Posted by David Sherman on Thursday, June 07, 2007 at 00:50:32 :
In Reply to: Just remember.... posted by MoparNorm on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 at 12:37:02 :
Yes, I had a "1000 lb" Chinese "heavy duty" transmission jack bend over and collapse when I had a transfer case on it that couldn't have weighed more than 500 lbs. I had to roll out of the way quick or it would have been on top of me. Harbor Freight didn't much like me bringing it back looking like a crushed beer can, but they took it and gave me my money back.
I notice now that Harbor Freight has even derated their 4 ton hi-lift jacks to 3.5 tons, and added a disclaimer that they're only good for that if the hook is at the bottom of the column. I have a "3 ton" Chinese chain hoist that's about 8" in diameter and weighs maybe 30 lbs. I have an old "2 ton" American-made chain hoist (Yale & Towne, perhaps) that's about 15" in diameter and weighs about 150 lbs. Of course the Chinese one is the one I use, because it's a lot easier to haul around, but if I ever get a shop with any sort of permanent overhead bridge crane or boom, it's the American chain hoist I'll be hanging from it.
Chinese tons remind me of the "Music Power" watts that stereo manufacturers used to rate their amplifiers in back in the 1970s. A 50 watt amp became a 500 watt amp because it could deliver that much power into a short circuit for 10 milliseconds just before the whole output stage burned itself up. Sears vacuum cleaners play a similar game with horsepower.
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