assortment of wood blocking up to 6x6. For my thinner pieces I use plywood, as the multiple plies are much stronger than thin wood. Bottle jacks lift a load a short way, then force you to build up your blocking before lifting more. This, in my opinion, should be the norm of things. If jacking a tractor in the field, you'd have little luck with one of those hi-lift jacks up here - too much of a wetlands area. And while I "could" go with long ram hydraulic jacks, I think that would only provide a means of getting sloppy and would allow for too much hurry and too many potential mistakes.

The tractor I'm building this year will have a cylinder in each corner (or thereabouts) specifically for that purpose. They'll be attached to the tractor on the top end and can be used to raise the machine on any corner or completely off the ground. If I ever get bogged down in mud, I will have more options on how to get the tractor pulled out of the muck. I have also pondered the idea of making it so the cylinders work in pairs rather than individually, lifting one side or the other, though that would mean running a beam between the two sets of lifts. ...Still a little torn on which way to go, as it might be beneficial at times to lift one corner and not the other.

Oh....why am I adding this expense to a homebuilt? Because I plan on it working a lot in marshy, mucky areas. Definitely areas I wouldn't ever dream of using a toothpick jack.
 
Pic of High Lift jacks since 1905.
a161180.jpg
 



20 ton bottle jacks with 8x8/12 cribbing. It works well on the little fellers and the 15,000 lb fellers. Has air and manual operation. All the trucks carry a 10 ton with enough cribbing to replace several wheels at the same time. Fully loaded goosenecks at 27,000 lbs need something more than a playtoy.

At the shop, use 3ton floor jacks with 6x6x12 cribbing. Keep a pile of the blocks of assorted sizes below the fuel tanks and it gets used daily. 8 hd jack stands are used when ever Someone is under equipment as a backup to the jacks, cribbing, and even the spare tires if applicable.


Farm Jacks are actually mentioned in some of the farm accident safety bulletins by name as the direct cause of the accidents. Guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one. You cannot use them safely on soft soil, any kind of slope or for a heavy load. Worthless for anykind of modern car, and most pickups, and have a proven record of injuries and failure. They can NOT get under an axle on heavily loaded vehicles, with the exceptions being equipment. And in tractor use, they are used high up, extended and not able to get under the block, trans, rearend, keeping the center of gravity higher, further aggravating the situation. No repair shop allows their use on site.
 
(quoted from post at 09:25:16 05/28/17) Please explain to all of us dumbies what you use, and how you use it to lets say jack the front of your tractor up in the back forty to change out a flat tire.
Inquiring minds want to know.
Loren

Exactly!! When I'm in the shop with a concrete floor, I use my Blackhawk floor jack. That floor jack works quite well on solid concrete. Ain't worth a hoot on dirt. That's where the Handyman gets used.
 
(quoted from post at 14:48:11 05/28/17)


20 ton bottle jacks with 8x8/12 cribbing. It works well on the little fellers and the 15,000 lb fellers. Has air and manual operation. All the trucks carry a 10 ton with enough cribbing to replace several wheels at the same time. Fully loaded goosenecks at 27,000 lbs need something more than a playtoy.

At the shop, use 3ton floor jacks with 6x6x12 cribbing. Keep a pile of the blocks of assorted sizes below the fuel tanks and it gets used daily. 8 hd jack stands are used when ever Someone is under equipment as a backup to the jacks, cribbing, and even the spare tires if applicable.


Farm Jacks are actually mentioned in some of the farm accident safety bulletins by name as the direct cause of the accidents. Guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one. You cannot use them safely on soft soil, any kind of slope or for a heavy load. Worthless for anykind of modern car, and most pickups, and have a proven record of injuries and failure. They can NOT get under an axle on heavily loaded vehicles, with the exceptions being equipment. And in tractor use, they are used high up, extended and not able to get under the block, trans, rearend, keeping the center of gravity higher, further aggravating the situation. No repair shop allows their use on site.

Look guy, you don't like that jacks, fine. But coming up with ridiculous examples of places they'd not be a good choice (27,000 lbs gooseneck for a 3 ton jack?) just makes you look desperate to prove your point. They work and are safe if you use some common sense. Yeah, jack stands and cribbing are used with ANY type of jack. Enough already!
 
With all due respect, I don't see where he was mentioning using a 3-ton jack on a 27,000 lb. trailer. Besides, when would anyone need to jack up the entire 27,000 lb. trailer, including the tongue?
 
(quoted from post at 10:29:10 05/29/17) With all due respect, I don't see where he was mentioning using a 3-ton jack on a 27,000 lb. trailer. Besides, when would anyone need to jack up the entire 27,000 lb. trailer, including the tongue?

Look at the post above and in the quote you will see the 27K gooseneck mentioned in the last sentence of his first paragraph. and you're right, I don't know why anyone would try to use a 3 ton jack on a 13.5 ton trailer. That's my point!!!!
 
Sorry Bret, guess I'm reading his meaning differently. I see him mentioning several different things within that small paragraph, but to me he doesn't specifically state that he uses 3-ton jacks on a 27,000 lb. trailer. Besides, as I mentioned, the only way you could need enough to lift ALL 27,000 lbs. is if you disconnect the trailer from truck, then jack the entire loaded trailer off the ground with all wheels in the air. Otherwise, you only have need to lift a portion of that full-load amount.
 
https://ck5.com/forums/threads/dangers-of-the-high-lift-jack.16347/ (100s of deaths and injuries on a doucumentary)


http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/hi-lift-jack-injuries-1017952/index2.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Hwm0ei1UM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDVau7w-WIk
http://www.wranglerforum.com/f19/hi-lift-accident-learn-from-me-210288.html
http://forum.expeditionportal.com/archive/index.php/t-113963.html
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/general-4x4-discussion/447426-need-your-recovery-gone-wrong-stories-pics.html
http://www.wittenburg.co.uk/offroading/Recovery/Hilift.html
http://4x4earth.com/forum/index.php?threads/high-lift-jack-failure-warning-graphic-pictures.41173/
http://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/topic/51783-close-call-with-a-hi-lift-jack/
https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1799593/in-re-bloomfield-mfg-co/

pages and pages and pages of injuries... yeah.. your probably right...
 
(quoted from post at 12:09:34 05/30/17) https://ck5.com/forums/threads/dangers-of-the-high-lift-jack.16347/ (100s of deaths and injuries on a doucumentary)


http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/hi-lift-jack-injuries-1017952/index2.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Hwm0ei1UM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDVau7w-WIk
http://www.wranglerforum.com/f19/hi-lift-accident-learn-from-me-210288.html
http://forum.expeditionportal.com/archive/index.php/t-113963.html
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/general-4x4-discussion/447426-need-your-recovery-gone-wrong-stories-pics.html
http://www.wittenburg.co.uk/offroading/Recovery/Hilift.html
http://4x4earth.com/forum/index.php?threads/high-lift-jack-failure-warning-graphic-pictures.41173/
http://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/topic/51783-close-call-with-a-hi-lift-jack/
https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1799593/in-re-bloomfield-mfg-co/

pages and pages and pages of injuries... yeah.. your probably right...


Yup, give an idiot a hammer and chances are he'll eventually smack himself in the head with it. Really, I've been using these things for decades now and I'm not dead- ask my wife if you don't believe me. Anyone can misuse a tool. That's why we have to have safety warnings on saws that tell you not to cut off your fingers with it. But simply saying that a tool is patently unsafe under all conditions and circumstances, when untold hundreds of thousands of people have used them without incident is bordering on paranoia IMO.
 
(quoted from post at 10:08:11 05/30/17) Sorry Bret, guess I'm reading his meaning differently. I see him mentioning several different things within that small paragraph, but to me he doesn't specifically state that he uses 3-ton jacks on a 27,000 lb. trailer. Besides, as I mentioned, the only way you could need enough to lift ALL 27,000 lbs. is if you disconnect the trailer from truck, then jack the entire loaded trailer off the ground with all wheels in the air. Otherwise, you only have need to lift a portion of that full-load amount.

Okay, so he only meant lifting one side of the trailer if you want to call it that. That's still half the weight, which is still more than twice what the jack is rated for. Why would someone use this type of jack for that? It's cherry picking the wrong jack to use for something like this.

You know, this is just getting ridiculous. People using common sense make good use of these jacks everyday w/o incident. They are a good tool for certain applications and the wrong tool entirely for others. Why can't people grasp that?
 
Well, some folks get hurt soon after using a tool and then gain a permanent fear of it. I had one of these type jacks and, for a while, used it quit much with no problems. Then one time I was in a hurry (...you know where this is headin'! *lol*) and grabbed the hi-lift jack and, even being careful, almost had my load fall on me. Once I had finished that work, had no need for the jack for many years, so just set it aside in an outbuilding. Good roof,good walls, yet parts on the jack rusted badly - as does everything else that stays inside that building!

Hi-lift jacks serve a purpose, and serve it well. However, they are not the most secure form of jack and should ALWAYS be used with great respect and intensive attention to what's happening, as well as looking into the immediate future to see potential problems. I call it a toothpick jack as so many times, there is no real "grab" either on the base end into the surface, or the lift finger. Both are steel and can slide easily. ...So what often happens to a toothpick on end when one end starts sliding? 'Nuff said. :wink:
 

well, I've wanted one forever but would never justify the cost for the few times I'd use it...

one of you guys that hates theirs... ship it to me for my birthday..

john
 
All bumper jacks ceased production by car manufacturers in the 80s due to safety concerns. Trucks were never ship with them.
a161587.jpg

a161587.jpg
 


We weren't discussing bumper jacks. We were discussing Hi Lift jacks. But keep bringing things into the discussion that have nothing to do with the subject at hand. They stopped making lawn darts too. I'm sure that has something to do with Hi Lift jacks also.......
 

Bumper jacks became obsolete when airbags arrived on the scene, and before that, because most cars do not even have bumpers anymore. No place to put the jack.

Also, Hi-Lift jacks and bumper jacks do sort of fit into the same category. Lots of old bumper jacks were adapted for use on the farm.
 
Bet when you started this thread, you weren't expecting this kind of discussion.

Of course those that seem to think the only thing a jack should do is "jack things up" and only at the upper limits of its travel so it's as unstable as possible, lack imagination.

A hi-lift jack is as versatile as a porta-power, and has dozens of uses aside from jacking things at 48" off the ground. If they were so unsafe you couldn't buy one. The liability would have forced the jacks off the market.

They can remove snap-on duals, break tractor tire beads, lift a heavy implement tongue a few inches so you can hitch up, pull posts... All of this with the head at the bottom of its travel range, very stable, with maximum leverage for maximum control.

I mean yeah, if you ratchet one 42" in the air under a wagon box and run it up to change a tire, you're not too smart. That's not what they were meant for. Anyone with half a lick of sense would realize that a bottle jack under the wagon frame would be more efficient and stable.
 

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