Jack stand fail

[Mudrig150 298]

I was working under my John Deere 317, under the rear end trying to find the drain plug. With one tire off, and the axle on jack stands, I THOUGHT it was secure. I slid out from underneath it, and barely leaned on it and the dang thing fell off the stands onto the floor. As it turns out, the stand on the side with no tire I was using was horribly bent and it completely fell over when I leaned on it. The lugs also fell out so the other tire came loose. That could've ended in disaster, especially since the rear end weighs well over 150 pounds... My frail little teen body would've definitely been crushed (I can only lift like 60 pounds). My brother and grandfather were there but not in the shed, and they were out for an hour and a half, so good thing I didn't get crushed.

[peter lena 8,616]

very lucky on that, hope its a lesson well learned , years ago a friend lost his father in law  to a bumper jack. next time you will go over the DETAILS OF WORKING UNDER A  MACHINE  ,  think safe, pete

[bottjernat1 2,190]

Glad ur ok! Ive been working on my 1981 317. almost done with it. couldnt emagine it falling on me. I bet you had a change of pants on that one!

[EricF 589]

So many of us are trained to think (relatively) safe and never work under a vehicle supported by just a jack -- always use stands. But stands have their own safety issues that get passed over or forgotten. I'll always inspect the stands before putting them under the vehicle. Only takes a few seconds to check that nothing's bent or cracked, and they're latching correctly. A few seconds of inspection can save you.

 

That and always check that the stand is stable and has a good hold where the vehicle rests on it. I won't get under unless I've pushed and prodded a bit to make sure it's actually stable! Sometimes a jack or a stand can't safely stay located under a load by itself, but some scrap wood blocks or cribbing makes all the difference!

[WHNJ701 4,165]

I was taught once it's up on stands before you take the tires off, give it a good shake ams shove

[JCM 9,130]

I used jack stands for years working on my 70 Chevelle SS and on my 70 Dodge Challenger and always backed them up with 8-8-16 concrete blocks with 2 by stock to make up the difference,never can be to safe.

[Mudrig150 298]

So I inspected the stand and asked my pap, and as it turns out, that stand's failed before! The stupid thing bent and when he tried bending it back, the leg broke off, so he just welded it back together. I guess that stand's going in the trash.