Antique Jack

eugene13

eugene13

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My son and I were on a mission to buy some engine parts from a friend of his who is a member of the Northers Cheyanne Tribe. After we had paid up and loaded up his friend saw me looking at this antique mechanical service jack, he asked me if I liked it, I answered yes and he offered to give it to me. The thing about Native Americans is that if you like something they own, they want to give it to you, and if you don't take it, they feel insulted. OK, when in Rome, do as the Romans, I thanked him for his gift, I don't know what I'll do with it, perhaps a lawn ornament or maybe I'll donate it to a museum. Next time I visit our friend I think I'll take him a ham,
 

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A big chunk of buffalo would be better but they're :) getting hard to find.
 
That looks like a pallet jack.
I used one like that at Gogan machine in the late 70's.
The pallets had two wheels at one end and to trailer legs at the other end.
You would roll your new toy up to the end engage the pin and rock the pallet off the trailer legs and onto the wheels of the handle.
Only problem was you could not leave the handle under load and walk away.
The weight forced the handle up and would hit who ever was at the pallet.
 
This one has a pedal on the right side to bring the jack up to whatever you're jacking, and a ratchet on the bottom of the handle to hold it in place once you've made your lift. To let it down it has a button on the handle to release the pawl. One had to be really careful when using this. it looks almost as dangerous as a Handyman.
 
Is there any numbers or branding on the jack?

Way back when I first started working in the late 70's I worked part time for a guy who had been fixing cars in his backyard garage for 50 years, he had an old Weaver mechanical jack called a Lo-Way. It had steerable front wheels which steered by turning the handle, and a ratchet lock mechanism that locked under the lift end of the jack that set the starting point of the lift. You would step on a pedal on the right to lift the jack up to the lift point, that locked the front ratchet and set the starting height. You then simply pumped the jack up, and it held via a ratchet mechanism at the rear.. You released the ratchet via a pedal on top just ahead of the handle while pulling back on the handle. It was sort of like a jackstand with leverage.
Keep in mind those type of jacks were made when cars were a lot lighter and most used solid monobeam front axles.
 
vintageiron said:
Is there any numbers or branding on the jack?

Way back when I first started working in the late 70's I worked part time for a guy who had been fixing cars in his backyard garage for 50 years, he had an old Weaver mechanical jack called a Lo-Way. It had steerable front wheels which steered by turning the handle, and a ratchet lock mechanism that locked under the lift end of the jack that set the starting point of the lift. You would step on a pedal on the right to lift the jack up to the lift point, that locked the front ratchet and set the starting height. You then simply pumped the jack up, and it held via a ratchet mechanism at the rear.. You released the ratchet via a pedal on top just ahead of the handle while pulling back on the handle. It was sort of like a jackstand with leverage.
Keep in mind those type of jacks were made when cars were a lot lighter and most used solid monobeam front axles.
Click to expand...
lighter?? what are you talking about, our old vehicles for the most part were much heavier. They were tanks.. The only thing they were missing was the cannon. and 60s and 70s most had independent front ends, except for trucks, but 2wd pickups had independent.
 
A 1922 Model T pickup weighs in at 1,440 lbs, my 2003 Grand Marquis weighs 4,410 lbs on the scale. My 2003 F250 was 6377 lbs on the scale about a month ago. A basic model T car was only around 1,200lbs.
I had a 1922 Buick touring car that weighed in at 2800 lbs, my 1977 Lincoln Continental weighed 4950lbs when weighed on a CAT scale with a half tank of gas.
Our family car when I was growing up was a '56 Ford Fairlane, that car weighed just over 3100 lbs. with I remember having it weighed after taking a load of tin cans to the junkyard back in the day.

Cars in the 1920's were simple and quite primitive, they didn't have all the fancy leather and miles of sheet metal that make up modern cars. They didn't have all the miles of wiring and fancy electronics either. Add in a big V8 engine vs a small tractor like inline 4.
There were no air compressors, no ac, no power steering, no power brakes, many didn't even have brakes on both axles.
You had a simple frame, wood floor, often a partially wooden body, a canvas top, and only basic seats. Your options were limited to double tail lamps, a heater, and maybe a radio and sometimes even an electric starter
It wasn't really until after WWII that cars began to really gain weight, and then it was more limited to the larger more luxury type cars and trucks.

The old Weaver Lo-Way jack that we all used at my first job finally got ruined after some kid they hired tried to lift the front end of his '70 something El Camino with it, when he couldn't muster the strength to pull the handle down, he climbed up on the bumper and put both feet on the handle and proceeded to bend the back of the jack frame. It never worked right again. I think the jack was good to about 1 1/2 ton or so, any more than that you were pushing your luck.
 
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