New Engine Stand Idea

CalIDI

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Hey Fellow IDI guys,

I decided that I want to build an over engineered engine stand for my IDI motors.

I saw a new design for a rotating engine stand while doing research for a homemade stand I want to build.

The design involves a modified air brake s cam, air brake slack adjuster, and a set of pillow blocks. I haven't seen this design before on this forum, so I thought I'd propose it to the rest of y'all for scrutiny.

Im sure that a HFT stand would hold (at first ;)) but I would prefer a much stronger stand without spending $1500-2000 on an OTC stand.

I haven't drawn up how I'd want to build mine, but Ive got some ideas floating around in my head.

What do you think, with a properly over-engineered stand and good welds, would a rotating mechanism such as this one hold up? I'd change the support a bit and design the stand with a bit of tilt so that the motor is level when its on the stand. Maybe increase the distance between the bearings an add a third? Definitely more steel on the support neck and a heavy steel rectangular frame with massive casters. Center supports for running and doing actual work, but for checking main bearings and other work on the bottom end it'd be useful if it would rotate.

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Anybody else done a similar design? Ive seen ones using a worm gear drive from a manual winch, but what about this design?

Thanks and Happy Tinkering!
-CalIDI
 
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captain720

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What about a hydraulic motor to turn it? Maybe just a direct drive and a litte hydraulic pump on your work bench would work
 

CalIDI

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What about a hydraulic motor to turn it? Maybe just a direct drive and a litte hydraulic pump on your work bench would work
Good idea, unfortunately I don't have any lying around and the cost would be prohibitive for me.

Harbor freight and a pipe to rotate it have worked fine for me. How many times do you really need to spin it?
Probably a few times but not a lot. Ive got three motors and one has a truck wrapped around it. Ill be examining the two ones that are out before swapping one in and building the other one. I'll also use the stand for any other motors that come my way in the future.

Do you think that that design of rotating assembly would work for an IDI? I figured that If I'm building a stand I might as well have a slick way to turn the motor over...
 

hacked89

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Good idea, unfortunately I don't have any lying around and the cost would be prohibitive for me.


Probably a few times but not a lot. Ive got three motors and one has a truck wrapped around it. Ill be examining the two ones that are out before swapping one in and building the other one. I'll also use the stand for any other motors that come my way in the future.

Do you think that that design of rotating assembly would work for an IDI? I figured that If I'm building a stand I might as well have a slick way to turn the motor over...
The cam and pillowblocks would support an idi
 

CalIDI

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Looks like a few people like it. Seems like the s cam shaft would hold an IDI...

Anybody have any design changes for the rotating assembly, or other ideas? I'd love to hear everybody's opinion...
 

Jesus Freak

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Looks like a few people like it. Seems like the s cam shaft would hold an IDI...

Anybody have any design changes for the rotating assembly, or other ideas? I'd love to hear everybody's opinion...
IDIs are heavy, @900lbs. If I would change anything, and this is me being an armchair jockey, make a handle that attaches to the rotator bolt. That way you don't have to track down a wrench or ratchet, you would have a handle right there.
The only time I actually had an IDI on a stand I did put a 2x4 under the harmonic balancer, I was uncomfortable with it just hanging from the stand. But with your setup, when you got it rotated like you want you could just chock it back up again.
 

Old Goat

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The cam and pillowblocks would support an idi

Great idea he came up with, but the Pillow Blocks are Chicom Steel, I was just wonder if the cast iron frame is of good quality. Sure wouldn`t want that to crack come apart. Maybe they are beefier than they look.

Not trying to be negative on his design though, great idea.


Goat
 

adam g

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This sounds like what I'm building now. I couldn't buy what I wanted so I'm building it. Did you get yours finished?
 

bulletpruf

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If you have fab skills and too much time on your hands, that setup would be slick. I don't have a bunch of free time so I just dropped $200 at HF for their 2,000 pound capacity stand. https://www.harborfreight.com/autom...-lb-capacity-foldable-engine-stand-59200.html

I wouldn't trust it with 2,000 pounds, but it handles the IDI with no issues, and I've had three of them on it so far. Nice and sturdy, too, and I'm often wheeling it in and out of the garage, over uneven concrete. Only drawback is turning it over; I'm not a small guy, and it does take some effort to rotate it.

Only one that I'm seeing with a hand crank is rated at 1,000 pounds, and think it would be sketchy/top-heavy with an IDI, especially if you needed to move it. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...q4UNxfsDvDVyoNuY3v8_0bC6eKpDd1zhoC0OkQAvD_BwE
 

adam g

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The legs are spread too wide on all the 2000 lb stands I have viewed to get into my cherry picker. I bought 500' of heavy 3" I beam. These 2 factors lead to me deciding to build what I want. I'm also going with 5" wheels instead of 3". I'm building it taller as well. I'm 6'2". It seems all the commercial stands are made for 5' tall folks.
 

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