I use the 2,000 pound Harbor Freight folding engine stand. I find it to be stable, and to Jerry's point, long enough for the Stovebolt engines.
I also use a two ton Harbor Freight engine hoist. The problem with the two is that the front end of the engine stand is too wide to fit into the tapered base of the engine hoist. The fix was to cut a wedge out of each side of the engine stand base to squeeze the legs together to narrow the width at the front, weld up the cuts, then add a metal caster that matches the other casters under both welds so that the mounting plate of the caster is centered on the cut and attached on both sides of the cut. The casters help to carry the load and spread it on both sides of the weld.
The compromise is that the front of the stand is narrower, but the offset is that it is a little longer. It still folds for storage. The weight is carried by eight casters instead of six. I have not had any stability issues due to the narrower front end.
The other modification that I made was to replace the handle. I found the one that came with it to be useless. I replaced it with a 24" length of 1/2" iron pipe with a cap on both ends. The caps keep it from falling out. If you center the pipe, you have equal lengths on both sides to turn with both hands. When you need more leverage, the pipe can be slid all the way to one side.
To Jerry's point, the adjustable mount didn't fit very well, if at all, out of the box. I used my die grinder to mill out two of the slots to make them a little longer on the outward side. Now it works out fine. The heads of the lower bolts that attach the mount to the bell housing holes get partially covered by the adjustable arms and the only way to turn them is with an open end wrench. To leave enough room for the wrench, I have to add a thick washer to space out the arms from the head at each of the four pivot bolts.
I have a 261 mounted to the stand now and can send pix if you want.
Matt
