Bottle Jacks vs. Scissor Jacks

[Andy B]

Originally Posted by Frederick L. Simson

Thank you, Andy. Sometimes I can overlook an obvious detail.

Your welcome Frederick, and I really like the advice that you gave about capacity and risk factors.

"A low risk is to operate any equipment you have within the range of 50% to 75% of it's rated capacity. Medium risk is to operate in the range of 75% to 100%. High risk is to operate from 100% to 125%. Most testing procedures I have been involved in require a jack or crane or elevator to perform at 125% of rated capacity for a finite amount of time (10 or more minutes) without degradation."

That is so true not just for jacks but for many different things. I tried to express that point in a tire discussion about the 65mph max limit with ST tires and why I chose LT tires, but did not state the point nearly as well as you did.

Thanks, Andy

[Roger C H]

I like scissors jacks for the following reasons:

No fluid to leak, externally nor internally.

I have a hydraulic floor jack that I used in a non level situation removing a tree stump. It does not work any longer. The fluid apparently went into parts of the mechanism it should not have.

Scissors have a much greater range. I have an old "Big Boy" from my grandfather. It goes from 4" to 15". This is much smaller than a bottle jack. Don't forget, a jack that will fit under your trailer when the tires are full may not when one is flat.

You can maybe get an old auto jack from a junk yard for $5. Half of the weight of a 3500# trailer is 1750#, say 2K#. A ton and a half should be more than enough. Don't forget you pay for the weight in gas mileage.