I agree, if it has lifting lugs use them, but if it don't its an alternative. If it has damaged threads or thin threads, you should fix that anyway. I posted this idea because I saw a question on how you can lift an engine. I personally lift all small engines by hand. I've been working on engines for 60 yrs and didn't break one yet. I mostly do 1928 to 1950 vintage tractors and cars. I'm not exactly a newbie.

2 cylinder, 720cc, weighs about 95 lbs.

:Morning: I too do not think the spark plug hole is a good idea. In my younger days I used to man handle them, but now I am on the 70 mark age wise. I use two eye bolts in the head bolt holes and a chain hoist to pull them and set them back in the tractor. But like they say, to each his own. :American Flag 1:

I have an I-beam running the width of my garage. I have a chain fall on a trolley up there. I hooked to the lift lug on the head and used the chain fall when I pulled the engines out of my 1450 and 1000. Worked great, no back strain.

Ahhhhhh...... "engineering" programs. Gotta love 'em.

100,000lbs. huh. I must be a lot stronger than I though, because I've twisted a lot of them out with a short handle rachet before...... :bigeyes:

You go right ahead and do it that way if you want, but in the words of Jerry Clower..... "I ain't gonna do it!". :biggrin2:

I'm inclined to agree....

A single bolt/screw can hold a lot of inline force. (and 'torquing' bolts creates a large inline tension in the bolt - many times more than what it holds in compression, which is why breaking them by over torquing is so easy - a thread is really a wedge and able to generate very high loads with small torques). Thread friction plays a role, and in some critical applications they measure overall bolt strain deformation and not torque. For thread shear, the bulk of the shear stresses are carried through a small number of threads.

Besides doing pressure vessel design for years, was sitting around drinking beer with some other engineers one day and wondering just how much a drywall screw could hold. So we drove a single drywall screw into the overhead rafters of my buddies shop and it lifted the entire rear end of his pickup.

Side forces, fatigue, and other factors are usually the cause of failures. In this example my fear would be me forgetting to take a bolt out (or something like that). So if Im lifting with a hydraulic lift I end up putting a lot more than the weight of the engine on it.

But really it comes down to other risk factors (in the ideal case it obviously works, but if something that you didnt think of happens to not be ideal then.... could be problems). If someone is willing to take the risk, this method obviously works. Others prefer a different method 'just in case' something goes wrong.

Thanks for posting. I will leave it to each individual to decide for themselves if they want to try it.

If anyone is interested here is a nice writeup on some basic principles: https://www.fastenal.com/content/fed...t%20Design.pdf

Engineers love a discussion like this!! :bigthink:

:biggrin2:

lol Indeed. Mixed with a few beers, all kinds of crazy experimentation can happen....

Come to think of it, does anyone have a junk head and some weights lying around.....???? hmmm.....

:p I like it!

I can only add, don't pick it up by grabbing the big spinny-wheel-thing and have some blocks o'wood ready.