Harbor Freight one ton VS two ton shop crane

[sixdogs]

I'm pretty careful what I buy from Harbor Freight but their rolling shop crane does work. Recently, I saw their one ton shop crane on "sale" for $100.
It's the cheapest I have ever seen it and I am now interested.
At farm auctions they seem to go for $100 used.

Then I saw that they also have a two ton one as well for $200.
Anyone have any idea on either one of these or if I should avoid one over the other? Is one that much better than the other?
Or one that much less than the other?

Here's the one ton and it'd on sale for $99
1 Ton Capacity Foldable Shop Crane

Here's the two ton
2 Ton Capacity Shop Crane

Any info would be helpful.

 

[o2batsea]

I don't have a Harbor Freight crane, I have one I got from Pep Boys several years ago under the Big Red brand. It's a folding two ton crane with a air or manual pump jack thing. I gotta say that the air pump is a real joy. You just hold the button down and PFfft PFfft PFfft PFfft PFfft until its where you want it. Lets you use both hands to guide the lump while the compressor does all the work. Having it fold is great as it takes up only a small amount of floor space in the barn. I intend to swap out many of the bolts in favor of pins some day as I take it apart frequently to haul it around (seems it's always being borrowed) I think I paid a Benjamin for it on sale.
I would take folding over capacity given the choice. You can always uprate the jack later.

 

[BHD]

IMO, get the larger unit, and treat it like the smaller,

I bought a HF truck crane, 1/2 Ton Capacity Pickup Truck Crane with Cable Winch and I bought a Vestil truck crane, Vestil - Lifter Jibs for Loading and Unloading Vehicles and there both rated the same rating, 1000 pounds, in the unextended, position, but there in no way the same unit or the same in safety capacity, the cable on the Vestil unit is twice the size, the winch is three times better, the thickness of the materials is greater, and the basically value of the Vestil is much greater, even if it did cost more,

what I am saying harbor freight rates there equipment with out much safety margins in there design, so unless you just playing with it get the heaver unit,

IMO the HF unit is only safe for about 500 max, on the truck jib crane, my guess is the engine hoists are not any different, I know my son knows of a few HF hoists that have failed,

 

[oughtsix]

This is HF 2 Ton with the boom fully extended. It picked up the entire front end of the Corolla before I freed the engine/transaxle together.

I have had it for about 5 years and no complaints. For me the folding feature is a must! I have picked up many heavy machines out of my pick up bed with it and consider it a must have for my shop.

P.S. The motor has been dangling there for 2 days and hasn't gotten even a inch closer to the floor. The design is so simple I figure even Harbor Freight can't mess it up!

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-foldable-shop-crane-35915.html
Two ton folding crane. The non-folding version takes way too much floor space when stored for me. Look hard around for a 20% off coupon and go for the 2 ton folding. The 2 ton you linked to isn't the folding version.

 

[KTurner]

Here's the one ton and it'd on sale for $99
1 Ton Capacity Foldable Shop Crane

Here's the two ton
2 Ton Capacity Shop Crane

When I clicked on your links, they say the one ton is on sale for $169.99 and the two ton is on sale for $159.97. Sounds like an easy choice

Keith

 

[sixdogs]

When I clicked on your links, they say the one ton is on sale for $169.99 and the two ton is on sale for $159.97. Sounds like an easy choice

Keith

Well, the one ton has a $99 coupon in some magazines and I have one.
The 2 ton link price is correct and i have a 20% off coupon to lower it further.

The foldable option isn't something I thought but now think it might be a good idea.
For some reason I thought they all folded.

 

[bikerdib]

I've got the 2 ton foldable from HF. Unless you have a very large shop with plenty of storage space, get the foldable. Another thing to think about is the reach. On the 2 ton, you can pick up 1/2 ton with the boom fully extended. That not only gives you more reach but also gives you more lift height. Makes it a LOT more handy.

These things come in sooo handy. I've got my pallet fork carrier I just fabricated this last weekend hanging from mine right now waiting for the finish coat of paint. I recently had to flip my 48 inch shredder to tighten the stump jumper shaft nut. No problem with the shop crane. While I had it upside down, I also drained out every drop of gear lube so I could change it.

 

[sixdogs]

Thanls for all the replies. After researching the answers it seems the folding 2 ton is the way to go.
The non-folding takes up a lot of space.
Main difference between the one ton and two ton is that the two ton extends out much further in reach giving it more versatility.
The two ton is often on sale for $200 and the 20% off coupon--assuming I can use on this item--takes it to $160.
I'm not in any hurry and I think I have seen it cheaper so maybe I'll just watch the ads for a while.
Thank you all.