npalen
Elite Member
I use a piece of angle steel as a boom cylinder lock and leave my loader securely propped up all the time in my shed. I lower the cylinder against the lock so tiewraps, velcro, etc are unnecessary. One prop is sufficient, if two makes somebody feel better, so be it. If this method satisfies OSHA as being acceptable for use in repair shops, (and it is) I'm OK with it, and this community should be as well.
We used the angle iron with a hose clamp many times when setting up prototype machinery that used cylinders and it works well. One word of caution is to look at what the end of the angle iron bears against on the cylinder gland. (end of the cylinder) Some cylinders are a bit fragile in this area and could be damaged by the angle iron imprinting but not likely. We made production transport locks which consisted of a u-shaped piece in lieu of angle iron to which a flat horseshoe shaped piece of metal was welded to each end. The shaped piece provided much more surface area to bear against the cylinder body. Some of the service locks seen on equipment are hinged on one end over the cylinder pin so they can be simply pivoted up out of the way to disengage the lock. This requires some type of retainer to keep the lock disengaged while gravity keeps it engaged otherwise. Combine headers are a good example of this safety device. That brings the thought that there are thousands of combines around the world parked with the header raised and not locked. Yes, it is a safety issue for sure.