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MG Midget and Sprite General - Engine Cranes

I am in need of an engine crane. I am considering whether to buy one, but as I am limited for storage space the plan would be to then e-bay it as soon as the job in hand is done.
Any recommendations about the ones that Machine Mart etc sell at around £140. They are listed as 1 tonne which sounds quite good but I assume that this capacity is much reduced when the crane arm is at full extension.
Guy

MM stuff is OK; even on full extension the 1 ton model will be fine for a Spridget engine & box.
David Smith

Guy
I have the folding 1 ton version from MM its fine for the job even on full extension as David says. When folded it doesnt take up much room really, good to keep for peace of mind.
Ian
Ian Webb '73 GAN5

Ok,
Firstly it isn't for a Spridget engine. Something a bit bigger and more exotic than that! Part of the reason for the idea of a short-term ownership is that I have a perfectly good Weston Differential chain hoist on a beam in the garage. But in this instance the garage is too small (and anyway it is also full up) for the vehicle.

Sounds like the MM one will suffice though.
Guy

Guy,
Hiring from HSS is another option which would save the trouble of selling it on. Not great for a longer term 'outage', etc but another option. I'd imagine there would be a fair depreciation on engine cranes.
-Craig
C Robertson

We have the same china made cranes as MM here in the usa thur harbor fraight....its a good crane for the money, ive had mine about 8 years....a load leveler is almost a must have as the angle for these engines come out and back in ... Is fairly steep

Instead of buying one....

Run an advert in local paper asking to rent one from a private person...maybe even a flyer in an auto parts store bulletin board... Chances are a fellow car guy will just loan it for free, these things are becomming more common in car guys garages and are just space killers

Your welcome to barrow mine if you want....im not needing it anytime soon.... q ; )


Prop
Prop

Thanks folks,
Turns out I have a possible offer of one to borrow locally, if the present owner can recover it from the last person he lent it to!.

Hi Craig, you just might have a clue as to the nature of the engine to be lifted . . . . . ;-)
Guy

Guy, I have one similar to the one from MM and although I'm not advocating ignoring H&S I can tell you that it was fine for lifting a 289 V8 on it's longest extension. I think it's rated at 1/4 ton at that position but I reckon the V8 must have been more than that.
John Payne

Thanks John.
Yes, this engine has 8 pots (and 32 valves) So should be OK then!
Guy

Guy,

I've had a MM CFC1000 for about 17 years and it has more than paid for itself and when folded doesn't take up that much floor space, paid £200 for it IIRC all those years ago. No problems with it other than the breather on the ram leaking but that's because I damaged it, it means it leaks a bit when transported horizontally so I need to fix it before I take it to a mates when he borrows it to put the engine back in his Caterham. Buying and selling it shortly after may work or may not, I would check out the rental option costs first as that may be OK, sort of depends how fast you can get the engine in/out. Other than that hopefully the option to borrow works out and you return the crane promptly to keep in the owners good graces if you should need it again.

I could loan you mine, I've loaned it out before, but Cumbria is a bit far. I understand it's north of the M4 so in the realms of "here be dragons", joking but I did grow up in the US and my knowledge of UK localities is still growing, especially the northerly counties up near Scotland which I haven't been to.
David Billington

Guy. Where might you be putting that V8? Are you building a Midget dragster or starting a private F1 team?

Bernie.
b higginson

Would that be a masseratti engine then?! Would love to see/hear that shoehorned into a Midget!! :-p

Same car? nice toy,... -drool-
C Robertson

Got it in one Craig! Only its neither of the Maserati's that you have seen. This is another one. Needs a bit of work doing to it this time. Not that I have ever worked on a Maserati before but any self-respecting petrolhead just cannot turn down such an opportunity. You've just got to try these things. And no, Bernie, I don't think it will quite fit into the Spridget - its just a bit too wide!
Guy

Guy, Have you borrowed one yet? You're welcome to borrow mine if you wish. simpsonhaddockpaul at mac dot com (just remove the fish, dreadful spammers on this site)
Paul MkIMkIV

Paul,
Thanks very much for the offer. I think I am sorted. But may come back to you if for any reason this other offer falls through.
Guy

This thread was discussed between 07/09/2011 and 08/09/2011

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