High/Low Jack

miangus

Well-known Member
My sons showed up yesterday and we kind of celebrated mother's day without her, first one. One had a black eye and stiches above it he had lost a battle with a High/Low jack handle. At the silo company we called them widow makers.
 
You can always tell a victim of a Hi-low Jack accident- theyve learned the hard way that you NEVER LET GO of the handle while using it! I once read a review of them that said ''Beware of handle, or eat teeth!'' I have 3 that I use at least a few times a week around here.

So far (50+ years) accident free...
cvphoto125349.jpg
 
I've used Hi-Lo jacks since the 1960s; I have seven or eight of them and keep one for easy access in most of my garages and machine sheds. They are extremely useful for certain tasks ... and they are extremely dangerous if you let the handle get away from you when lowering or if you lift things too high to the point of getting tipsy. As with many tools, user caution is advised.
 
Also, never put your hand on the top of the jack post. If things go wrong, it can trap your hand between the jack and the object that you're lifting. I saw that happen once, and it wasn't easy to get the guy loose.
 
They're not for amateurs', that's for sure! I've never heard them called a High/Low before, must be a local dialect? I have 2 of them and love them! Mine are Hi-lift brand, my dad called them a Handyman. They're like a come-a-long, they need to maintained and understood.
 
I think High-Lift is probably the correct name, my dad always called them Sheep Herder Jacks, I have no idea why. I have loaded a 5,000 pound silo unloader into the back of a 1 ton service truck with nothing put two Handyman jacks and a Pull-More come-Along.
 
My first exposure to them was when I lived in UT and CO. There they called them a Handyman. Here it is highlift.
I used mine yesterday.
Putting the front bolster on a tractor and needed to budge it upwards a hair to get the bolts started.
 
(quoted from post at 05:44:49 05/10/22) My first exposure to them was when I lived in UT and CO. There they called them a Handyman. Here it is highlift.
I used mine yesterday.
Putting the front bolster on a tractor and needed to budge it upwards a hair to get the bolts started.

From their website:
The original jack was commonly known as the Handyman or Sheepherder's Jack, and years later it was renamed the Hi-Lift Jack.
 
Interesting.
The first one I ever saw came on a 1947 3/4
ton GMC that I bought from an 86 year old
sheep rancher in Maybell, Colorado.
Truck had a nice aftermarket stake bed on
it with original wooden racks. The
'handyman' jack stood on the running board
and had a bolt to hold it onto the stake
bed.
The old man called them sheep racks. Who
woulda thought...
Photo is one I grabbed off the net.
Was still the prewar body style. They came
out with the new style mid year so there
were two 47s.
Chevys had the same body style but vertical
grill bars.

cvphoto125501.jpg
 
In western Canada, Jack-All is a common brand, also known as a Farmer-Killer jack. Neighbour lost a finger to one. Very useful tool, but easy to get into trouble. unc
 
(quoted from post at 02:39:04 05/22/22) In western Canada, Jack-All is a common brand, also known as a Farmer-Killer jack. Neighbour lost a finger to one. Very useful tool, but easy to get into trouble. unc

Yes, Jack-All is what they are usually called here in Atlantic Canada.

They can be a very dangerous tool if one is not careful. I learned about 50 years ago as a teenager to treat them with great respect after getting clipped under the jaw with the handle of one while pulling parts in a junkyard.

I own two and have never been bit by one since.



This post was edited by Carlmac 369 on 05/22/2022 at 06:04 am.
 

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