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Been thinking about getting a hydraulic press for my shop. I see cheap presses that run anywhere from 160 to 200 dollars. They also have different tonnage, from 5 to 20 ton. I would like to use it for bearings and every once in a wile to straighten something. Has anyone have one of these presses in there shop, what tonnage, and how well do they work for you. The cheaper presses just use a bottle jack in a frame. I have used the big commensal presses in the bigger shops but never one of these cheaper bottle jack style.

I have one of the Chinese 20 ton presses from a farm store. I works fairly well for pressing bearings and such. I have problems with mine trying to kick to the side somewhat due to loose tolerances, on things that don't want to sit totally level. I find I use mine more than I thought would.

ILENGINE said:

I have one of the Chinese 20 ton presses from a farm store. I works fairly well for pressing bearings and such. I have problems with mine trying to kick to the side somewhat due to loose tolerances, on things that don't want to sit totally level. I find I use mine more than I thought would.

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Do you need the 20 ton or could you get by with the 12 ton? Just thinking the less tonnage it would work a little faster and the bars would be lighter to adjust?? They both run around the same price.

Hi Troops,
I've had this 20 ton press since the mid 80s. I just went looking for the paperwork for it but didn't find it, so I'm not sure who made it. I've seen the same press sometimes while looking thru some of the tool dealers on line. It is 65" tall and 29" wide with a Chinese 20 ton bottle jack. The "T" handle on the valve of the bottle jack is my addition for easy release. In the top is where I store the larger pressing tools that I have collected. When I bought this press, the shipping was more than the price of the press!!! It had to be delivered by a truck with a tailgate lift. It has been a good unit. I have looked at some of the 12 ton Chinese press in kit form, terrible tolerances in the bolt holes, crap hardware supplied with them and more negatives.
At some of the places that I've worked there were presses from OTC and other quality manufacturers, but the prices were way up there. One can get spoiled using quality equipment!!!
This press is a 30 ton rated frame with a 20 ton rated bottle jack.
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:

I just don't want to spend big money for a good quality press at my age anymore seeing it wouldn't be used very much. I just don't like installing bearing with a hammer. I was thinking a cheap press is better then a hammer. I see they also make smaller table top presses, but I like the looks of the floor models better. I was leaning more for the 12 ton then the 20 ton, sure hope I'm not sorry. How heavy are the adjustable press bars on your 20 ton seeing they look like they have to be lifted and lowered by hand??? and that is my main reason for thinking the 12 ton press over the 20 ton. Can they be lifted and lowered with a come-a-long?

I remove any plates etc and move the bar by hand one side and one pin hole at a time. I also have the next to the smallest arbor press to do small work on. A larger arbor press may work for you, but they need to mounted on a broad footed stand, plus they can get heavy as they get bigger, but a thought.
This has been a good press for me, I have done bearing removal/installation on some long items with the bar all the way down, not sure I
would do those jobs now at almost 71!!
I would say that a floor model is the way to go, only liked table models that had a PortaPower type hydraulic driven cylinder, but big $$$$$$.
You can move a floor model around easier, no table to deal with.
If you do go with a floor model, put a 2"X 4" under the feet, should something give way while pressing, the shock will be mostly absorbed by the wood.

I have the 30 ton H Frt model which has an A configuration at the top. It is not as solid looking as Mad Mackie's, but has been a good unit. The frame is the "erection set" style with adjustment holes. I bought this around 2000 on sale for $160, but stuff was missing when the tractor trailer delivered it. In one of the only hassles ever with H Frt I finally ended up with 1-1/2 press frames, but still not everything I needed so I made the missing stuff-easy. Before this I only had a 3 ton arbor press now stored away. If you have even a small urge for one , buy it and you will not be disappointed.

Here are some of the uses I have put this unit to...Bearings, seals, suspension bushing removal and replacement, making small parts, using to test auto spring rates, as a fixture during a transmission rebuild . You can change the crossbar alone, one pin at a time. The 30 ton bottle jack is not necessary, but I have never had to use the long arm on it. Only nuisance on mine is that the retraction springs do not fully return the ram (jack piston) to the down position so I usually have to help it (the last 1/2 " travel). A key to versatility is a collection of tube, pipe, plate as Mackie's 2nd pic shows for set ups. Start saving old bearing cups, auto hubs , pipe , etc. Sockets can be used. You may find access to a lathe useful in difficult set ups. Sometimes I wish for the 100 ton ironman type with real press punch capability, but these littler ones are a great addition.

reynoldston said:

Do you need the 20 ton or could you get by with the 12 ton? Just thinking the less tonnage it would work a little faster and the bars would be lighter to adjust?? They both run around the same price.

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Most of th time I could get by with a smaller press, but then you run into something stubborn and which you have 100 ton.

I went to HF and bought the 20 ton press. I get it home to put it together and all the hardware is missing. So tomorrow I will make a trip to Tractor supply to buy the hardware. It will be cheaper for me to buy my own hardware then making another 160 mile trip to HF. It also looks like the bolts that comes with the press are too small according to the set up manual. It calls for 12MM bolts and I find standard 1/2 bolts fit just fine and 12MM are very loose. One of the big shops I worked in had a 100 ton press and some times that press wasn't enough when changing fork truck tires. For what I bought my press for I hope it will be just fine and I know it has to be better then a BFH. Yes now I will have to make a collation old sockets and bearing races to press with. I will take some pictures when I get it set up.

My buddy has a home made one welded a frame together and a bottle jack he got at the scrap yard from a doomed car. He uses it for everything and I've used it a few times with great sucess

Before there were any HF stores around here, a friend bought a 12 ton A frame model mail-order and brought it to me to assemble for him. When I checked the punched hole alignment in the pieces I was shocked to see how misaligned they were, but I assembled it for him. We tried some pressing on it and as the pressure increased, the entire frame twisted and leaned forward slightly.
I disassembled the press, measured the amount of misalignment of the bolt holes, put the pieces on my milling machine, realigned using an endmill and made the holes slightly larger to accept the next size of SAE hardware. This press worked fine until the 12 ton rated bottle jack started to leak. He was able to find an old USA made 12 ton bottle jack to use on the press. Not long ago he stopped by with a pressing project for me and he admitted that the USA 12 ton bottle jack was too strong for his 12 ton press and trying to press this job, the cross support got bent. I did his pressing job on my press very easily and I offered to cut and weld up a new cross support for him which he didn't want me to do as he had lost confidence in this press. He scrapped the press and now comes here to use my press plus the fact that I have a great assortment of tooling and I'm OK with this.
Even the highest quality presses can get messed up if not correctly aligned with the pieces before pressure is applied, I've seen it happen too many times and I most always make my feelings known. I'm the one with machining, milling, welding and fabricating experience and I usually ended up repairing the equipment most time bringing pieces home to work on. Somewhere I was tagged with the name "Mad Mackie" by some of my co-workers, they may have had good reason, especially if I found out who screwed up the shop equipment!!!! LOL
Mad Mackie in CT :laughing::biggrin::smile:

Sorry to hear about the HF shortage. Way back (25 years) I belonged to the "inside track" at HF and some real bargains were to be had. Gradually the "club" became a real flea market so I dropped it about 10 years back. The shop press came via inside track. Then I discovered that the retail stores had most of the catalog items, and (depending upon the store manager) they were MUCH better to deal with than long distant clerks without a clue. In your example , Reynoldson, I believe a retail store would simply give you the missing bag of hardware, no questions. A shame you must travel so far. Next visit get the fasteners and store 'em-metric , I think.

I have not experienced the trouble Mackie describes with the A frame stype press. But my typical use is with the short handle on the bottle jack. The highest force required over the years has been breaking rusted A arm bushings loose and installing certain transmission bearings. I WAS at the end of the long handle on those. Like other HF equipment my press is not the best , but adequate.

Edit: Oh yeah, Straightening shafts too. Ideally you need some V blocks. Check out the youtube videos . A little black magic perhaps and spring back is to be mastered. The heating and quenching part is kinda trade secret stuff. But the potential is there and can start with a simple dial gauge set up.

I build this 40 ton hydr press from pieces of track rail out of an old dozer about 12 years ago.
It has a 7" dia cylinder with a 2 1/2" dia ram, travel is 14 inches.

For 2.50 I bought the hardware and set the press up and using it. For that much money its not worth any trouble going to a HF store or giving it a second thought. What little I have used the press I think I will be very happy with it.

Pics. The bushings removed. Many people burn out the centers and leave the outer metal shell because they cannot get them out. With your press you can, but not easy.

Hi motorman,
I see you have done some mods, your press looks a lot heftier than my friends. You are as bad as I am with saving anything that can be used to facilitate pressing. My policy has been to not throw anything away unless I ate it first!!! Now retired and doing more smaller work and carpentry, I have lightened up on this policy some however!!!
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing:

A few years I did a pressing job for a guy, I don't recall what the pieces were, but when separated, one part had a much higher scrap value. He had about 50 pieces for me to separate. Doing this took about 75-80% of my presses capacity I think. When the pieces separated it was quick and dramatic, with me pressing and him holding two high flow propane torches warming up the piece and the press would jump and move, he brought the torches. I cut several pieces of 2 by 4s and put them under the feet which absorbed the shock and reduced the jumping movement of the press which had started to concern me.
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing:

Mackie, The mods are pieces I could not get HF to send me. As noted I finally ended up with an extra press minus the unpainted parts. I have often felt as a hopeless tinkerer I have saved $$$ over the years by throwing nothing away. Nothing escapes. Everythling is dismantled and ....sooner or later it saves me the $2.99 of a bubble pak hanging in Lowes. And with the price runup of steel caused by the chinese even ordinary rebar is unbelievably hi. It hurts to see a relative who continually buys material (and tools) already on hand in the garage, but misplaced and forgotten.

Bison, I like your press. What is it used for?

motoman said:

Mackie, The mods are pieces I could not get HF to send me. As noted I finally ended up with an extra press minus the unpainted parts. I have often felt as a hopeless tinkerer I have saved $$$ over the years by throwing nothing away. Nothing escapes. Everythling is dismantled and ....sooner or later it saves me the $2.99 of a bubble pak hanging in Lowes. And with the price runup of steel caused by the chinese even ordinary rebar is unbelievably hi. It hurts to see a relative who continually buys material (and tools) already on hand in the garage, but misplaced and forgotten.

Bison, I like your press. What is it used for?

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I use it for anything that needs straitening or bending, R&R gears, bearings, bushings ,engine cylinder sleeves etc etc.
It is 4 feet between the legs and i can pull as well as push.
I had intended to use a smaller cylinder for smaller jobs in the open extension on the right side but i guess it never happened.
I don't know how i ever lived without it.

When i was looking to rebuild a Dodge transmission that had all pressed on gears and required a 20 ton press for R&R I looked at a couple cheap presses like you guys use but they looked to flimsy to me for the rated tonnage.
The heavy commercial presses were to expensive to my liking so i decided to build my own.
I had most pieces on hand and the only out of pocket money was for the remote control and a 2 way hydr solenoid valve,..about $300 in all.
It paid for itself 5 times over on the first time i used it.