Fam ily o w n ed b y en th u siasts sin ce 19 7 9

B U R K E ’ S
A u g u s t / S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 9
C O R N E R
[Bill Burke, the Colorado-based internationally known off road instructor, has decades of
experience in off road recovery techniques. In this column he focuses on the handiest
of recovery gear, the high lift jack –ed.]
I’ve used a Hi-Lift jack for over 40 years and have never, yep
never, had one break or fail to work! When I was a kid, construction
workers introduced me to the “Swamp Jack” and
these guys took all aspects of recovery seriously. We used the
Hi-Lift to fix hunting half-tracks, re-align grass rakes on airboats
and as a hand winch to get the trucks up slippery boat
ramps. We performed all of these precarious tasks in the
Everglade swamps with the cutest of critters (think “gator
bait”) waiting to capitalize on a silly human falling into the
murky tannic waters. Let’s share some of the Hi-Lift basics,
proper jack break-in and maintenance, and use of the Hi-Lift
as a hand winch.
The Hi-Lift Jack Company has been owned and operated
by the same family for over 100 years. The jack itself and the
various attachments are reliable, useful and safe -
if used according to the directions, lubricated and broken
in properly.
For any Hi-Lift jack the tested load is 7000 pounds and the
rated load is 4660 pounds. For hand winching the jack is
rated at 5000 pounds. These numbers represent the industry
standards for the safe use and rating of the HLJ. The rated lifting
load is reduced for the 60” jacks when working with the
top 12” of the jack. Other companies make similar lifting
jacks; my preference remains the Hi-Lift company’s models.
Remember that when we perform our stuck assessment
and calculate the mire factor the Gross Vehicle Weight of the
stuck vehicle may be over the 5000 lb rating of the Hi-Lift.
However, unless your Rover is dead-pan stuck the rolling
resistance is much less than the actual weight of the vehicle.
So do the 360 walk around and fulfill the stuck assessment
properly [see November ‘08 issue –ed].
In my Hi-Lift kit I carry an assortment of ¾” screw pin
shackles (bow or D type), 12 feet of 3/8” T-70 chain with
attached hold hooks, 30 (or more) feet of 3/8” synthetic winch
line (you could use 5/16”), two tree straps or rigging slings
(3”or 4” wide), a rolled up magazine of quality paper at least
80 pages (a green tree limb, 1” Schedule 80 PVC, or other
“bung” also works). I also carry accessories such as the Lift
Mate, Off Road Base and the Off Road Kit. If you carry just the
HLJ, it will only be useful in a limited number of situations;
with the aforementioned accessories your lifting and pulling
possibilities expand greatly.
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