The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Arbor Press?

I am in the market for a Arbor Press, which I plan on using occassionally and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the ones Harbor Freight sells? I was thinking for occasional use they should be fine, but I do have question about how much pressure is needed for general press work like press fit bearings and gears. They have a 12-ton and a 20-ton version, which do you folks think I will need to do the jobs I mentioned?

I have a 10 ton press in my shop and it has done everything I have ever needed. I built it with a OTC ram and foot actuated air/hydraulic pump.

I have never used the inverted bottle jack style, probably because I always thought they were a compromise to a "real" press. There are tons (pun) of them out there so they must be OK.

I stuck in a link to a Grizzly unit that looks nice. It is more expensive than the Harbor Freight items, but a shop press is one of those things I wouldn't buy from HF.

My press has a gauge...a nice feature as it is sometimes difficult to feel when a "press" is home...no longer moving. You will see the gauge start to climb but the item being pushed isn't moving.

A 20 ton press has lots of oink...more oink than the Chinese frame can handle. If you need 20 tons, you need to take it to a machine shop.

Don't forget, heating bearings and gears to assemble is the preferred method..not brute force. A hydraulic press has a place in the shop, you have to know when to use it and when not to. Happy shopping cujo8.


http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.aspx?itemnumber=h6232

Stuart

Thanks Stuart, I check the Grizzly link out, but I think I will go for the HF Press, since I can pick it up locally and avoid the high dollar shipping cost. Thanks also for the input on the required ton-rating I would need for the kind of work I will be using this for. I will probably get the 12-ton press they have for $119 (They only carry a 12-ton and a 20-ton versions at the local store). Thanks again.

Jim

You probably already picked it up but a friend of mine has a HF press in his shop. The first one he got was a bit hinky and the frame was tweaked but they exchanged it out with no problems. The new one has performed well so far and I use it whenever I rebuild a transfer case. I say go for it

I was going to buy this press for my SM420 4-spd tranny rebuild, but I ran short of money and decided to hold off. I went ahead and started the rebuild anyway and I was able to rebuild the entire tranny w/o an arbor press! The manual said I would have needed for three to four different steps during the rebuild. I used brass drift punches and hammer instead of the press and they worked just fine.