Hi-Lift Jack Company

Hi-Lift Jack Company was established in 1895 at Bloomfield, Greene County, Indiana, by Philip John Harrah, and is one of the oldest companies in the state; it is still owned and run by the fifth generation of the Harrah family. Among Harrah's first products were a combination anvil-vise-drill tool and the Kalamity Kar Kit, a box of supplies for the early motorist containing a pail for petrol, a siphon, a steel tow strap and a waterproof sheet for working under the car; he also invented a casket display cart, a folding tea wagon and a seven-use hammer-hatchet-wirecutter-pliers.

The jack itself dates from 1905, when it was sold as the Automatic Combination Tool. A steel beam with a row of holes and a lever-operated climbing mechanism, it came to be known as the Handyman or Sheepherder's Jack before being renamed the Hi-Lift Jack; the design lifts, winches, clamps, pulls and pushes, and typical beams are four, five or six feet long. Its long travel and portability made it the standard jack for farms and, later, for off-road drivers, and a Hi-Lift on a bracket is a familiar sight on the bonnet or roof rack of expedition Land Rovers; Brownchurch's 2011 price list offered the 4 ft jack with a Loc-Rac, a rear mount kit and a 90/110 adapter.

The company, also known as the Bloomfield Manufacturing Company, marked its centenary with a twenty-foot, 2,980 lb cast-iron replica jack outside its works on Spring Street, Bloomfield, billed as the world's largest Hi-Lift. The modern range includes all-cast and cast-and-steel jacks, the X-Treme, first responder and UTV models, a P. J. Harrah signature edition, and off-road accessories such as the Lift-Mate wheel lifter, off-road base, winch clamp and vehicle mounts, alongside the Handle-All multi-tool, the Slide-N-Lock tie-down rail and the Post-Popper post puller.