Handyman Jack Warning

bullskin

bullskin

Very Active Member
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In responding to another thread I realized that I should post a warning about handyman jacks. Perhaps this is common knowledge, but I had never heard of it until it happened to me. I had a jack with a weak spring which failed to engage properly on the upstroke. As a result, the handle would occasionally be launched violently upward on the upstroke--and I mean hard. Luckily, it missed my head, and after that I learned to keep my head away from and below the jack handle--and that was a good thing because it happened more than once. I finally threw it away (sort of...another story).

If you own a handyman, then my advice is to get rid of it. If that is not practical, then NEVER push down on the handle with your body above it. Always pull from below.

-Dad

Has anyone else ever had this happen to them?
 
>In responding to another thread I
>realized that I should post
>a warning about handyman jacks.
> Perhaps this is common
>knowledge, but I had never
>heard of it until it
>happened to me. I
>had a jack with a
>weak spring which failed to
>engage properly on the upstroke.
> As a result, the
>handle would occasionally be launched
>violently upward on the upstroke--and
>I mean hard. Luckily,
>it missed my head, and
>after that I learned to
>keep my head away from
>and below the jack handle--and
>that was a good thing
>because it happened more than
>once. I finally threw
>it away (sort of...another story).
>
>
>If you own a handyman, then
>my advice is to get
>rid of it. If
>that is not practical, then
>NEVER push down on the
>handle with your body above
>it. Always pull from
>below.
>
>-Dad
>
>Has anyone else ever had this
>happen to them?

Woulda Been a Nice Warning for me about 35 Years ago!









My Signature is a Short Clip of NVB & His Coal Roller!
"We Better Get out of the F'N Way cuzz Ole NVB is Coming to MF'N Town"!
 
Now I know what to buy Homer for Christmas.
4abc76ff29b26fc1.jpg
 
More properly worded, "who hasn't had this happen". The darn things are useful but quite dangerous.
 
I learned about them working on a farm when I was 11.

I also learned how to flip the handle just right so it would barber pole and showed my kid how to be careful.
 
I've had them jump, slip, collapse, kick, and sink, but I've yet to have one cut my hair. Nor can I find a YouTube of one doing a barber pole. I'm feeling venerable, Would you mind sharing that lesson outside the family?

DC
 
Those things are deadly but they sure are nice when you need one. To bad all the new trucks have plastic bumpers so the handyman is pretty much useless. Another handy but dangerous tool is the chain binder. Had one closed 3/4 one time, wet glove slipped off the handle and I took the handle square in the chops. I don't remember any of it but was told my feet were 3' off the ground and I lit face down 15' away. No wonder I'm goofy now.
 
>I've had them jump, slip, collapse,
>kick, and sink, but I've
>yet to have one cut
>my hair. Nor can
>I find a YouTube of
>one doing a barber pole.
> I'm feeling venerable,
>Would you mind sharing that
>lesson outside the family?
>
>DC


Homer gave an example. I have tricked mine into shaving my goatee.
 
There was a kid at my High School who was a state champion wrestler. He got hit in the face by one of those jacks and the doctor wouldn't let him wrestle without something to protect the stitches. He used a borrowed hockey goalie mask to wrestle for a couple of weeks, it scared the crap out of his opponents.
 
Used to Use them all the Time to Get out of Stuck Holes Using them Vertical & Horizontal!

Got A Chipped Tooth Still Today as Evidence!

The PANZY Ass Trucks of Today Can't Be Used with a HANDY-MAN Jack without doing Mega Damage!








My Signature is a Short Clip of NVB & His Coal Roller!
"We Better Get out of the F'N Way cuzz Ole NVB is Coming to MF'N Town"!
 
Shoot Jager, with a HiLift Jack, I've jerked posts out in half the time, :) with out the help of a pickup truck and a driver.

Wrap the chain around the base of the post, put the jack up next to the post and make a couple of half hitches with the chain around the lift on the jack and go to lifting, the jack lifts the post out and beings to push the post away, as it comes out of the ground, just keep pressure on the jack and keep working the handle, in 30 seconds, go to the next post.

A chain saw can cut your leg clean off, don't do stupid.... with big boy toys.

DC
 
How else would I maneuver 3000 pound totes of beans around? I suppose it is theoretically possible with a handyman but not so practical.
 
Guy's, The gravitational force, F, between two particles equals a universal constant, G, times the product of the mass of the particles, m1 and m2, divided by the square of the distance, d, between the particles.

F = G * m1 * m2 / d^2

If you have a lot of particles acting on a single particle, you have to add up the contribution of all the individual particles. For objects near the earth, the sum of the mass of all the particles is simply the mass of the earth and the distance is then measured from the center of the earth. On the surface of the earth the distance is about 4000 miles. Scientists have combined the universal gravitational constant, the mass of the earth, and the square of the radius of the earth to form the gravitational acceleration, g . On the surface of the earth, its value is 9.8 meters per square second or 32.2 feet per square second.

g = G * m earth / (d earth)^2

The weight W, or gravitational force, is then just the mass of an object times the gravitational acceleration.

W = m * g

Since the gravitational constant (g) depends on the square of the distance from the center of the earth, the weight of an object decreases with altitude. So 2lumpy, at YOUR altitude...is your Cement Posts lighter than mine at Sea Level...?

However, rigging rules are another rule. Here's a safe link: http://www.fdlake.com/rig-slng.html

The Formula I have been using lately is to use a Fathers Sonic gift. This to holler to the Wife and Girls.... "Go Fix Dah Fence".
 
At a 50-50 chance of being wrong, I'll pass on that one. I think it depends entirely on who's lifting them. :)

DC
 
They saved me from a lot of BAD stucks many times over the years; for that I'm grateful. I did manage to get smacked by that hickory handle a few times and some near misses on what might have been ugly injuries and pain, so I was fortunate for that. One time I even was badly stuck in mud and I tried driving off the jack...it bent like a sapling and flew through the air about 50 feet, luckily not hitting anything! :)
 
Not called widow makers for naught. They are one of the few tools still widely available that contribute to natural selection at work. A great tool... to be used with sense and care.
 
>Not called widow makers for naught.
>They are one of the
>few tools still widely available
>that contribute to natural selection
>at work. A
>great tool... to be used
>with sense and care.


+1
 
Been there had that happen many times over the years ! Worst was jacking up an old hay rake with a bad wheel bearing , handle smacked my uncle right in the forehead. Ouch ! Be careful with them !
 
2 Lumpy...I have done this same way to replace my fence one summer about 20 years ago. Even showed me next door neighbor who was a Fireman how easy it was when he wanted to replace our common fence that were cemented in the ground. He did the whole fence line all 120' long by himself, wanted no help other than the use of my Jack.


Brian
http://i44.tinypic.com/es7x8z.jpg[/IMG]
 
I have 2 and both will leave me with at least a black thumbnail everytime I touch them....lol
The old hickory handle one has fence stretcher brackets that work as spreaders too.
Pulled hundreds of posts,trees,rocks & vehicles with them.Used them to remodel buildings too.
Beaned a noggin or two.
I did see a wheel sling that would work on my 2 trucks,as companies have left NO PLACE to use one on any vehicle any more!!
My old Toyota had welded Smittybuilt's & brackets that it worked on.
Have yet to find one place to use it for lifting on a 98'Tacoma or the 01' F-150 outside of the rear trailer hitch . Would not trust one the heavy step/rail on rocker panels/frame.
It can pull either sideways.
 
We ran across dumb and dumber in Wyoming once. They were stuck extremely badly in a borrowed truck. The truck tried to tip over sideways when we jacked on the lower back corner, so we jacked up the front and threw rocks, logs, etc in the deep rut. I know enough to stay in a place safe from the handle as we lowered the jack, but I didn't notice dumber had stuck his head between the jack and handle until the handle slipped out of my hand and bopped him up the side of his head. His eyes glazed over instantly and he hit the ground like a ton of bricks. I thought I had killed him, but he jumped right back up and said "I was only out for a second". He said he was afraid the jack was going to slip on the bumper and damage the grill on the borrowed truck. He sacrificed his head instead.

We finally got them out and on their way. We saw him twice more later in the day, and he was still breathing, so I guess I didn't kill him after all.
 

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