Engine Stand Horror Stories?

[fc-pilot]

Never ran an engine on mine, but I have built a few of my own stands. I don't like the store bought stands. I took 4 by 4 steel to make the frame and used two pieces of pipe (five inch schedule 80 and I think the other was four inch schedule 80) connected to a half inch plate of steel to bolt the engine too. My dad grabbed onto the balancer of a 454 that was finished on the stand picked up his feet and started bouncing. After seeing that I trust those stands with anything.
Paul

[victorfb]

ive had a 3 point fall over on me once, but only because it was on the dirt. ok so im a redneck and didnt have concrete to work on. have you seen the price of a yard of concrete these days? lol anyhow, i have 4 engine stands and the old three points are much stronger it seems than those store bought 4 points. with the (1) 4 point i have, i made a front section and used a VW engine stand that has 2 curved arms that line up to the two large bolt holes on the front of a BBC. i centered both pivot sections so the engine can still spin, but now the front is also supported. with a long block i am allways scared to rotate the engine without the front support. oh and i also welded the 4 point stand at all the sections were they were only bolted. now to really top it off and make it total redneck, i also welded spindles and mounted large pnuematic tires and wheels so it can be drug across the dirt if need be. :rollside:

[Doin' Time]

the bolts have no prob holding the weight....now the stand..thats a diff story......the store purchased,,bolt together ones suck...weld them up solid and maybe put a piece of wood under the front of the crank or block while in storage...

[Tahiti350]

Had a 440 Mopar hung on a 750lb tricycle stand. Had to move it to the other corner of the garage, still have the holes in the sheetrock to remind me to slow down on the turns. Once it started going I just jumped back and let it go.
Watching it settle coming off the cherry picker was quite interesting, to say the least. It sagged down about 6 " before I lifted it back and put a 4x4 between the edge of the pan and the stand leg. The 440 is sitting on the floor on blocks and the 750lb stand is carrying a 305 Chevy now. Much better fit....
Also dropped a 390 FE Ford engine off the stand, the pivot pipe slipped out when I was turning it over to check the bottom end. Crushed the crank pulley and broke the oil filter adapter off the block. I didn't have it hung "low" enough on the mount plate, and was way top heavy.
I've modified the pivot pipe so it can't come out once it's locked in place, but can still turn. Also bought a 1000lb 4 wheeler that sits about 4 inches lower than the triciycle.
Lessons learned the hard way :rollside:

[C.Fisher]

This one still scares me.
25ft baja on the trailer and and we are pulling the bbc out. I am on one side, buddy on the other. One our friends had an old boom truck that we used to lift.
The engine got to eye level where it would clear the back of the boat. The operator of the truck forgot to disengage the pto to the boom and went to move foward. The cable sucked threw the pulleys dropping the engine which was about a 5ft free fall drop back into the boat between our legs. :220v:
Luckily no one got hurt and beside a little fiber glass being nicked nothing got damaged

[iwishicould]

I was building my first engin 390 FE and had just torqued the rocker arms down. I droped touque wrench. Bent down to grab it and put hand on engin block. stupid thing rotrated on the stand.(i had just tourqued rockers,heads.and intake why didn't it rotate then)results. 10 stapels in my head :220v: , pissed off mother :argue: , and 2 inch strips of skin hanging form rockers, blood all over floor.
cause: pin that was holding it sheared. stupid auto zone special

[lucky]

i have a h/ 1250 lb and my b/b with alum heads - makes me nerv. I took two pieces of angle and a 1x4x.025 wall and made a center support
I also built a dolly out to angle with casters on it - this is what i store my engine on !

[wsuwrhr]

This thread has cost me countless dollars in therapy.

[sleekcrafter]

Sams club of all places, had the Goodyear 4 wheel stands, for 58 buck's.
My buddy picked one up, and found that the are a stout stand, has had his 460's on them, and they don't even bounce. So I picked one up too, I love it, and to top it all off, the legs fold up and it tucks away nicely in the garage.
Sleek

[shaun]

I bought one of those combo deals (stand and hoist). The hoist is fine but the stand seams alittle weak. It's suppose to hold 1250lbs i beleive but with a complete engine (minus headers) on it, it sags down about 2-3 inches. makes me nervous.