Nope I didn't need a transmission jack. I used a floor jack, and when I was rebuilding I just clamped the transmission down on a work bench. It took me a good 10 hours to pull it. I used a lot of pb blaster, and even had to cut the exhaust off. Most of that time was trouble shooting creative ways to get all the bolts off.

And yeah, I imagine removing the engine with the trans would've been easier, but it is possible to remove just the transmission and rebuild with no other special tools besides a 30mm deep socket (12pt, thin walls... hard to find in Idaho).