Ranger RP-20HD 20-Ton Shop Press

The RP-20HD's most useful feature is the one that sounds least impressive on a spec list: the hydraulic cylinder moves laterally across the frame. On a press with a fixed cylinder, lining the ram up with the work means moving the work — unclamping it, shifting the supports, re-checking that everything is square, and doing it again when it is a millimetre out. With a laterally adjustable cylinder you leave the workpiece where it sits and bring the ram to it.

That is a difference measured in setups per day rather than tons of force, and it is why this press is faster to use than its rating suggests. Anyone who has tried to press a bearing out of an awkwardly shaped housing while balancing it on two lengths of bar will recognise the problem immediately.

The Two-Stage Pump

The second design decision worth understanding is the two-stage hydraulic pump. A single-stage pump gives you one relationship between handle strokes and ram travel, and it has to be geared for force, which means the ram crawls the whole way down to the workpiece. Two stages split that: a fast, low-force stage closes the gap between ram and work in a handful of strokes, then the high-force stage takes over for the press itself.

What that saves is dead time. On a job where the ram has to travel several inches to reach the work and then move a fraction of an inch under load, the fast stage does the travelling and the slow stage does the pressing. It also makes fine control easier, because when the pump switches to the force stage each stroke moves the ram a small, predictable amount — which is what you want when you are seating a bushing rather than destroying one.

Reading the Gauge

A 4" diameter pressure gauge is built in, reading up to 20 tons. On a press, the gauge is not a nicety. Pressing operations have specified forces — a bearing that should seat at a certain load and does not is telling you something is misaligned or the bore is wrong, and the only way to hear that message is to watch the number rise. A 4" face is large enough to read from a working stance rather than requiring you to lean into the frame while it is loaded, which is exactly where you do not want your head.

Will It Fit?

The press stands 60.25" tall and 37" wide, on a base of 27.25" x 26". The working aperture is 24" between the rails, which is the number that decides whether a given part will actually go in — measure the widest thing you intend to press, not its diameter. Table height adjusts from 7.5" to 36.25", so the bolster can be set close under the ram for small work or dropped for a tall assembly, and the cylinder stroke is 5.5".

That 5.5" stroke is worth planning around. It is the total travel available in one pass, so on a deep press the table is repositioned to bring the work back into range rather than expecting the ram to reach. Shipping weight is 274 lbs.

Customer responsibility: a press stores an enormous amount of energy in a component immediately before that component lets go. Use a shield or a press guard, wear eye protection, keep bystanders clear of both sides, and never stand in line with the work. Nothing in the design of any press removes that obligation.

Frame and Table

The frame is heavy-duty steel, built so that the rails do not spread and the head does not deflect under load — a press that flexes wastes ram travel and, worse, lets the work move out of line under force. The table height is pin-adjustable through its range so it can be reset without dismantling anything, and two heavy-duty press plates are supplied for supporting the work across the rails.

Perfect For

Automotive repair shops doing bearings, bushings, ball joints, U-joints and pulleys as routine work. Machine and fabrication shops needing controlled force with a readable gauge. Fleet and agricultural workshops where a press failure means outsourcing a job and losing a day. Committed home and restoration garages with the floor space and the discipline to use a press safely.

What's in the Box

The press ships with its steel frame, the two-stage hydraulic pump and laterally moving cylinder, the built-in 4" gauge, the height-adjustable table, and two heavy-duty press plates. This listing does not itemise arbor plates, V-blocks or bearing splitters, so if you need those, ask us rather than assuming they are in the crate.

Specifications

Certification, Stated Honestly

This listing makes no third-party product-listing claim for the press, and we are not going to imply one. Presses in a commercial workplace are commonly covered by the employer's own guarding, inspection and safe-operating-procedure requirements rather than by a product listing, and some insurers require a fitted guard or shield before a press may be used. Check what your policy or your local jurisdiction expects before the press goes into service.

Shipping and Delivery

Ships by freight to the lower 48 states. Freight delivery is kerbside or to a dock, not inside the building, so you need to unload the pallet yourself or arrange terminal collection. Residential delivery carries a residential fee, quoted live at checkout with the freight. Inspect before you sign — a bent rail or a damaged cylinder is the kind of thing that must be recorded on the bill of lading at delivery, because once a clean bill is signed the claim becomes very hard to make.

Warranty

Ranger publishes a warranty statement covering its products and it governs this press. This listing states no term, so none is quoted here — ask us and we will send the current statement before you order. If the pump or the cylinder gives trouble, contact us first and leave the hydraulics intact. Opening a cylinder before a claim is assessed is the surest way to lose it.