Engine Crane
Turbo Mini Forums

Hello all,

Bought a Clarke engine crane today, but it has only come with one chain and hook. Has anyone else experienced this problem??? Can anyone advise how they winch the engine out and what adaptions they make if any? Also what points do you use to winch from??

Machine mart sell seperate chains for 117 squids. Not prepared to spend that amount of dosh tbh.

Cheers,

i made a bracket from a flat bit of sheet metal about 2mm thick and an inch wide.

i measured the distance between the outer 2 head studs added an inch or so and drilled 2 holes big enogh to attache to the head studs, (you will probably need to remove the head nuts from these 2 studs to fit the strip)

bend the strip a bit in the middle sticks up and generaly knock it about till it bolts on. you ma bed to bash the middle bit where sticks up so it will fit into the hook on the engine crane.

i have a friend who always pulls his engine out by the rocker shaft! not something i would recomend!

personally i tie a rope around the engine, tie a chain hoist to a roof joist in the garage and do it that way. really not sure how safe the roof joist is though.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Awesome thanks Rods exactly what I need. Will use rope tommorrow, but will consider metal rod at a later date.

What knot do you use? And is that 2 bits of rope or 1 im looking at in the bottom piccy???

You dont happen to have a pic of the front of the engine for the first pic do you??

Does no one still have any of the lifting eyes that used to come as standard with the old A series (the ones that are attached to the same studs as the rocker cover bolts)They are just a bit if strip bent and drilled,almost exactly like Rod has shown above.I use these and a thick rod (same as Rod !!) and two Mole grips to secure the rod between the eyes.

I just use a single piece of angle bolted to the centre front head stud and it seems to balance perfectly

Yes, mine were actually the old lifting eyes in the photo, but I was just using them to get the offset measurement so I can make up a suitable piece of angle iron to use in the future.

It's a single bit of rope in the bottom photo because that allows you to slip it around the engine and hook (when partially lifted) to get the balance right. If you used two seperate bits you would need to know the exact lengths in advance. Using a single bit in a figure of eight allows adjustment by sliding the two bits of the eight around the engine and as soon as you lift the crossover point will bite and grip on the hook.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

What about the type of knot. Im not too hot on knots but the knot needs to tighten as weight is applied? Have you got a name for the knot - can do a google search on how its actually done!!

Right, I should also say, in the photo, I use 10mm nylon rope, not 6mm and not washing line !!!

I just use a reef knot, a real PITA to undo afterwards because it self tightens in a way that makes it very hard to undo.

One of my mates took the p*** out of me bigtime when he saw me using it as there is a much better way of doing it, but I never was a Boy Scout.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Haha! Good stuff. Shall get some of this nylon rope. Thanks for your help!

OK,

Serious points - if you're doing this for the first time, go slow, do not rush things.

The hydraulics on the most basic engine cranes can produce very high forces, quite a bit above the rating marked on the crane.

If the "rope" you're using isn't up to it and the engine snags on something, the rope will break and the engine will drop.

NEVER have your hands, arms or any part of you under it when lifting.

If it's your first time, you will most likely encounter problems with either disengaging the pot joints, or with the diff casing catching on the back of the subframe, either of which will require you to "manipulate" the engine side to side or tilt it front to back, whilst suspended on the crane and ropes.

ALWAYS do this from above, NEVER from underneath.

Remember, fingers, hands, arms, or other human body parts are NOT available from MiniSpares.....

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

i use old seatbelt - very very strong stuff and relatively easy to wrap round the engine. i go arond and cross diagonally in the middle. i also tie it with a reef knot, easy enough to undo if a little fiddly

What about tow rope??? Like this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...396fc86fff10a5c

Or this

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/...tegoryId_165551

I uses some random chains I brought from B&Q years ago must have used them for 50+ engine lifts by now.

Tow rope would be good (providing it's long enough, which it should be, but check it first).

Anything really that has a higher breaking strain than the weight of the engine plus a GOOD margin for safety.

Just don't take risks with something too small.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???