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Old school engine stands vs. the new hydraulic ones at our shop in Atlanta
I started turning wrenches back in 2003 at a regional line in Savannah. We used those heavy cast iron stands with the crank handle, took forever to tilt a PT6 on its side. Now at my current gig we got these hydraulic tilting stands from Tronair, makes swapping a hot section on a CF34 way faster. Anyone else notice the old stuff lasted longer even if it was slower?
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jamief671mo ago
Over at our shop back in 2015, we had this old cast iron stand for a PT6 that was stripped on the tilt gear. Took a buddy and me about 20 minutes just to rotate that engine a quarter turn with a pipe wrench. We finally swapped it out for a hydraulic one from Tronair too, and man, it cut our hot section time on a CF34 down by maybe an hour. I get what you mean about the old stuff feeling tougher though, that cast iron stand was built like a tank and never leaked a drop of fluid. But for speed and my lower back (you know, getting older), I'll take the hydraulic any day.
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thomas_sanchez1mo ago
Buddy of mine had an old Allison 250 stand that was pure cast iron, weighed a ton. He said one time the tilt lock just gave up mid-job and the whole engine slowly tilted forward while he was torquing something. Had to catch it with his chest and yell for help lol. Swapped it for a hydraulic unit right after that.
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xena_bailey181mo ago
Does it ever feel like this is the same pattern with everything now? I mean, my dad still uses this ancient metal toolbox from the 70s that weighs like 40 pounds empty, but it'll outlive us all. Meanwhile my new plastic one is lighter and has more organization but I swear if I drop it once it's gonna crack. Idk, maybe it's just me but I feel like we traded some of that old durability for ease of use.
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