Readers, thank forum member Andrew Crouch for this find, because he dug into Craigslist much, much farther than I normally do. I go hunting for random cars, but he wins this week’s top find award with this: a 1922 Walker floor jack. We dig old tools for many different reasons, but I’ll be up-front: compared to the floor jack that’s currently sitting in my shop, if I had to choose, I’d use this bad mother all day long over mine. Look at it! Instead of a hydraulic cylinder, this sucker is mechanical…no mess, no leaking seals. It’s all metal, can take a beating, and is rated for five thousand pounds. It ain’t going to lift a Super Duty easily, but it can get the job done for most things around the garage. And that’s if you chose to use it…on it’s own, this thing is gorgeous in it’s simplicity and utility. Everything you need here, nothing you don’t. This jack was meant to work from sunup to sundown.
The seller is asking $250 for it and I personally believe that it’s worth it on several merits. This is the kind of tool that my grandfather would reminisce about when we would talk about my first garage setup. Looking at this jack, I can see why. What do you think, readers?
Watch some dork buy it and then go insane trying to figure out how to put a big block Chevy into it,,,,,,
I’m pushing 70 and I still have my Dad’s old floor jack from the late 40’s that he used when he worked his whole life in a Body Shop. I played with it as a little kid when I went to the shop. Works great and doesn’t leak and has never needed repair of any kind. I think about him every time I see it in the garage.
Too bad tools aren’t built like this still.