[Ragtop Man]

About 12 years ago, I bought a Horrible Fright basic stand to keep my YH block somewhat mobile.

Now that I have a complete engine (well, pretty much) I'm concerned the HF might not be up to the task, #1000 rating or no.

Would rather not burn the budget to ashes with a commercial product, is there a consumer grade stand that will cut the mustard? Thinking a good one might pop up on CL or FB Marketplace... or I'd pop for one and resell when the project is done.

Thanks in advance for the info and experience -

[F ROCK]

I wouldnt buy one that had three wheels. Those were common in the parts stores for a while and i've struggled to keep them from suddenly tipping.
The one I have now has 4 wheels, out on four corners.
Hope this helps

[will slow gto]

If you just need a stand to move your engine around and you don’t need to rotate it to access the bottom end, this one is fabricated by a member here, and it is top notch:
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=862232

[Dragncar]

I am in the process of making 4 engine stands right now. The one I am copying is a 3 wheeled one. It is one from the 70s out of a High School auto shop. Never had a issue with it trying to tip over.
Maybe it has a wider base than the cheap versions folks have had tipping problems with.
Could try making a couple with 4 wheels.
Anyone have some pics of 4 wheeled engine stands for ideas they could post up ?

[1965gp]

I really like the lower 4 wheel carts. Much safer. Reminds me I need to get another one to get a 350 off the stand

[ZeGermanHam]

The heavy duty Harbor Freight engine stand worked great for me. No complaints.

[Joe's Garage]

Two different styles.

[grivera]

I have two 1000 lb HF stands. One has had a full engine on it for years- no issues. The hardware should be changed though- that seems to be where they cheap out.

[gtospieg]

I'm not sure who makes the stand that I've had for years and years....
but I always put a support under the balancer if it's just sitting there with an engine on it for storage.

[carcrazy]

Had a 3 wheel tip over on me when I tried to move it......never again will I use of one those.

[Gach]

I would never use 3 wheel one.

[tooski]

In AZ I have the same HF stand as ZGH. Also no complaints. I like that I can take it apart for storage. At home I have two home made 4 wheeled ones. One with 2x4 tube, and one with 2x2 tube. A mistake I made was not angling up the head mount although I find its not much of a detriment.

[Sirrotica]

I had a 3 wheeled one that the vo tech welding shop made up, and it weighed a ton, but the bottom was much wider than the cheapy 3 wheeled ones parts stores used to sell.

It was wide enough that I doubt you could tip it over if you were trying to. It also wouldn't fit through a standard doorway without twisting it through. I've also almost tipped over the narrow parts store 3 wheeled ones with a SBC on it.

I have a 4 wheeled HF one with a 3.5 V6 hanging on it, I'm sure it would hold a almost 700# Pontiac Stratostreak though if I needed it to.

[mgarblik]

My students have to provide their own engine stands for their project engines. So they come in with all kinds of crazy garbage from Jegs, Summit, Harbor Freight, Northern Tool and such. General comments: #1 best upgrade for the Chinese junk is better wheels and castors. #2. Replace all the fasteners as mentioned. #3 for the cheap stands, buy a 4-wheel unit with wide spacing. We have had students dump engines on the floor from, 1. poor wheels and hardware snapping off on concrete floor expansion joints. 2. Engines breaking off the stand at the attaching arms from poor welds, broken grade zero hardware. 3. Bending of structural square tubes due to poor design, very thin tubing, slightly loose fasteners. Fortunately, no injuries. Be careful with the cheap stuff. The Harbor Freight 4-wheel stand becomes a decent stand for about $125.00 with the upgrades.

https://www.harborfreight.com/automo...ne-stands.html

[Joe's Garage]

Originally Posted by carcrazy

Had a 3 wheel tip over on me when I tried to move it......never again will I use of one those.

Me too!

A Cadillac 500 that tipped over just trying to turn the base 90* on smooth, flat concrete. Thankfully it only crushed the oil filter.

Maybe the 3-wheelers work with little engines, but not the big stuff.

[Dragncar]

The 3 wheeled one I patterned mine after is 42" wide. It has never, ever even came close to tipping over. And I have rolled that sucker all over the place with my 455(iron heads) and its really stable. I have 4 of the plates the arms attach to cut out. I was in the machine shop and I noticed a big sheet of 1/2: plate on the pattern cutter with some left over areas here and there. I have had a traced image of mine in my locker for a long time and the plasma cutter just so happened to in the machine. It traces black Sharpie on white butcher paper. Cuts out anything you want, poor mans CNC cutter, works great.
Have enough 2 1/2" x 1/4" steel tube scrap to make 2. nice ones. I can make the others out of old scrap 4" channel I have. Ugly but works fine.
Going to make a run in stand out of that stuff too.
I will put up some pics when I get around to it.
I could make 2 of them 4 wheeled easy enough. Nice ones might be gifts.
I have been saving the rear steel wheels from old 2 ton car jacks for this. I could make a solid steel wheel for the front on the 3 wheeled versions.

[burd]

I bought one off a Royal Club Member once, it was real nice.

[Tim Corcoran]

I have a Harbor Freight 4 wheel stand I bought over 30 years ago. I have had multiple Pontiac engines on it, rolled it over rough terrain and never changed the original bolts out. Still using it and never had any concerns of it failing.

[jhein]

I have one of these stands from Butler that's NIB. I thought I was gonna need two of these for a period of time but turned out I only needed one. I have my old motor sitting on the other one and it seems like a decent stand. I'd let someone have it for the cost of shipping.

https://butlerperformance.com/i-2445...tegory:1234878

[Schurkey]

I have multiple crappy engine stands.

1. The arms that attach to the engine have standoffs that are enormously too damn short. Nearly impossible to do flywheel work when there's so little clearance. I add spacers and longer bolts to secure the arms to the engine.

2. The plate the arms attach to on the stand is too small. You're at the absolute limit when attaching the arms to the lower bellhousing bolts of a GM engine. I've cut the slots longer on a couple of stands, but that's not enough...and there isn't enough metal to cut them as much wider as they need to be. Unless you have more room, the engine is top-heavy on the stand. Ideally, the stand's pivot point is about the same height as the camshaft. You can't do that when the arms won't go wide enough.

3. All the tubing is too damn thin and weak. Flexy.

4. Wheels should be double the diameter. Maybe triple. Larger wheels would roll-over rough concrete easier.

In short, the stands have NOT ENOUGH METAL. This makes them lighter, cheaper, easier to ship half-way around the world--but removes utility.