# My take on the Harbor Freight trailer jack bow press...



## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

That is the nicest trailer jack press I've ever seen.
Good job!!!
Should give you years of use.

Allen


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## leoncrandall74 (Apr 9, 2017)

That's one sweet press!! Bad ass build[emoji106] 

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## douglasjwood (Apr 19, 2017)

Very nice!

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## ppkaprince98 (Mar 13, 2008)

Nice job.


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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

I figured out what was going on...here are some more pics oriented correctly...


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

Yes Sir that's a very nice press!


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## matlocc (Sep 29, 2009)

Do the legs move as the press moves?


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## streetrods (Mar 4, 2010)

Well Done. Can you post a link to the specific jack you purchased?

Thanks


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## streetrods (Mar 4, 2010)

And are you using shaft collars to hold the finger shaft in place?


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## someguyincali (Feb 23, 2015)

Sweet!


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## kc hay seed (Jul 12, 2007)

Good job!!


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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

I'm not sure of the specific jack - its the only square one they got - its good for 3500 lbs - will certainly press any bow I'll ever own!!! 

Yup - the way I built this the legs do move with the press

and Yes- I just used 1/2 inch shaft collars from Menards to keep the shafts from falling oout of the square tube.


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## clay target guy (May 29, 2017)

I saw this after I ordered my steel the other day for a self build EZ press. Wish I had seen this first.....lol
Here is a link to the HF trailer jack for anyone else wanting to do this build.
https://www.harborfreight.com/3500-lb-capacity-drop-leg-trailer-jack-3961.html


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## gjs4 (Jan 10, 2006)

Would be awesome if you could provide a little more of a tutorial on how you built this


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## thirdhandman (Nov 2, 2009)

Looks like it would work great. Hard to tell from the pictures. What happens if a limb breaks or a riser cracks? Do you have the bow strapped in some how? Can you completely take the bow apart to change limbs?


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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

OK guys - pretty straight forward of a build...Like I mentioned, I started with a HF trailer jack. I think the item number was mentioned a few posts back. First I masked off parts I didn't want to paint on the jack and hit the rest with a can of gloss black paint. Then I buzzed off the foot of the lower part of the jack with a grinder and cutting wheel - the real thin cutting wheels walk right through steel. Next I got a chunk of 3 inch square tube and cut it down the center to get what you see in the pic to hold the shaft which go through the fingers. 









I water jetted out the fingers based on a design on AT here. I tweaked the design a bit since I have an Insanity and wanted a lot of room for those big cams.









I just put a 1/2 inch hole in the fingers and ran a 1/2 inch rod from Menards through it to hold them. It went all the way through the walls of the square tube. 

Drilled and bolted on both pieces of square tube and then drilled and bolted the unistrut feet.

Most of this stuff you'll find right at Menards, I had to source the 3 inch square tube locally from a steel/metal supplier - I think I paid 10 bucks for a 10 inch piece. I cut it down to size myself. 









This design is very similar to "Bowbenders" and also "92Safari" - both guys are on here and a search of "DIY bow press" will keep you reading for a solid week!!

Like I said - very easy to put together - very inexpensive to build, it took me a few weeks to get done but I only worked for a few minutes here and there as time allowed. 

About 10 cranks and my Insanity is fully pressed, I put new strings on already and am learning to yolk tune- very cool things!!! I couldn't be happier with this press!!


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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

Oh and yes - I can completely let down my Insanity to change limbs. The bow is not strapped down or held other than what you see...and to answer the question if a riser cracks or a limb breaks - I buy a new bow!!!


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## azscorpion (Feb 12, 2010)

Sorry for my ignorance, but do you think it would press my Hoyt Carbon Defiant, or would I need to make adapters?


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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

yup - I think it would press it all day!! build one and try 'er


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## dtrkyman (Jul 27, 2004)

That's nicer than an ez green!


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## nuts&bolts (Mar 25, 2005)

azscorpion said:


> Sorry for my ignorance, but do you think it would press my Hoyt Carbon Defiant, or would I need to make adapters?


ABSOLUTELY not. A fingertip press will ONLY work on the Hoyt Carbon Defiant with limb tip adapters. The EZ Press from LCA has Hoyt Approved Adapters. If you build a trailer jack press, and you make DIY fingers...the Unigram adapter works GREAT. If you press the Hoyt Defiant without limb tip adapters, the bow WILL pop out. Maybe not the first or second time you press the bow. But, the third or fourth time you press the bow (was tweaking a peep sight to fit a student)...the BOW will pop out. Ask me how I know.


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## RatherBArchery (Oct 31, 2006)

ANOTHER option for a trailer jack with a tighter tolerance than the HF jacks PLUS......... they are end crank 
Either find a trailer parts store locally, not tractor supply, or type in RAM 5,000 end crank drop leg, square tube jacks. I get the Ram jacks locally for $60 each and the tolerances are much better then the HF jacks which sag a lot more once extended. The crank will stick out the end and with a little fancy hacksaw work can be made to operate like the bought press crank handle. Other then that you can follow the above instructions and build your own press........


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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

Hey Rather...yup your right - I shopped a little locally and online for a drop leg jack and for the money - that Harbor Freight one is hard to beat. (I paid like 55 bucks) For the number of times I'm going to press my bow I figured I could put up with a few very tiny issues. I first made this and just used the pin that comes with the jack - that was really wobbly, I took that out and now have a 5/8 nut and bolt ran through the hole - when you tighten that up it takes away a lot of the wobble. Lets face it guys - these presses aren't rocket science - all I needed was a way to securely grab those limb tip pillow blocks on an Insanity and I was good to go - the other thing here is I'm only pressing my bow - which means I crank it out 4 or 5 turns, set the bow in the fingers and crank it back 4 or 5 turns and I'm pressed. Done. 

This press will extend all the way to change limbs on my rig - not sure about any others - when I get a new bow, I'll worry about it then. I can always jet out some different fingers also. 

To the previous post - sure you can always make improvements on something, I knew I could make this work and could get all my parts locally and come up with a way to press my rig. 

There are a lot of guy's presses on here which are a lot fancier and a lot more versatile - like I say - I knew I could make this thing work for me and if needed in the future I could tweak it.

I just wanted to show the forum what could be done with a relatively easy to find and readily available part, a little spray paint, and unistrut.


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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

Check these out - this was where I was a few months ago...stupid as it looks - it worked really, really well!! I would just set the limb tip pillow blocks in the wooden saddles of the fingers and crank - pressed it dozens of times without issue. Its just some red oak planks I had which I glued together and drilled holes to mount. 1/4 inch angle iron to hold them and bolted to each end of the trailer jack. Kinda a hurried take off of that pipe clamp press that's been on here. I know I know it looks ridiculous - but like I say it worked fantastic!!


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## RatherBArchery (Oct 31, 2006)

*My HF press*

Yup, built using the HF presses too. Just prefer using the "Ram" jacks to eliminate the sag. Of course I mounted my arms high so the bow can be loaded the other direction but your way works too........
The top one is adjustable with an additional slider tube and the bottom press less adjustable but still works fine for home use.
ALSO, I shorten the crank handle on these jacks so it winds quicker.........


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## IndianaOutfiter (Jun 14, 2017)

Good looking press Ratherb.


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## RatherBArchery (Oct 31, 2006)

Thanks!!!


indianaoutfiter said:


> good looking press ratherb.


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## colic (Sep 23, 2014)

Sorry for posting on an old thread, but this one prolly deserves a bump anyway.

I had a question. I've built the same jack press with the harbor freight square jack. When I'm pressing my bow I feel like it takes way to much cranking pressure as it starts to stack up. I'm pretty sure the culprit is the press force causing a "bowing" of the square metal tubes inside one another causing massive metal on metal friction inside the jack.

Has anyone found a simple way to smooth this thing out and mitigate all that friction?


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## colic (Sep 23, 2014)

Nevermind.. I figured out what was wrong.

I think some metal schmoo got in a bearing surface and chewed it up real good. I ended up taking it all apart, cleaning it up, refinishing the surfaces and putting some new spacers where the manufacturer did not and now it cranks pretty easy. I still think that slop could be taken up, maybe with a plastic bearing, or maybe with a better mounting system. That would make it turn real easy. For another day, I guess.


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## Aescano (Dec 29, 2016)

Great job. How hard is it to work on the bow with the riser coming outta the top


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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

Not hard at all - I've pressed my Insanity about a hundred times with a set of new strings an d learning to yolk tune it this past summer - it was no problem at all...its all what ya want - my neighbor buddy has a press with a little servo motor on it that actuates it with a foot peddle - pretty cool!! I'd never go that far - but to each his own...


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## Helanbak (Aug 27, 2017)

Trailer jack is a great idea


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## gohunt7 (Jul 28, 2016)

awesome build may have to try that.


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## survivalistd (Jun 26, 2017)

Nice work!!

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## Gadawg11 (Jun 3, 2015)

Wow awesome job


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## Gadawg11 (Jun 3, 2015)

Tag


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## RatherBArchery (Oct 31, 2006)

colic said:


> Sorry for posting on an old thread, but this one prolly deserves a bump anyway.
> 
> I had a question. I've built the same jack press with the harbor freight square jack. When I'm pressing my bow I feel like it takes way to much cranking pressure as it starts to stack up. I'm pretty sure the culprit is the press force causing a "bowing" of the square metal tubes inside one another causing massive metal on metal friction inside the jack.
> 
> Has anyone found a simple way to smooth this thing out and mitigate all that friction?


I see you fixed your problem but if you look at my press I added the rigid caster under the end that could sag to eliminate that problem. Again, I use Ram trailer jacks now that are built to tighter tolerances for that reason, no more wheels under that end.....


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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

I see what your talking about - - - If you look right at the beginning of this thread I show what I did. I ran a 5/8 bolt through the holes in the extension pieces. Tighten a 5/8 nut on the bottom of it - good and tight! This firms up the last two pieces of the jack and it hardly rattles around at all while cranking/pressing. I threw out the hitch pin that comes with the jack right away because it did make it kind of rattle when I pressed/un-pressed. 

A bolt will make it nice and quiet!


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## rnbow (Sep 4, 2017)

Nice press - thanks for sharing your creativity with us.


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## fern2400 (Sep 24, 2017)

Wow, i will try to do one of these, can you tell where you got the spec for the finger?


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## oubackman (Feb 14, 2006)

Love this idea! Great job. looks very affordable & fairly easy to build. Thanks for the post!


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## itzfry (Mar 26, 2016)

Wow, awesome great work and walk through!


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## monty53 (Jun 19, 2002)

tag!


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## TargetPanic911 (Dec 2, 2017)

Looks amazing


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## DavidBLingo (Nov 24, 2008)

Tagged


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## XXLUNG (Dec 17, 2017)

Just finished building my harbor freight bow press. I did it without welding anything and it seems to work really well. I still need to get a 5/8" bolt and do away with the pin to tighten things up a bit. I plan on taking it all apart and painting it sometime but it is fine for now. I'm still debating on mounting it to a foldable steel saw horse or building legs for it to mount to a bench. This was a great diy project!


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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

Hey XXLUNG - Nice looking press!! Gotta love Harbor Freight!!

A no weld press is beyond cool!!


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## XXLUNG (Dec 17, 2017)

Thanks Fauxfly! No where near as good looking as yours but it does the job and I'm happy with it. I am thinking I will build a base for it so I can mount it to a bench. Something like yours. Love this diy section!


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## KyleD88 (Jul 17, 2017)

So freaking cool!


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## Weaklink741 (Oct 16, 2015)

Very nice presses!! You guys are an inspiration; I'm going to have to give it a shot..... Thx!!


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## msailor (Feb 3, 2011)

Fauxfly said:


> Check these out - this was where I was a few months ago...stupid as it looks - it worked really, really well!! I would just set the limb tip pillow blocks in the wooden saddles of the fingers and crank - pressed it dozens of times without issue. Its just some red oak planks I had which I glued together and drilled holes to mount. 1/4 inch angle iron to hold them and bolted to each end of the trailer jack. Kinda a hurried take off of that pipe clamp press that's been on here. I know I know it looks ridiculous - but like I say it worked fantastic!!
> 
> View attachment 6081121
> 
> ...


I did this. Didn't turn out so well...


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## ory66 (Jan 3, 2018)

very nice, great workmanship


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## leoncrandall74 (Apr 9, 2017)

You guys have inspired me! The jack and all the steel I need is on its way I should have it this week. A friend offered to let me use his welder so I'm gonna give it a try. Been a long time since I've welded but if I can make it happen for $100 I'm in.

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## Trcrow25 (Oct 23, 2016)

Looks good


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## hdbagger23 (Feb 26, 2018)

Nice work


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## Thumbs (Sep 8, 2013)

Great build


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## K.G.K. (Jun 27, 2011)

Tag

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## c_shoebox32 (Jan 31, 2018)

solid! will have to try this!


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## Bawhite287 (Mar 3, 2017)

Nice build, awesome idea. 


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## killerloop (Mar 16, 2008)

Funny.. thought you said harbor frieght









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## Fauxfly (Apr 19, 2011)

Good Eye killer... I put the whole thing together with a jack from Harbor Freight. That little sticker is a little American Flag and the other one is an "Extreme bowstrings" decal - I bought a set of strings from him a few months prior - 

Again - nice catch - kinda gives the whole thing a little more legitimacy though...


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## killerloop (Mar 16, 2008)

Fauxfly said:


> Good Eye killer... I put the whole thing together with a jack from Harbor Freight. That little sticker is a little American Flag and the other one is an "Extreme bowstrings" decal - I bought a set of strings from him a few months prior -
> 
> Again - nice catch - kinda gives the whole thing a little more legitimacy though...


Indeed!!!

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## GaHunt&Fish (Mar 11, 2018)

Water jetted

Super easy build






Brb, running to home depot to pick up my $100k cnc waterjet i ordered. 






Looks great!

I've actually got a friend that does granite countertops and I throw him a lot of work I'm sure I could get some free machine time in now that I think about it


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