NHInd 1/2Ton pickup truck crane opinions
It’s late not in mood for sleep.
Last few months I have had a few situations come up where fairly heavy stuff, like a generator and large BBQ grill, had to be loaded/unloaded into my pickup.
I was thinking that loading such stuff single handedly is getting a bit much. I’m not getting any younger and the cargo isn’t getting any lighter. Wouldn’t need to be much of a crane but then it’s not much of a pickup, Ranger with four cylinder engine. Good on gas and pretty much all I need, mostly.
Got looking around and found this:
It says 1000 lbs but I only expect only about 400 or 500 lbs practical capacity. More than enough for my needs. Mounting is still a mystery.
Harbor Freight makes a similar unit but their ram is a 1000 lbs model so I really think it’s unrealistic for to expect what they say it can do. The physics of leverage would seem to contradict this claim.
The NHI unit has a 3 Ton ram so the numbers seem more realistic. The realism in the catalog and, I suspect a bit higher quality, only costs about $10 more.
Anyone have any experience with similar units? Any suggestions? Any opinions of or about these units?
Anyone have any grand ideas or suggestions about how to mount such a unit? I was thinking about mounting it to a plate with captive nuts so I could remove the bulk of the weight and free up the bed easily when it is not needed. A bit of steel plate and a couple of pieces of angle iron and some light welding. A few high grade bolts to the frame should do it.
Sometimes I have call to pull lift station motors or other moderately heavy equipment. You can often pull these units by hand given enough motivation and disregard for spinal health but falling into a 30′ pit filled with sewage would ruin lunch. Might put me off my feed. Seeing as that I would be there alone I might even miss lunch entirely. Wouldn’t do at all. Very bad form.
I was thinking if I was to make a few small improvements to the basic design it would make the job a lot easier and safer. If I was to insert a small diameter pulley in the tip and bolt a hand cranked Fulton winch with about 40′ of 3/16″ cable to the top it would make things go more quickly. Back up the truck swing the little boom out over the pit. Hook up the pump and crank it up. Swing it into the bed and off to the motor shop we go.
Being able to pick up rolls of cable, large panels and smaller transformers would make things easier. Currently I have to get, sometimes wait for, help loading. Unloading is less an issue if I can kick the cargo out the back without damage. With a small crane I think I could do both single handedly without converting myself into a Quasimodo look-alike.
Replies
I could do both single handedly without converting myself into a Quasimodo look-alike.
And what's wrong with Quasimodo? Not very PC, 4Lorn! Okay, I'm up early/late whatever too. Sorry I have no good reply to your questions. Just entertaining myself by yanking your chain! ;-)
Nothing against Quasimodo. A fine fellow I'm sure.But the accoutrements which potentiate, constitute and complete my usual sartorial splendor are all cut for a more upright posture. I simply wish to avoid any additional tailoring.That and I prefer to drive while looking over the hood. As opposed to 'winging it' while staring at the floor mats. But here again I shouldn't discount the later technique too casually. From what I can tell from the general motion of traffic staring at the floor mats, talking on a cell phone and primping in the rear view mirror all have quite a dedicated following. I would have thought such methods would have a certain Darwinian quality but perhaps they breed exceedingly fast to take up the slack. Which, in fact, some of them may be doing behind the wheel. Makes sense in a way. If you know your life is going to be short you might as well have as much fun as possible while you can.Nobody is getting out of here alive. Departing at the height of connubial percuspance might be one of the more desirable options. It is sure to make the talk at the funeral home, usually mind numbingly boring, more interesting. As George Carlin pointed out: The best place to get someone to laugh is while they are kneeling in front of the casket. Of course you must not think of this during the funeral. As you step up to the casket...
that things looks good,
I think a couple of C-clamps to hold it on the top of the rail should be sufficient, (unless you drive a Toyota)
How does one fasten such a wonderful device? hmmm?
Among other things I design control panels for municipal lift stations, so I know just what you're talking about. I've seen several city trucks with similar cranes on the back and they seemed to work pretty well.
The really slick hoist I've seen once or twice is one that's built right into a step bumper - when not in use it folds down and disappears inside the bumper itself. There are probably several brands but this is the first one I found with a Google search: http://www.schlagel.net/bumperhoist.htm . Unfortunately, they're way expensive unless you can find one used someplace. I do know a local electrician who picked one of these up for a few hundred bucks, so I suppose they're out there.
That is a nice product. Wonder if they make one for a smaller truck with less of a HD bumper?
I built one similar to hf unit. It's mounted on my trailer and I used the hf long hyd ram. The base plate is around 14" square and it bolts to 1/4" steel plate bed. I would be suspect of lifting much weight with it bolted to a pickup bed with no reinforcing.
I have lifted a 20 horse cub cadet tractor with mower deck, my lincoln ranger 8 welder, a 427 c.i. chevy engine on a stand, and many stationary shop tools. They are handy but the weak link would be where it attaches to the truck bed.
I have seen these units ,or similar, bolted to the rail of the box. Most are bent at odd angles. I suspect because it is a hard spot to structurally reinforce to take the loads. I was thinking that I would install the unit in the truck bed between the wheel well and the tailgate. The top of the unit would be below the edge of the box so it would look a bit better. The boom could go across the wheel hump in the bed when not in use and be tied off to a cleat to keep it from rattling and flopping around.Crawled under the area today and noted there is a U-channel welded to the bed and this is bolted to the truck's frame. Looks fairly stout. Perhaps not by itself but I was thinking that a piece of 1-2/2" unistrut, the 'electrician's erector set', would just about fill the gap between the bed and could be bolted in place across both frame rails and sticking out the 10" or so to get it under the bed between the wheel well and the tailgate about a foot aft of the existing channel. Up in the bed I was thinking I could mount a plate with a holes to match the mounting on the crane and weld in some nuts. Perhaps reinforced the plate lengthwise with ####couple of pieces of angle iron. The unistrut and base plate would remain in the bed when the crane is dismounted. Seems simple and quick enough to bolt the crane in place with four bolts. I don't think it will be necessary for the lighter loads but flipping through the NHI catalog I came across a "1000 lb cap swivel jack" a support leg that pivots down and has a wheel on the bottom. Usually these are used on the tongue end of a trailer to keep the trailer bed level when unhooked. I was figuring this little unit could be bolted to the bumper directly behind the crane. It would be stored swiveled up so it wouldn't hang much below the edge of the bumper. When need it would be swiveled down and a piece of plywood would go down to keep the wheel from sinking into soft ground. The leg would then be hand cranked down to support the bumper. That way the suspension wouldn't be stressed too much and the crane would remain mostly upright as it supported a load. I like the wheel because if, when, I drove off forgetting the leg was down it wouldn't peel the unit off my bumper, or would it be the bumper peeling off the truck, like a flat foot might. I figure the crane is about $70. Fulton winch and cable another $55. Mounting hardware roughly $40. The leg would add another $30. So the all told, adding a bit for S&H, $180 or $220 with the leg. Weight about 115 lbs or 135 lbs with the leg. About 80 lbs, or 95 lbs with the leg, of which would be quickly removable.Hmmm. In the spirit of 'the project that ate Albuquerque' I might consider adding a couple of booster springs under the bed. Tweak it to take another 500 pounds.And then a larger engine and a high torque transmission, differential and axle and ...
Sounds like a project to take on a life of it's own. I will try to take a picture of my lift tomorrow. The jack is off but you can get the basic idea.
Re: "Sounds like a project to take on a life of it's own."The brain and imagination works many times as fast as the hands. My present plan, subject to funding, excess enthusiasm and fate, is to mount the crane. Some time later install the Fulton winch and modify the crane arm to accomidate the pulley. If and when it seem reasonable or necessary perhaps I will install the support leg.
I think I rather have a Tommy lift than a crane.
Tommy lifts have a place. I had considered one. Problem is you have to get the load onto the plate and stabilize it while it is lifted in. Not too hard if what you have is on wheels and is relatively stable.Cost and fitting for a small truck is also an issue.The crane is also a bit more adaptable when lifting from below ground level or where I may have to, because of a lack of access, to lift from beside the truck as opposed to only from the back with the Tommy lift.
took a couple pictures at lunch today
That's quite a nice crane you have there. Looks really handy. A bit bigger than what I'm thinking of. Bet that comes in handy.In the picture I couldn't tell. Is/are there outriggers of some sort on the side of the trailer the crane is mounted on? Looked to me like they might be useful. Even a short stub of one, provided with a pad to spread the load, would likely increse your safe lift capacity and reach away from the trailer.
I usually throw a hydraulic jack under the corner of the trailer by the lift and it works fine.
When I was a kid we had a similar crane on my dad's pickup. It was mounted in the back right corner. Actually the shaft slid into a piece of heavy steel pipe that was welded to the frame of the bed. The bed was a heavy-duty flatbed, and had stake sides.
We used the crane/winch mostly for loading firewood. We had some woodlots, and every fall would fell some hardwoods, cut into 8' lengths. About 12-15 cords of wood each winter, so the winch got a bit of use. We also used the winch to lift lawn mowers and other equipment into the bed.
Because the shaft just slid into the pipe, it could easily be lifted out and stored in the garage when not in use. It was lighter-duty than the ones you showed, probably weighed 50 to 75 lbs.
Mike
There's another approach to this problem that I've seen on the road, but never used. It looks sort of like a lumber rack, and works like a gantry crane. It has an I-beam on the underside, extending front to back and out past the tailgate. A winch can be rolled back and forth under this beam.
The advantages are that you can put the load down anywhere in the bed, it should be a little cheaper because there's no hydraulic jack, and you can use the top for long stuff, just like a lumber rack. The big disadvantage is that you have to position the beam over the lift point by parking the truck just right.
-- J.S.
Hadn't thought about that, a gantry crane type installation.I often see that general setup on heavy trucks that deliver precast concrete like septic tanks, masonry blocks in bulk and tombstones. It is an option. Only down side I see is the weight and cost. Mine is a modest Ranger. A frame like that might eat my 1/4 Ton capacity. I do have a, as yet vague, plan to increase this capacity a bit. Perhaps some booster springs. I hear good things about the Timbren rubber boosters.
Since this thread still going, here is my newest crane - old one built 30 years ago out of car rear end weighed 85 # and getting to heavy to drop into the box beam socket. This one set up to fit into sockets on the s-10, Datsun, or K2500 dump. Winch plugs into trailer connector.
Check this out:
http://www.activesuspension.com/
I have them on my 1/2 ton Toyota and they made a huge difference - I've crossed the scales at the dump more than once with 1,600# plus and the truck handled fine (I don't make a practice of it, but it sure is nice to have when you need it). I was also very pleasantly surprised with how much better the thing handled empty.
You might want to look at your tires as well. I know at least on the smaller Toyota standard is basically car tires. Took some digging to find truck tires that would fit, but they were the other part of the equation to get to decent capacity. the original tires just didn't have the strength.
Wayne
I have an '86 Toyota 4wd that has served me as a work vehicle for close to 20 yrs. Gonna retire it soon, and probably get another Toyota. I used Helwig helper springs, because of the weight of the shell/rack/tools I carry. Hadn't heard of those before, thanks for posting that link.