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Lifting heavy things

That crane looks to be a near twin to mine--I got it at a flea market but I'm pretty sure its a Harbor Freight one...
I agree about swapping the winch out for a worm gear type or brake winch--those hand cranked ones with no brake can spin the handle at 5000 rpms while a heavy load drops,and can remove your hand or arm if you are dumb enough to try grabbing the handle..(don't ask! :blush:)..

I would like to find or make one like this to put on the 3 point hitch on my Sears Suburban--the tractor will fit in spots you'd never get a full sized truck near,like in a shed..my tractors,trucks and garage stuff 056.jpg
 
I got mine from Northern, but Harbor sells the exact same one for a little less money.
But, in checking I discovered something. They still sell the small one I had on my old truck!

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-capacity-pickup-truck-crane-60732.html

I Do Not recommend that one. It has no winch, you just let the boom down, hook the chain as tight as you can and lift the boom. Often the boom will not lift the load all the way into the bed.
Then you have to put something under the load, let the boom back down, and rehook the chain higher in the boom.

Looking closer, that one is not quite the same as my old one. This one mounts through the bed into the frame. Plus the chain is fixed. Mine had a piece of angle iron that bolted to the corner of the bed upright and two weak looking hooks that were welded to that angle iron.
It never failed, but I watched it closely. Plus the chain on mine was much longer than this one, and had a slot in the end of the boom it hooked into.
It beat trying to muscle heavy stuff into the bed, but was a real pain to use.

BTW, speaking of receiver hitch cranes, they sell this one.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200672544_200672544
Probably more than you would want to pay, but might give you some fabbing ideas.

I also have a version of this one.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/ForEverlast-Hitch-Hoist/1089652.uts
The top half lifts off just below the winch, so you can leave the base in the hitch and still drive. Mine has a foot that drops down and has a pin to lock it. That takes the load off the hitch.
I used mine few times to load deer I had killed into the truck. Mine had a stupid design flaw. Instead of a pulley and cable, it had a strap and a smooth, non-rolling shaft that the strap slid over.
Lots of friction. I was going to modify it to a cable system, but never did.
 
Truckman4life said:
This is a cool idea. As long as it isn't overloaded for the strength of the mount for the cherry picker.
Click to expand...


The guys on the tractor forum have tried many different ways of mounting a crane or forklift like that to a garden tractor,and most of them agree your better off with the crane on the rear--main reason being most tractors that aren't "garden" tractors only have crappy stamped sheet metal front axle "beams",not cast iron,and I have seen some that use plastic king pin bushings..(not that Cub Cadet in the video,those still have a pretty beefy design)..
--the weight of just the crane can buckle those stamped axles up,never mind the load--and look at the huge counterweight you need on the back to compensate for the load...most lawn tractor frames are not even 1/8" thick today,made from hardened steel that cracks when flexed,so your better off keeping extreme weight off the front end of them..

On the rear ,the transaxle has more strength than a weak front axle,and you wont need to add much weight up front to balance the load..on my old Sears Suburbans that had a factory front end loader available,they had a dual rear wheel kit that was recommended ,and you could load the 4 tires with liquid ballast to gain traction and offset the weight of the loader bucket and its load,also helped prevent it from tipping over sideways..

One thing I learned fast using a boom pole on a tractor was to chain off the load,so it cant swing wild on you--had a few very close calls when a heavy tractor I picked up started swinging when I went a bit too fast over some rough ground,almost got the tractor to flip over sideways,and it also came close to clocking me in the skull!..:eek:
 
I think someone got it already, but I was gonna suggest a small Toyota pickup and a cherry picker. Don't even need to mount it on the bed.
 
beags86 said:
Click to expand...

This is fantastic. I have a cub almost identical to that one, mines a 106 though.

I used to have an a-frame setup that attached to the front bumper of my scout. Had a pulley that I ran the winch cable through. Used it to install 2 motors in my driveway before I built my shop. Used it to carry axles and motors around wherever I need also.

Suspension lockout would have been a good idea. Made the front end of that poor old scout squat way down. Ultimately I used too small of material and bent it hauling motors around.
 
I have an A frame attachment for my Fisher plow,someone made it to tow a plow truck with,I found somewhere in my travels,I think when a friend who passed away I ended up with it when I helped his family clean out his garage--it goes into the plow frame like a plow blade ,is triangle shaped,and has a trailer ball coupler on the end...sort of a tow bar,that attaches just like the plow would..

I have never tried towing my truck with it ,maybe I should--if it works good I should keep it in the truck!( :blush)

But have used it to lift and carry some things around,the plow lift raises it with a chain..it'll pick up at least 500 lbs,heaviest thing I picked up with it was probably the 6.2 I got for parts that broke the crank,it weighs at least that..its limitations are you can only lift something up maybe 2 feet high--not enough to load the item in a truck bed...

After seeing a Unimog at a country fair once that had a factory loader and back hoe,I was tempted to make a loader out of my truck..:D
 
Blazooki said:
Fordum beat me to it, truck bed crane is what you need..put the base on a plate with receiver tube and you could swap it on anything with a hitch.
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Yah that would be nice. I kind of want this a bit more nimble. But combining ideas i might have some here shortly.

Unfortunately my idea after this discussion has gotten a bit more expensive but nothing too bad
 
I went low tech and cheap. I found a bunch of bent shopping carts in the metal pile at the dump. Cut the baskets off and used the bases to store heavy stuff like axles and transmissions. I can tie a rope or strap on and drag them around with surprising ease. Pulled a D60 across 100' of grass by hand recently without problems. It's not as nice as these hoist setups but the price is right and it works well. I am usually moving things from the driveway out to the shed so I leave the stuff stored on the carts. No need for the hoist out at the shed that way.
 
Usually I just borrow a friend's wrecker.


Another friend of mine has one of those hand winch cranes mounted on a piece of receiver tube, and he can slide into anything with a 2 inch receiver.
 
So, gonna try and explain the best I can.

I am envisioning a narrow but long flatbed trailer that you can mount a truck crane on the tongue, fixed so it won't swing around, and have it hang directly over the flatbed. Now picture that the wheels are not mounted to an axle, but only to a spindle that would be hard mounted to the trailer frame rails, no suspension. Build your trailer with a super beefy frame, because there with be no floor, only a tongue, tied into to frame rails like 3-4 feet apart, and no rear cross bar tying the rails together. Think along the lines of a spool trailer. You would just have to back it over to the load, winch it up, and throw the removable floor in, and set the load down, drive it to where you want it, pick it up, pull the floor out, set the load down...
 
Tilt bed boat trailer. The back 2 feet are 2 forks sticking out. Back trailer, by hand under the axle or whatever, then the winch you mounted on the front pulls the front down. Then use the lawn tractor to move it. My dad used one for years.
 
Today I built drivetrain trolly 1.0. It doesn't lift anything, but I did get to lift the front end of a car with a cherry picker, if that counts.

post-21876-0-14422900-1499205627.jpg
 
How about putting large tires on an engine hoist? Use some casters from the front of a zero turn mower on the long legs and wheelbarrow tires on the back w/ a straight axle. You could make a deck across the legs so you can drop axles and motors down to keep things from swinging while you're moving it. The caster would let you easily push it around in a shop by hand or pull it backward w/ a handle or tongue to a mower.
 
Look for a mini forklift. I found this one for $1,100 and there was another one locally for a couple hundred that needed work but was well worth it.
Pneumatic tires and it is short enough to fit through doors.

IMG_4022.JPG IMG_4028.JPG
 
One of those would sink like the titanic in most of my yard...especially after a good rain,which we've had too much of this year!..I'd need an all-terrain one ..

Pretty rare to see any forklift for sale here thats not whipped or dead for under 2500 bucks..but they are nice for moving things on a concrete slab or floor or asphalt...
 
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