Jacking Cessna 180

[bryan albert]

I am a new Cessna owner trying to figure best way to safely Jack airplane. The gear leg pad with bottle jack seems kinda lame especially with bushwheels the jacks in the way or trying to put skis on jacks in the way!! Looking for ideas on something I can build. Pictures or ideas would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance.

 

[stewartb]

I built a jack for my 180 using a hydraulic cylinder meant for an engine hoist (Parker Store). My mission was to make a tripod stand with a jack that lifts the plane under the gear box. It works great. It would be even better to make a vee block that wedges in the crotch where the gear leg enters the fuselage but my hydraulic lines are routed there and it wasn't worth changing those. Lifting on a slip-on gear adapter will eventually lead to your airplane on the ground. I can testify to that. Under the gear box with a stable tripod jack is rock solid even in a breeze. It's the next best thing to a boom truck. I'll snap some pictures of my jack later when I'm at home.

 

[mike mcs repair]

also use a 2x6 or 8, with a layer of 3/4" plywood screwed to it, on jack side, to prevent cracking 2x6... might be over kill, but i always worried about it....

also, you jacket up, let gear legs & tires slip inward some, set it down and reposition jack then jack it up for your use

 

[mike mcs repair]

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/categories/building_materials/bm/menus/to/jacks.html

 

[mike mcs repair]

..Lifting on a slip-on gear adapter will eventually lead to your airplane on the ground. I can testify to that...

or broken hand.... seen that too..

 

[stewartb]

Bryan,

Pictures follow. I'd never seen a jack like the ones Mike linked until after I built my own. Mine fits the purpose perfectly. I built the tripod and the top fixture that a scrap 2x4 attaches to.

 

[hotrod180]

....My mission was to make a tripod stand with a jack that lifts the plane under the gear box. It works great. .....Under the gear box with a stable tripod jack is rock solid even in a breeze. It's the next best thing to a boom truck. I'll snap some pictures of my jack later when I'm at home.

Please include a photo of where & how the jack engages the airframe. Not sure how you go "under the gear box" without damaging the sheet metal.
I've used two different slide-on jack points --one I made, the other a Bogert(?). Also a pair of small angle-irons sandwiched over the gear legs, also a 2x4 C-clamped to the gear leg. Early on with a bottle-jack, later with a small rolling floor jack. All worked, but none were entirely satisfactory.

 

[stewartb]

If you look a few inches inboard of where the gear leg enters the fuselage you'll find a crop of closely spaced rivets and very solid structure if you tap around the area. My 2x4 pad has chamfered edges so that it doesn't transfer any imprint to the belly skin if the plane tilts while lifting. When I jack the plane up the 2x4 is heldoff the skin by riding on the rivet heads and there's no flex at all.

My jack is stable enough to jack the plane on ice, which I used to do a couple of times a year. Don't try that with a gear leg fixture and a handyman.

 

[Rob]

I saw a set of jack pads similar to that of a 182 RG installed on an airplane that were pretty much just left on all the time. A couple of tripod jacks long enough to roll under the wings and the fellow could raise either or both wings high enough to change out wheels, gear or anything else. For a hangared airplane this seemed like the most elegant solution going... I really like the idea of getting the jack clutter completely away from the area I am working on. Anyone else have an opinion on this?

 

[180Marty]

Here's something I do. I put the tailwheel up on some pallets to reduce angle of attack. I then put the jack on some pallets to reduce the amount of jacking under the gear box. I also put the 2 x 4 between the four axle bolts on the lower gear and the base of the pallets. That way the gear doesn't suck in much when it is getting jacked up. I also take my engine hoist and pull on the top engine mount right next to the firewall with a nylon strap. Keep both jacks working and that way you kind of have a safety.

 

[Den]

Never jacked up a 180 but on Carbon cubs I just hoist them from the ceiling from the wing attach loops and use a spreader bar. I can change tires/brakes easy this way. I also use a endless loop sling on engine hoist around prop flange when the cowling is off. I try to raise the tailwheel up on a cement filled drum cut to length to get the nose down some when taking the engine off etc.

on the 150 I just vice grip an aluminum bracket to the gear and jack it with a standard floor jack.

 

[eskimo77]

Build one specifically for your airplane. Rolled over sides will prevent popping off, you can pad it with an old inner tube to prevent marring. Then use a floor jack. Done it hundreds of times at work with no problems.

 

[Dave Calkins]

I have a 24 inch bottle jack with a tripod that it attaches to.

It is similar to Stewart B's, except my tripod folds up, built of aluminum so I can carry it around easy.

Also, the "pad" that contacts the Cessna belly is a 12" long 4x6 with a 1/2" rubber mat glued to the 4x6. Also, in the middle of the 4x6 is a short stub of 5/8" 4130 tubing that sticks up into the hole in the Cessna belly skin where you access the inboard landing gear bolt nut. The stub ensures the pad will never slip off.

This set up will jack high enough to allow skis to tip up high enogh to attach ski bungees with zero effort. THAT is crazy high! And still safe!

....outta town, cant give you a photo today.

 

[Goose]

Did Stewart's post contain a pic?

 

[stewartb]

Dennis, see post #6 for my jack. The post I deleted was of the plane on a boom truck. Truth is, as nice as it is to have availability of a boom truck, the jack is probably easier and faster to use.

Dave, I'd appreciate pictures when you get a chance. A folding tripod would be better. I'd like to see how you hinged it.

SB

 

[algonquin]

Eskimo 77

I'm made one similar to yours a while back, but will now up grade to your design, very nice.

 

[Dave Calkins]

Stewart. I will make sure yu get a look.

I have been using it and lending it to guys around Lake Hood for years. You should get a chance and see if you wanna copy part of it.

I got my 24" bottle jack from Grainger. A guy could use a bottle jack from an old cherry picker engine hoist if he trusts it to not bleed down.

 

[Dave Calkins]

or broken hand.... seen that too..

I saw Jeff at Floats Ak get caught under an axle when the Jackpad flipped off a 185 gear leg. This was 20-some years ago in his Dad Ernie's shop. When the jackpsd flipped, his first reaction was to try to catch the axle��. Caught his index, middle, and ring fingers between the axle stub and flange and the shop floor.

I can still hear his Dad..."....hey fellas, come give us a hand...", to help pick up the wing and get him out from under the axle. I recall that he was unharmed.

Still, some times you gotta use one of them things

 

[algonquin]

That's the part where mine is in need of mod. , I don't have the rolled over lips on the sides, and worry about it rolling off as a lot of the time I'm working out in the wind. The Jack base I used a piece of 2" box cut on an angle and welded on the plate. Mostly I used what I had in the shop, but will do it better now, thanks Dave.

 

[Den]

What ever you do, just do it safe, twice I have pulled bodies out from under cars when jacks slipped. Not a fun thing.

 

[algonquin]

Never use it for jacking cars,lol

 

[Den]

Never use it for jacking cars,lol

Goes without saying-usually the only thing that dies when the airplane slips is the plane!

 

[stewartb]

I can attest to a plane getting damaged by dropping from a gear leg jack. LOL never crossed my mind.

 

[skywagon8a]

Never use it for jacking cars,lol

Like this?

 

[OLDCROWE]

Ah the Darwin school of welding.

 

[algonquin]

Now if that guy had waited until it was raining the risk of fire would have been greatly reduced!!

 

[Steve Pierce]

ays put a piece of railroad tie under the axle as soon as the wheel is removed. Also make sure there is nothing sticking up if it does fall. Had to fix a wing when someone left the seat on a table under the wing when they jacked it and it fell on the seat, denting the bottom of the wing. Also know of a C180 that had one of those bumper jacks used at the lift strut go through the bottom of the wing.

 

[algonquin]

This is the best way, but not always the fastest and easiest. This is the shop I work in , it really helps to have jacks and equipment but on my own at home I don't have this stuff.

 

[skywagon8a]

This is the best way, but not always the fastest and easiest. This is the shop I work in , it really helps to have jacks and equipment but on my own at home I don't have this stuff.

What do you use to prevent those blocks from sliding under the wing? That looks very hazardous to me. Dave Calkins' method in post #13 would be a lot safer.

 

[algonquin]

Carpet and metal Jack plates screwed to the blocks. Never moves