Hitch mounted crane info

After reading a couple of threads on pickup truck bed mounted cranes I was looking for info on hitch mounted cranes and came up with a couple of really good threads from another site that I thought were worthy of sharing:

http://www.*****************/forums/showthread.php?t=19959

and this one also:

http://www.*****************/forums/showthread.php?t=11275

If anyone has fabbed something like this feel free to post it here.

Shari

My first thought is you're putting forces on that hitch it was never designed for.

First thing is torque. Say you have a Class III hitch that's rated for 500# tongue weight / 5,000# trailer.

A crane with a 3' long jib, because of torque it's only going to pickup 133# before you're putting more then 500# of force on the hitch. Of course the hitch is built to go down the road, which means the trailer bounces up and down so I'd assume a 500# tongue weight puts more load on it from time to time, so maybe that's OK.

In addition to the force in the up-and-down direction from the lifting the load, because you're lifting from the top of the pole that supports the jib, there's going to be rotational forces in the front-and-back direction (just like we use a peavy to turn logs).

Like some of the guys on those links suggested, if you had an extender that transferred the force to the ground it would help take a lot of stress off the hitch.

Once in a while use you'll probably be OK. But I have to think if you lifted anything heavy regularly you're really risking damaging the hitch. And I'd have to think if you tow with the truck, having metal fatigue cause a hitch failure would be a very.bad.day.

Dalmation,

Yes, your comments are well taken. Did you get as far on one of those links where someone put outriggers on it to prevent side-to-side torque and added two ground supports? Would preventing that type of torque then only create the same stress on the hitch that the hitch was designed for?

There is an interesting comment somewhere there where one poster said they torqued their truck frame with a bed mounted crane. Kinda of hard to believe but then again I don't think they said the weight they were lifting nor the extension they had on the lift.

Shari

That is a very nice idea, Im going to check out some prices tomorrow. Now the misses can load thoses 40,50,60kg rings by her self and i keep cutting.

So are you going to show us your fabbing skills Shari? I wouldnt worry about an average pick with the hoist but if you were picking really big stuff then the outrigger idea would be better. All of my calculations would be by seat of the pants method. Id try it and inspect the hitch and where it fastens to the frame for fatigue. If it looks good your good,but then again we all know your good!

Rookie1 said:

So are you going to show us your fabbing skills Shari? I wouldnt worry about an average pick with the hoist but if you were picking really big stuff then the outrigger idea would be better. All of my calculations would be by seat of the pants method. Id try it and inspect the hitch and where it fastens to the frame for fatigue. If it looks good your good,but then again we all know your good!

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Heh heh heh! No fab skills here just an inquiry to see if it's worth it to have this made up for my use. When you scrounge for wood sometimes the pickins are 'large'.

Shari

Wife'nHubby said:

Heh heh heh! No fab skills here just an inquiry to see if it's worth it to have this made up for my use. When you scrounge for wood sometimes the pickins are 'large'.

Shari

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You are right about the large pickens. I just got a call from homeowner that has more of those big maple rounds to get out of her yard. Last year she said she had lots of takers ahead of me. Looks like they all couldnt cut the mustard. Ill be going over there to get them and Ill show you my setup,just a trailer and ramps.

Nope, don't have a crane.

When I've had very large stuff to load I've used ramps and a couple come-a-longs.

Ive looked at those hitch mount jobbies, and just figured they arent worth the effort and expense.For what those things cost I figured that I can noodle em and have them in the truck and down at the local burger joint before you even get the thing set up.
One good red oak round can hit the five hundred pound mark if its big enough, then you still gotta noodle em up when you get home or try and back the truck up to the splitter and winch them over,another pain in the butt.
Now the ones permanently bolted in the truck bed, maybe.

Avalancher,

Noodling is fine with me also but some scrounge locations don't allow the use of chainsaws so I am left with having to haul intact large rounds. That gets tiresome real quick.

As far as cost goes, Northern has a 1,000# crane listed at $139: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_74569_74569

Shari

Wife'nHubby said:

Avalancher,

Noodling is fine with me also but some scrounge locations don't allow the use of chainsaws so I am left with having to haul intact large rounds. That gets tiresome real quick.

As far as cost goes, Northern has a 1,000# crane listed at $139: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_74569_74569

Shari

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Well, I guess in that case you might have a point.Do you have a trailer that you pull to haul wood in besides just a truck?

I think if you had a foot under it yiu could use for light duty. It would be perfect for aiding a horizonti splitter....lYeah buddy get yourself a couple camper jacks for out riggers, put a 10' stinger on the end of it and your flyn high steel in no time

Shari,I took a look at that one you linked to, and I see one big problem.Once you have a round that is big enough to warrant needing that thing you are going to run into clearance issues getting it into the bed of the truck.Seems that if you had a big round hanging from that thing you would run that round into the tailights.With it being mounted on the trailer tongue, you now have only half the width of your bed to bring the load into the bed of the truck. Unless you want to jack the thing up all the way to clear over the top of the bed rails, and I think that would get labor intensive real quick.

By the pictur looks like you'd have a hrd time clearing a piece of plate steel. Thats where the stinger comes in:monkey:

Well, I have a small SUV and load the wood on a trailer, so, depending on how I park the SUV and trailer, clearances might not be a problem.

The other idea, a lift for my horizontal splitter is another good idea.

Shari

If you have a trailer, then here is what I would suggest.Get you a small winch and pull them in to the trailer.A small 1500lb Warn will run you about the same money, and it is far easier on the back.Drop you a ramp out the back,hook the winch in the front of the trailer, and pull stuff into the trailer.No lifting,no dragging rounds up to the rear of the truck to use the crane,no reshifting the truck around.Run the cable out to the round,drop a loop,and hit the button.

I can load my sixteen foot trailer slam full of wood in less than thirty minutes of large rounds and drag home 2 full cords of wood in this fashion, and dont even break a sweat over it.I often drop a loop over four or five rounds at a time, and it takes no time to load a trailer with a winch.
If you have a partner,even easier.As soon as you drop the loop your pardner hits the button.Shoot, when pulling stuff up a steep hillside I often drag the wife along.I go down the hill,loop the cable, and ride the stinkin log right back up the hill as she holds the button down.

Cranes have their place,but mounted right in the middle of the bed I think is going to cause you grief and more work than its worth.If you have to dismount the trailer, hook the crane up,load the wood, and rehook a loaded trailer up I think you are going to be wore out from all the effort and will be discouraged from how much you put into it and what you got out of it.The only other option that might work is mount the crane right in the bed of the trailer if you have a sturdy floor and frame under it.

my dream loader

Wife'nHubby said:

Avalancher,

Noodling is fine with me also but some scrounge locations don't allow the use of chainsaws so I am left with having to haul intact large rounds. That gets tiresome real quick.

As far as cost goes, Northern has a 1,000# crane listed at $139: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_74569_74569

Shari

Click to expand...

This is the same crane I got at Harbor Freight last week for $119.00 on sale. The regular price is $159.00.

avalanger

Shari,I took a look at that one you linked to, and I see one big problem.Once you have a round that is big enough to warrant needing that thing you are going to run into clearance issues getting it into the bed of the truck.Seems that if you had a big round hanging from that thing you would run that round into the tailights.With it being mounted on the trailer tongue, you now have only half the width of your bed to bring the load into the bed of the truck. Unless you want to jack the thing up all the way to clear over the top of the bed rails, and I think that would get labor intensive real quick.

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With it mounted in the bed of a truck near the wheel well an object can be picked up with the winch and the boom can be raised with the jack. The object can be rotated 180 degrees and lowered into the bed. The next object can be lowered beside the first and several can be placed after those. If the truck is not overloaded another layer on the first ones can be started.

This is working for me with large rounds. Don't have a trailer just a pickup.

Nosmo

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The base plate on most of these is way too small. Additionally care must be taken to mount directly over a beam or cross piece under the bed of the truck. first good sized piece you try to lift mit out paying attention to preceding will rip or bend the bed floor all up. I also saw a note somewhere that some of the newer light duty pickups had composite beds as a weight saving for fuel mileage.

Shari, my inner redneck fabricator has some ideas here. Lemme get out the electronic etch a sketch and draw them up. Be back in a bit.