The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Jib hoist on a truck?

Anyone on here have any type of hoist or crane setup on their truck? Lately I've had a couple situations where I really needed a hoist to lift either a welder or furnace, you name it. Ive been looking at something like this http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200619596_200619596

My thoughts were mounting one on my rear bumper which is 4x6x.25" wall thick square tube. Along with some additional brackets to support the base, so I can remove it when I want to

How about something like this? http://westernmule.com/bumper_cranes.html That way you can leave it in place and it folds out of the way when you are not using it.

I have a cheap jib crane welded to a piece of 2 1/2" square tubing to fit in the receiver hitch of my 2500HD pickup. The Vestil model listed looks a lot better than the cheap one that I have. I don't use it often because I have loaders, forklifts and an old gin pole truck for lifting stuff. But occasionally it is nice to back up to something and swing it into the pickup. The price looks attractive until you add $130 freight to it. I can load my little cheapie one by hand. This one weighs enough that I would have to use a forklift to get it into the receiver hitch.

Ken, are you talking about something like the ones that HF sells?
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-capacity-pickup-truck-crane-with-cable-winch-61522.html

I've thought about getting one of those for the once a year
that I might use it. Couldn't hardly buy the materials to
make one for that kind of money.
Wonder if your mounting point would be solid enough with a
Class III-IV receiver? Seems like it would be an orful lot
of leverage on that little square tube when loaded.
dg

I would think a Class V rated at 1200 lbs. tongue weight would handle the 1000 lbs.

I'm about to fab up a 20-foot tripod-type gin pole setup to attach to the 3-point hitch on my Massey-Ferguson 180 tractor. I'll use a 12 volt Warn winch with a 3-sheave block and tackle and 3/8" cable to do the lifting. That should handle just about any lifting chores around the farm, particularly with 1,000 lbs. of counterweights hung on the front bumper of the tractor that has an 8K lb. gross weight to begin with.
Jerry

My 2500HD has a class V receiver on it. Here is a picture of it pulling a 550 parts truck I bought. The trip was a real fiasco. A solenoid went out so I mounted a hand winch that I bought at a going out of business sale in Germany in November of 2013. After winching the truck up on a hot day in August in Houston, my trailer marker lights went out. I bought a roll of wire at Walmart and jerry rigged it. When they built the trailer about 10 years ago, one of the wires was placed between a crossmember and the wood flooring. It picked a Saturday night about half way between Houston and Fredericksburg to cause a short.

https://plus.google.com/photos/1081...3665610642&oid=108197707187186692269

Even though the hitch is rated at 1,200 lbs tongue weight and 18,000 towing capacity, I have no concerns with the jib hoist. Originally I had it on a 2000 GMC with a class III receiver and it worked fine. I have been trading pickups every 3 years. I think my 09 was the first one to have a class V receiver.

The hoist is one that I bought from one of the traveling tool trucks that come around ever so often. They set up at the American Legion building which is right next door to us. They are a lot like HF. A little good stuff and a lot of not so good stuff.

I was even considering the lighter Vestil 500-1000lbs crane as well. Im triyng to avoid a hitch mounted one, since Id rather be able to swing the load directly into the bed. I was merely thinking of making some thick L brackets that bolt in to create a surface area to mount the base to.

Saw a youtube video where a guy punched a hole in the bumper in
line with the frame horn and bolted the 2" receiver to it. That
put the HF lift off to the side and out of the tinny bed floor.
Don't see how those cranes bolted to the bed floor ever worked
to begin with without some 'serious' reinforcing plates on
both sides of the bed pan. Even then I would think that it
would bend up the pan with a full load on it. As I said
before, that's an orful long and powerful lever arm when
you have a 1/2 ton of weight hanging from the end.
dg

Denny, I'm sure, when properly done, they reinforce them. Similar to a fifth wheel installation.

That's the problem Mark, most of them I've seen were not
properly installed. All that is supplied with the cheaper
cranes are a couple pieces of angle iron.

Don't know what they do to install a fifth wheel but I'll bet
it's mounted off the frame and not hung on the few bolts that
hold the bed down.

By the way, I have no intention of installing one of these on
any of my trucks, just curious about them.
dg

Back before receivers, I had my jib crane mounted inside the bed about 3 feet from the front. I put a piece of truck frame, which is 10" C channel 110,000 psi heat treated. I welded nuts to the C channel to accommodate bolts from the top. I welded a rod crosswise across the bolts to make sort of wing nuts out of the bolts. It never went any wheres. But I have had a cover on the last 3 or 4 pickups I drove and that is no longer an option.

I am thinking about putting a jib crane somewhere on the front of my tilt trailer. Right at the moment I have my winch on a 2" receiver on the front of my trailer so I can move it. My winch will pull a 2 ton truck onto the trailer with a snatch block with all the tires flat. But there are are always times when it would be nice to swing something onto the trailer.

https://plus.google.com/photos/1081...2045519218&oid=108197707187186692269

I was really looking at the Vestil model until I figured out it would be over $500 with freight and tax. I wonder what Northern retail stores sell them for?

You don't need a crane Ken, just bring the Hyster alone on the
trailer looks like it could load anything you want.

Why not a Vestil, 1000 to 2000lb is only $370. Heck the cheapo
at HF is $170 and from what I've seen of you over the years,
you've never skimped on tools before.

I like the way that Vestil is built better than the cheaper
ones and you can get it in galvanized finish for the same
price.
If-----I were, and I'm not, looking to put one in the back of
my truck that's the route I'd go.

Speaking of jib cranes on trailers, there are dozens of
youtube videos of guys mounting them on trailers. The ones on
the outside would interest me the most. Simple enough that
you could fab a mount at all four corners and simply move the
crane where you wanted it with a little thought into the
fasteners, like the wing nuts you mentioned.

dg