Hydraulic press question...

[JMortensen]

I am looking at these Harbor Freight 12 ton presses. I've got a number of bearings that I need to change, stub axles, then I'm going to eventually get into my transmission.

 

Would one of those 12 ton jobbies do it? I know that the giant 30 ton would be better, but I have limited space. Basically I'm thinking I'll probably spend 100 bucks paying shops to press crap off for me or I could just buy my own. Plus it might be handy to have for modifying shifters and that kind of stuff too.

 

Well, what do you all think? Buy the 12 ton or pay a shop?

[blueovalz]

My 12 ton was marginal, but did the job. I used it for piston pins, bearings, etc. When I finally replaced it with one of their 20 ton units, I was much happier, and it fit within my narrow confines.

[Guest bluex_v1]

The 12 ton is plenty adequate to get the job done, but every time I used it I feared something would fail and maim me. There are no trusses in the frame and it flexes back and forth a lot, which can be dangerous when you are expecting and have set up for only vertical movement. It did manage to press out my god forsaken spindle pins, but compressed the threaded end so that the threads were no longer the correct pitch down about 1/4 inch of it...just to give you an idea of what it can handle. If the 20 ton unit has a much more rigid frame and less play in the moving parts, its probably worth the extra cash. However, if you have some bar stock sitting around rusting though, you can certainly make the 12 ton one meet your likely needs.

[JMortensen]

Hmm... They do have a new A frame design which is cheaper and supposedly stronger.

 

Think I'll give it a shot.

 

Thanks guys.