DIY 5 Ton Hydraulic Press

How to make a homemade hydraulic press with a car jack, u channel steel (u beam) and threaded bar. It is not finished. The jack should be bolt down or attached to the base.

[xdygmnyrdf]

This video is fucken brilliant. Not a single word spoken, one minute of duration, yet so much knowledge.

[tinkerbit]

The threaded bars can be found at industrial supplies stores. The U profiles at a metal shop. They have to cut them and ask them to make the holes. Since a complete U profile measures (in Spain) 6 meters perhaps you have to ask for remnants at the metal shop.

[DMWMacias]

Thank you for the great idea! I scaled mine up a bit to accommodate larger work. By bolting the jack to the bottom plate and securing the entire thing in a vise, it makes for a very stable, well built, albeit CHEAP, substitute for the poor guy like me. We took out some U-Joints this weekend! CHEERS!

[tinkerbit]

The U beam are the kind U beam of 100 mm wide. The length, around 300 mm. The threaded bars are 25 mm diameter. The maximum height inside is around 500 mm.

[dalehammond]

After looking over a lot of DIY press making videos this idea is by far the best for the occasional home user. Actually this press would probably handle more that some commercially made 12-Ton press frames.

[richardgarrison]

Best and fastest method i have seen yet. I found your video at the right time. 
Thanks

[hamz]

Hey Mopatin thanks for the great idea, I was going to buy a 12 ton press but didn't want a huge thing sitting in the corner which I would use once a year so I decided to make yours. I made a video of me pressing in carrier bearings. Works like a charm. Thanks for the idea!

[bobjimenez]

great idea! Perfect for pressing out a bearing and small enough to not take any room in the garage.

[fredsmith]

Weld, weld, weld for safety. Get the powerarc out and weld the thing and don't forget to bolt the jack down so it doesn't slip out while under pressure.

[MisterRorschach]

haha im sitting here looking through hydraulic presses to buy, and then i realize i can build my own for much less using a car jack and a frame, i look it up on youtube, and here you are with one made. thank you for confirming what i thought of!

[Jayjpgt]

what thickness of channel iron did you use, and what diameter is the threaded rod?  I love this idea, it is a great press that doesn't take up a crap ton of space, and looks like It could be broken down and stored in a small case or something.  Very good idea!  I am looking to do some control arm bushings on a couple of my vehicles and down the road I am sure I will need to do a wheel bearing or 2 that are press in/out type.  I have been wanting a press but have avoided it cause they are so huge and I don't have room in my tiny garage to have one sitting around 24/7/365 when I only use it like once a year or 2.

[sofuzzywuzzy]

Hot damn this is perfect. Screw wasting $120 on a massive hydraulic press from HF to press out/in bushings.

[sammyspaniel]

Simple and adjustable. Now this is what I was looking for. Thanks.

[brianreddeman]

Not a bad setup. I did the same but I used a 1/2 mild steel plate that slides up and down with the jack. I also used a larger steel plate with holes recessed for the bolts so I could leave it as a stand alone. Finally I used it only a plexi-glass screen in front (really just a 24x24" scrap of plexiglass) because...
I used a 12ton jack and one of the threaded rods failed with a loud crack leaving a couple of fine steel spliters in the screen.
That being said buy a small hydraulic press instead if you can :)

[jublywubly]

Thanks for making this video.
That's such a simple, but effective machine. I only need a shop press for hobby work, so I don't want to spend a fortune or waste loads of space with a store-bought shop press. I'll have to look into building one of these.

[bobbybaldeagle]

It would be nice if you would TALK and explain how you made it and what you hope would be the end result with the use of this press and what type of parts you would expect this type of press would be best used for... thank you for your time and video... GB

[putative]

It consisted of two 8 inch thick steel flanges 6 feet in diameter with two rings of 31/4 diameter holes around the perimeter. 20 holes in total. It was made for testing oilfield components. The test piece was sandwiched between the flanges and 3 inch diameter steel bolts made of EN16T were passed through the aligned holes and a 50 ton hydraulic jack. the jacks were connected to a manifold so that they could be moved in unison.

[putative]

takes me back a bit, I once built a 2000 ton press using 8 inch thick steel plates along similar lines.

[putative]

Two 8 inch thick steel flanges, 6 feet in diameter, with two rings of 3 1/4 inch diameter holes around the periphery, 20 in total. 20 50 ton hydraulic jacks/cylinders linked to a manifold. Made for testing oilfield components. A test piece was sandwiched between the flanges, 3 inch diameter studs made from EN 16 T were passed through the flanges and the jacks. Hey Presto 2000 tons!

[davidhenderson]

This is absolutely fantastic! Ive been trying make a mini press like this to press in upper ball joints on a t4 as most of the fitting tools are poorly made. This would make fitting very easy. Where did you buy the thread bar and metal from for this project?