Pickup hitch mounted hoists/engine lifts

[Scottl]

When do you use something like this?

I can't think of a use for it and I perpetually load and haul stuff on the bed of my pickup (flatbed).

At one time I saw a clean looking headache rack for a flatbed that was actually a light duty knuckle boom. Pretty neat I thought, but not all that useful without outriggers.

You guys ever used a crane on a service truck without outriggers? Go ahead- Try lifting 500 lbs 10 feet out. See what happens to your 15K lb truck lol.

The advertising pictures of these little hitch and pickup bed cranes lifting stuff is hilarious. "Look we lifted a 100 lb welder 6" shy of getting it on the tailgate!" "Look we lifted a generator a 12 year old girl could set in your bed!"

A resourceful scrapper friend of mine has a an old Peterbilt cut down to a single axle tractor he uses to haul weird 5th wheel trailers that are built for wrong to be hauled by double axle trucks. He added a wet kit to it, a pair of hydraulic winches and outriggers behind the cab. He built a gin pole setup with a 5th wheel pin and pads that locate it on the frame. He uses that regularly to self load messed up trailers and recover vehicles off the road. Scale that idea down to a pickup with a gooseneck ball in the bed and I think you'd have something worthwhile.

But really, 99.9% of the population just uses a tilt deck trailer with a winch to pick up craigslist deals that the seller can't load. They might even haul their skidsteer with forks or just bring their mini excavator out, leave it chained to the trailer and just load whatever it is with the bucket.

Like when I bought my scissor lift I wasn't sure if my trailer had the clearance to load it so I rented a scissor lift trailer from the local rental yard for 2 hours for $40.

All much simpler solutions that some clunky, borderline useless hitch/bed crane thing. You see a newer pickup with one of those and it's like the badge of a Harbor Freight platinum club grandpa.

The one linked by dalmatiangirl61 did have an outrigger of sorts and for loads of 500# or less a simple trailer jack will do.

A friend had a work truck used to service heavy equipment and it did have an engine hoist type of deal with an electric winch. No outriggers were provided. It was however much more heavily built than a typical pickup truck.

 

[Spud]

When do you use something like this?

I can't think of a use for it and I perpetually load and haul stuff on the bed of my pickup (flatbed).

At one time I saw a clean looking headache rack for a flatbed that was actually a light duty knuckle boom. Pretty neat I thought, but not all that useful without outriggers.

You guys ever used a crane on a service truck without outriggers? Go ahead- Try lifting 500 lbs 10 feet out. See what happens to your 15K lb truck lol.

The advertising pictures of these little hitch and pickup bed cranes lifting stuff is hilarious. "Look we lifted a 100 lb welder 6" shy of getting it on the tailgate!" "Look we lifted a generator a 12 year old girl could set in your bed!"

A resourceful scrapper friend of mine has a an old Peterbilt cut down to a single axle tractor he uses to haul weird 5th wheel trailers that are built for wrong to be hauled by double axle trucks. He added a wet kit to it, a pair of hydraulic winches and outriggers behind the cab. He built a gin pole setup with a 5th wheel pin and pads that locate it on the frame. He uses that regularly to self load messed up trailers and recover vehicles off the road. Scale that idea down to a pickup with a gooseneck ball in the bed and I think you'd have something worthwhile.

But really, 99.9% of the population just uses a tilt deck trailer with a winch to pick up craigslist deals that the seller can't load. They might even haul their skidsteer with forks or just bring their mini excavator out, leave it chained to the trailer and just load whatever it is with the bucket.

Like when I bought my scissor lift I wasn't sure if my trailer had the clearance to load it so I rented a scissor lift trailer from the local rental yard for 2 hours for $40.

All much simpler solutions that some clunky, borderline useless hitch/bed crane thing. You see a newer pickup with one of those and it's like the badge of a Harbor Freight platinum club grandpa.

Would help me load/unload my high-lift pallet jack. The occassional small stuff like the heavy cart I have for my granite surface plate or my steam cleaner or pressure washer.

 

[Spud]

Mine will clear the bed, depending on how high it is raised.
Very easy to make a post a bit higher if you need that.
I've also put a post on the back of my lathe bed for lifting chucks etc, with the same crane. Also another post on that flat area at the other end of my BP clone arm.
I bolted the strengthening bracket to the side of the truck frame.
It's very useful !
Bob

Harbor Freight has what looks like an identical one. Wonder if the same company supplying to Northern Tool also makes the HF version.

Harbor Freight's version

1/2 Ton Capacity Pickup Truck Bed Crane

Amazing deals on this 1/2Ton Capacity Pickup Truck Crane at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Hard to tell from that pic, and no mfr name to research, but Adam's build was similar and it rotated at the center bolt of the flange under the hyd cylinder.

BassPro shops carry the crane seen in the first picture. Brand name is Viking Solutions.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/viking-solutions-rack-jack-utility-lift?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=BPS%7CShopping%7CSmart%7CHunting%7CHunting%7CNAud%7CTopPerf%7CNMT&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsoycBhC6ARIsAPPbeLvUdntJSTxEB6WanYQu1pPa5kQOx2XqMDIBKpad08t1rvFPQc8QrAIaAitMEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[john.k]

Users of these lifts need to be aware that if used on a slope ,the load can run downhill out of controll as soon as its free to swivel.

 

[cyanidekid]

BassPro shops carry the crane seen in the first picture. Brand name is Viking Solutions.

I wouldn't trust the one in the first pic to lift anything I couldn't. total garbage, so much wrong there....

 

[fciron]

Back in the horse and wagon days freighters used to use an A frame swivel hoist that attached to the wagon frame. Perhaps a modern version mounted to the hitch with stabilizing feet (trailer jacks?) that help transfer some of the weight to the ground might work. It would need a (removable?) winch at the front of the bed to operate. In use the rope/cable first lifts the load by swinging the frame upward and then as it hits a stop it swivels the frame toward the truck bed. Once over the bed you reverse the winch to lower the load. It does require some sort of control over the pivoting motion so the load doesn't slam down in either direction.

Much simpler than an engine hoist.

A-frame needs to pivot inside the bed if you want to put an object in the bed. If you winch it past TDC your load will just fall into the bed.

 

[dkmc]

Harbor Freight has what looks like an identical one. Wonder if the same company supplying to Northern Tool also makes the HF version.

All this crap is made in the same Ding Dow "truck bed crane' factory. Or the Ding Dow you-name-the-tool, factory, all the same,maybe slight variations to suit customer wants, different paint and graphics. I was offered one new in the box 10 years ago and bought it really really cheap. Haven't taken it out of the box yet.

 

[moonlight machine]

Don't want to install a liftgate because that would cut my payload capacity by half, so looking at hitch mounted engine hoists.

Like below:






Or this:



Anyone have the hoist seen in the first two pictures? How effective is it? Only looking to lift stuff under 500lbs. It is lighter, more compact and costs less than the last hoist in the last picture. The only issue is that there doesn't appear to be a way to rotate the load into the bed.

Get a real truck and put a lift gate on it. I damn sure will never own another truck without a lift gate. I use mine all the time and sure don't want to deal with setting up all that crap every time I need to load a heavy item.

 

[Spud]

Get a real truck and put a lift gate on it. I damn sure will never own another truck without a lift gate. I use mine all the time and sure don't want to deal with setting up all that crap every time I need to load a heavy item.

My plan is to get a F550 or ram5500 in the not to distant future, but for the time being I have to make do with my 2500HD.

 

[DanielG]

I was looking at the Spitzlift ones a while back. Looks well designed and it's made in the US.

 

[86turbodsl]

I built one similar to Abom's before he did. I used a Horror Freight truck bed swivel crane on a fabricated stand cantilevered off the receiver. I used a trailer jack on the end with the crane to stabilize to ground level, and a tie bar from the crane body to the bed tailgate pin. I use it to load full oil barrels into my truck bed. It works pretty good and there's enough friction at the pivot so i don't worry about the barrel swinging around too much. The winch mounted on it helps to adjust for variable ground conditions.

 

[Overland]

I built one similar to Abom's before he did. I used a Horror Freight truck bed swivel crane on a fabricated stand cantilevered off the receiver. I used a trailer jack on the end with the crane to stabilize to ground level, and a tie bar from the crane body to the bed tailgate pin. I use it to load full oil barrels into my truck bed. It works pretty good and there's enough friction at the pivot so i don't worry about the barrel swinging around too much. The winch mounted on it helps to adjust for variable ground conditions.

Photos, or it never happened !
Bob