Assemble 2 ton Harbor Freight Engine Crane

This is the second time I have had a planned machine restoration project that required an engine crane. The first was for a one time lift and assembly for my 20" Walker Turner drill press. However for this second project, i not only needed a crane to get it into and out of a u-haul truck, I also would have need of one for doing the disassembly/cleaning/re-assembly process for the new tool. So that would require a lot of rentals...and driving 40+ min away to pick up/return the crane (nearest rental location for one), so I decided to buy one of the 2 ton Harbor Freight engine cranes. One thing it would have been nice to know up front was the requirement of a pair of 22 and 25mm socket/wrenches or a socket/large crescent wrench/two large crescent wrenches...otherwise you will be unable to tighten the main vertical bolts where they attach to the frame as well as the stabilizer bars on the base and near the handle.
It also would be nice if it were easier to lift the center of the base to remove the pins/attach the pins when you raise/lower the legs. I found using a 17 inch piece of 1x1 gives enough leverage to lift the center of the base with one hand while sitting between the legs to work on the pins. I used two zip ties attached to the 1x1 to hang the wood on the handle so it is quick and available to store between uses.
Overall I have no complaints, my first trial by fire using it was successful and I was able to retrieve the large 100+ yr old jointer and get it home.

[@ashencrumbs]

Great video Joe!

[@josephkrug8579]

Thanks, I think the video or videos, not sure how many yet on cleaning up and getting the antique jointer working will hopefully be interesting too. Will be getting the additional 220v outlet installed this week, so I can use my 220v pflux dust collector with the 220v jointer to test things out before doing any changes.