I purchased the Harbor Freight 2 Ton Hoist several months ago and it has been a good addition to the shop. I use it to lift all sorts of heavy tools and workpieces (no engines). I did a short video review on it and the link is below.
Great video and thanks for the review. I have the 1-ton version and it also has been very useful. It came with the purchase of my lathe and mill and the owner threw it in for $50. This little hoist easily lifts either the lathe or the mill and they each weigh about 900 pounds. On a smooth concrete floor I can easily and safely move my equipment around. As you stated in the video if there are cracks, holes or depressions in the rolling surface you can get "stuck". Then it is much safer to have two people to move the hoist and load; one person to pull and one person to stabilize the suspended load with a couple of taglines. I love that it folds up to such a small footprint as well.
I have both the 1 ton and 2 ton and I use them a lot. There is a link mechanism between the Jack handle and the power piston, just two metal straps that link the two operations together and I have had both of mine wear out and had to machine new ones. I use mine a lot as I sell Grizzly machines at a huge discount and I am moving something almost every day.
I have the exact same lift, probably fabricated by the same barefoot 9 year old, however mine is painted red and marketed here by our equivalent of HF, which is 'supercheap auto'. I'd hate to be without it but I've often been annoyed by the arrangement of the legs, the gap between the legs at the column end is too small for it to straddle the engine stand that I bought at the same time, so getting an engine or other heavy item from the lift to the stand is difficult. Also not wide enough to come right up to one end of my workbench, I can only put things on the bench with the boom extended. One of these days- probably when I absolutely have to- I'll modify the base to solve this issue.