Powered-Up Pipe Wrench

Powered-Up Pipe Wrench When even a big pipe wrench won’t do the job, Dylan Rausch and his brother Dan have a solution. Their pipe wrench handle helper lets them apply hydraulic power to the task. “We have the PIRTEK franchise for hydraulic and industrial hose maintenance and replacement for central and southern Wisconsin,” explains Rausch. “Sometimes we get a challenging job, like the 3,000-lb cylinder for a big CAT loader, or an unusual one, like a cylinder on a casket stacker.” Rausch notes that they rebuild at least one hydraulic cylinder a day, as well as do hydraulic and industrial hoses and adapters while the customer waits. When muscle won’t do the job, they use their stationary hydraulic power pack with their handle helper jig. The jig consists of a short piece of 5/16-in. square steel tubing sized to slip over the pipe wrench handle. “We drilled a hole in the tubing and welded a nut over the hole,” says Rausch. “A matching bolt with a short piece of steel rod welded to its head serves as a T-bar tensioner to lock down the pipe wrench handle.” The tubing is welded to a piece of approximately 4 by 6-in. 5/16-in. steel plate. Two pillow-block bearings, welded to the side opposite the tubing, serve as a clevis hitch for the eyelet on the end of the cylinder rod. Once the wrench is in place and the jig is tightened, Rausch slips a trailer pin through the clevis and the rod eye. “It works great for loosening a cylinder head, coupling port, nut or any other component that doesn’t want to move,” says Rausch. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, PIRTEK USA, 6354 Copps Ave., Monona, Wis. 53716 (ph 833-623-4673; www.pirtekusa.com/locations/madison/#).

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