Replies

1. 
   clayb | Jun 24, 1999 03:10am | #2

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   Before I saved up and bought the twenny-ton, the bottle jack out of my 83 ford helped ease many a rotted sill plate from many an addition (note-only one story, uh, usually).

2. 
   Guest_ | Jun 24, 1999 03:45am | #3

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   Greg in my neck of the woods a house jack is a screw type jack.

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   Guest_ | Jun 24, 1999 05:03am | #4

   *greg29,Is the house your trying to raise more than 20 tons? Who knows......A jack is a jack.Get the biggest one you can. Ed. Williams

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   Guest_ | Jun 25, 1999 07:09am | #5

   *a jack is a jack. I'm using bottle jacks to raise up the timber. The main difference in useage for a bottle jack and a screw jack is that a screw jack always has a large lifting surface whereas the bottle jack has about a 1" diameter surface. If you are using a 4x4 post on top of a bottle jack you must have a 3/8" steel plate between the jack head and the post otherwise the the jack will just bury itself in the wood and possibly split it. Whenever jacking the house, always buttress the post and jack and shim after every 1/8" in the event the jack should pop, that way the weight will come down only so much possibly preventing the jack or post or both from firing across the room.

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   Guest_ | Jun 26, 1999 07:56am | #6

   *Ed - "Who knows..." - last year I had a house moved. Old one and a half story farm house 26x34. Framed with full dimension lumber (and built stout), roof has wood shingles - under comp - under hand split shakes (I'm thinkin' at least 5 ton of roofing) and the mover told me the whole thing weighed just over 28 ton. Seems light doesn't it? He has a set of guages on his rig that lifts the house all at once that can tell not only the weight of the whole house, but how weight is distributed. He told me he gets a lot of work from the ship/boat builders here in Puget Sound area "weighing" and telling them where weight is. I guess this helps them offset balancing problems. Kinda interesting to me. - jb

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   Guest_ | Jun 26, 1999 08:24am | #7

   *RJT, what do you mean by the term, Buttress the post?It sounds like a good thing to say, but I like to use the terms correctly.I probably wouldn't look so sharp, if I told the rookies to buttress somthing, and hope they just do it, without asking.blue

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   Guest_ | Jun 26, 1999 09:26am | #8

   *greg29 Hi, I move machinery as part of my normal work. I avoid hydraulic bottle jacks for the following two reasons. It is possible for them to fail without warning. If a seal goes, the load comes down. They are difficult to control precisely, especially when lowering. I use Simplex brand MECHANICAL jacks. Technically the style I use are called "toe jacks" or "railroad jacks" But, everyone calls them house jacks anyways. They are lever operated and have a positive latching ratchet. Each time you operate the handle the load will raise or lower the same precise amount (about 1/4 inch for the 5 ton size)I've never seen one of these jacks fail and I've got three of them. Do be careful of stability though, as with any other jack. I have seen these jacks for rent at Sunbelt rentals, and several local companies, so I know they're out there. A great feature of these jacks is that they have two lifting pads, one at the top of the jack, and a "toe" that comes out the front. The toe on a 5 ton will actually fit into less than a two inch gap, though this feature probably isn't too important on your lally column problem. Scott

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   Scott_Cullen | Jun 30, 1999 05:15am | #9

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   When I went to rent house jacks the rental center had both hydraulic and screw types and warned that the hydraulics sometimes tend to settle over time, like if you need the building raised over a couple of day period. Not as dangerous as the catastrophic failure someone else warned about, but bothersome. Chose the screw jacks for taht reason.

   I'd guess the observation about bearing area of the tip is the main differenc bewteen a 20ton "house" jack and a 20 ton "ordinary" jack.

   I'd also be wary of the ratings of automotive jacks. Any of the 10 ton rated hydraulics I've borrowed from my trucks have been OK for moving small stuff but always failed to budge structures.

1. 
   max | Jul 01, 1999 08:12am | #10

   *I once was using a "bottle'" jack while jacking up a beam in the basement of a house when it made like a perverted eskimo and blew a seal. After I went home, showered and put on clean underwear and pants, I went right out and rented a screw or "barn" jack. "Jet" makes a line of nice but affordable screw jacks.

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   Guest_ | Jul 06, 1999 06:43pm | #11

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   Whats the difference between a House jack and a 20 ton bottle jack. The house jack that my local rental center want to rent has the same dimisions as 20 ton bottle jack. Any ideas.

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   Guest_ | Jun 23, 1999 04:55pm | #1

   *greg29

   Not much. Since bottle jacks come in various sizes, the 20 ton is most often called a "house jack."

   Joseph FuscoView Image