The farm jack (also known by its federally registered brand names as the HANDYMAN jack or HI-LIFT jack) is a versatile mechanical tool that can be put to a wide range of uses. Originally invented some time around 1905 by P.J. Harrah and sold as the Automatic Combination Tool, the basic design has remained largely unchanged to this day. HI-LIFT Jack Company history web page
The farm jack is characterized by rugged, simple construction. It comprises a steel beam with a series of equally spaced holes along its length, and a hand operated mechanism which can be moved from one end of the beam to the other through the use of a pair of climbing pins. Typical sizes for the farm jack are 4 feet, 5 feet and 6 feet, the size referring to the length of the beam.
The jack's versatility stems from the fact that it can be used for such applications as lifting, winching, clamping, pulling and pushing. It is this versatility, along with the long travel it offers and its relative portability, which make the farm jack so popular with off road drivers.
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Famous quotes containing the words farm and/or jack:
“Wind goes from farm to farm in wave on wave,
But carries no cry of what is hoped to be.
There may be little or much beyond the grave,
But the strong are saying nothing until they see.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“The history of medicine is the history of the unusual.”
—Robert M. Fresco, and Jack Arnold. Prof. Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll)