JET 1-1/2 Ton Lever Hoist, 10' Lift (JLP-150A-10)

Very Reliable and affordable.

So, one of my technicians saw a contractor with this mini hoist! Had to have it. It is actually a great time saving tool. It literally is the size of a loaf of bread (chain,hook and all). Lifts half ton. Another feature my techs like is it can be switched to quickly pull the chain tight without going through the gear. Cool feayure. So, in three days every truck has one. I even have one guy had me order on for his home shop. Tools like this save money in man hours, and risk of injury lifting heavy equipment. Great value at less that $200. I saw it online for a few bucks less but Prime shipping was worth the 3 bucks. The guys were so happy to start using these hoists right away.

With lifting tools, rigging and supports (i.e. jack stands) I'll pass on bargain (cheap) knock-offs from unknown suppliers (including HF). Although Jet is far from being a premium tool supplier, they are nonetheless a large company with a long history of sales, phone support and service centers within the US. Thus I'm more comfortable with their basic tool design, their ability to enforce quality control over their Chinese suppliers and the certainty of parts availability and service in the future.In my first test lift with the lever-hoist it operated with exceptional smoothness (up and down) -- likely due to the needle bearings used in its design. As well, I like the dual (opposed) steel (not iron) pawls used in its ratchet mechanism. The fit and finish of the lifting head, chain and hooks are quite good. The hooks are ductile steel as well.The manual is sparse but do read it for the maintenance tips and safety advice. The discussion and illustration of the hoist's clutch (or brake) is quite poor, but the design is quite simple so one can work through it with just a bit of common sense. It always amazes me that companies like Jet don't seem to read their own manuals for clarity and proper Chinese to English translation.Although roughly 3 times the cost of the cheapest similarly rated hoists, you do get a lot of tool for the money at its Amazon price point. Finally, with lifting equipment do register your purchase, just in case of a future recall or service bulletin. Takes about 5 minutes on Jet's website.

I previously bought another chain hoist off of Amazon and ended up returning it because it was so cheaply made. This one is much smaller, has metal gears, and is overall much nicer. If you can, spend the extra couple dollars and buy this product rather than the cheap ones.

These are a great come along for the price. But if you have any problems down the road, parts are really hard to get. The lead time for parts can be months.

As soon as I opened the box I was in love. Quality tools are one of my pleasures in life. Question was, is this mass of steel able to work? Oh yes, and quite satisfactorily. It's first job was to hold a tension point on an errant tree we were extracting, and it did very well. Since then, I've used it in automotive applications, and used it to raise trusses onto a two story building. This should be a tool that will last me the rest of my life. The racheting mechanism is smooth, and very predictable regarding how much you need to apply to achieve your goals. Also, very little physical effort is needed to operate it. I'm quite satisfied.

Works great for its size. Quality.

Just bought my second be after about 7 years with my first. Comes in very handy as a heavy equipment mechanic. Well worth the cost