I'm thinking of getting a block and tackle to help with stripping the Sierra esp taking out the engine and 'box. Anybody got any idea what weight in kg that would be. I plan to use this for other stuff again so it could be useful to have. I was thinking in the 1000kg one.

dont know how much an engine and box weighs but it wont be any more than 150kg
1000kg would be more than ample

1000kg one will safely and easily lift the car off the ground (assuming the roof beam, frame is man enough).

They already have a built in safety margin, so picking one say 1.5 times stronger than the heaviest thing you will ever want to lift is reasonable IMO.

Problem with a really big one is it will be unweildy and heavy to mount.

I bought one from Netto/Lidl (can't remember) 500Kg capacity, electric hoist/winch for £40.

It had no problems at all lifting my crossflow+'box out, not the kind of tool I'll be using week in/week out but nice to have ready. It beats lifting the engine out with a fencepost and some rope

Check out the Netto/Lidl/Aldi sites, they'll no doubt be on sale again at some point

machine mart do winches starting at £12+Vat for a 600lb rating. I've used one a couple of times without problem. It needs more overhead room than the crane though, so beware if you have a low gge ceiling.

Gary

The cheap £12 winch is not intended for lifting though. It is intended for pulling things ( boats cars etc. ) onto trailers.
Life is a risk, how big is up to you!

I got one of those block and tackle things off ebay for fairly cheap and it worked ok for getting the engine out the sierra. Garage creaked and groaned a bit though.

I went and got a 2 tonne one as it was only a couple of quid dearer than the 1 tonne so I thought why not? Answer: you have to pull the little chains twice as far and it takes ages

[Edited on 9/2/06 by dave_w11]