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Thread: Pickup Bed Hoist

  1. #1
    Supporting Member Crusty's Avatar
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    Pickup Bed Hoist

    Does anyone here have actual experience with a pickup bed mounted hoist like this one? Was it more useful than it was a PITA? How much weight could you lift with it realistically? After using it for a while do you think it was a good purchase?

    Pickup Bed Hoist-bed-hoist.jpg

    I'm needing to get some lifting equipment because I'm getting too old to keep doing it like Fred Flintstone and this style looks useful without being too in the way. I do realize that in order to mount the base near the bed's wall where it's mostly out of the way that I'll have to mount it on a piece of plate which is bolted to the frame but that's doable for me. It looks to me like it could be useful hoisting things in the up to 500# range and I'm seriously thinking about buying one.

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    If you can't make it precise make it adjustable.

  2. #2
    Supporting Member Frank S's Avatar
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    Crustry you already answered my 2 questions or suggestions that I was going to offer.
    And yes they are quite useful being that it is a low mount type and not one up on a stalk high above the bed has both advantages and disadvantages
    Start with the advantages requires less mounting hardware, as the moment of inertia is closer to the base and frame of the truck , if so desired a tonneau cover can still be fitted to the bed. has a hydraulic jack for lifting like an engine hoist
    Disadvantages has limited height for lifting larger taller materials. does not have an electric winch for lifting materials which can be an advantage given a certain point of view.

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    Supporting Member Crusty's Avatar
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    I drive an old farm truck so "nice" isn't really a consideration for me.

    I've already become concerned about the lift issue and I see that for about $50 more I can get one on a taller pivot with a boat winch on the boom for taking up slack and additional lift height and I'm thinking this might be a better choice though it would be there sticking up in sight all the time. I've probably already answered that concern since I care little about how it looks. I just happen to have some 3/8" plate that I can bolt to the frame inside the bed and then the crane to the plate since the bed is only a little better than Reynolds aluminum in some places and I'd think that that would be an adequate support. A number of folks have even installed an electric ATV winch on them with success but I'm not ready to go there yet - will have to wait until it becomes a PITA to do that.
    If you can't make it precise make it adjustable.

  4. #4
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    Yes, they are very useful. BUT you've got to go to the trouble of cutting a hole in the truck bed and make a mount that fastens to the frame. I tried using mine mounted to the stock truck bed. NO GOOD. Then I used some 2.5" square tubing fastened to the truck frame. Then I used some 2" square tubing and a plate to make a mounting for the crane base. A couple of holes in the 2" gives me some adjustment for height. By using a block and tackle or else a winch you can make them a little easier to use to get over their limited range of lift.

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    I've got one that my Dad built it mounts in the 2 inch hitch receiver. I have the hitch receiver in the middle and I welded another 2 inch receiver out by the edge of the frame. The crane mounts on the outside edge about the same position as if it was in the bed. You can easily take it on and off. The tailgate has to be off to use it. I've only used it once to move a small millstone. If you want I can take some pictures. I think it would be much more convenient then having one mounted permanently in the bed of the truck.

  6. #6
    Supporting Member Crusty's Avatar
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    Thanks but I prefer to have it mounted so that no assembly is required to use it. A major reason for getting it is to minimize the amount of steel toting that I do.

    I understand that it needs to be mounted to the frame and that's my plan.
    If you can't make it precise make it adjustable.

  7. #7

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    These things are only as good as their mounting in the truck. I has one that I mounted in an old ranger and I must have done a good job because I moved a 12(?) inch x 48" Southbend twice with the cast iron base. The jack was handy because the bed was too heave to lift with the winch. Mine was the tall one.
    I kept the crane when I sold the Ranger and put it in an F150. That didn't work out so well , there is a lot of sheet metal back there and I didn't secure it as well as I should have.
    So yes they are very good but need to be anchored well.

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    Supporting Member Crusty's Avatar
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    Since going down carrying a heavy plate last week and getting my ass whupped I've decided that it's time to stop doing things the hard way and a pickup bed crane is one of the first steps down that path. I took a look at my frame rails and cross supports and it will be relatively easy to bolt a rectangle of 3/8" plate to a frame rail and cross supports and then bolt one of these cranes to it. I also checked and it's only about $70 to add an ATV winch in place of the boat winch and I'll likely do that on down the road. I think having independent lifting for the boom and the load could be useful getting some things aboard.

    Pickup Bed Hoist-bed-crane.jpg
    If you can't make it precise make it adjustable.

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    Crusty
    I bought one from Harbor Freight(not a fan) like the picture you posted last. I mounted it to a flat bed trailer to pick rock with for a retaining wall. I probably over loaded it at times but over about 8 yrs of use I have put 3 boat winches on it, then paid $100 for a hand winch with cast gears, bent the shaft the upper piece spins on, replaced it with some 1/4 wall tube. Pulley at the end of boom are to small so increased pulley diameter to 1 1/2 in. Now it works great, so yes I use it a lot and its worth spending the money for a good one.
    Last edited by newbi; Nov 15, 2019 at 02:24 PM.

  10. #10
    Supporting Member Crusty's Avatar
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    Thanks. I do understand and believe in buy once, cry once but social security doesn't leave piles of money lying around so I'll probably have to take the incremental improvement approach that you did. I do have a fair amount of scrap steel and a welder so it's doable. I'll look at that pivot base and reinforce it from the git go rather than waiting for it to bend. I think I can stitch some angle onto the outside and stiffen it quite a bit. I can make a bigger pulley too.

    That you've used yours for that many years is about all the recommendation that I need. Most things that I own and have had that long have been repaired or modified by me so I don't see that limitation as a deal breaker.
    Last edited by Crusty; Nov 16, 2019 at 09:03 AM.
    If you can't make it precise make it adjustable.

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