Right, forgot about that cool Saskatchewan rig. Searching the channel came up with a few videos on their tire rack and hoist. They've used the same idea of a detachable L-shaped boom to hang the top pulley from, with the brilliant idea of having two holes to angle the tire either inwards or outwards depending on the direction they want it to swing. Not a big fan, though, of his four pulley system without a brake or that he has to physically heave it up the last couple of feet, so a two-person job.
That's exactly what I mean when I say I like the precise adjustments of the small chain hoist solution. Anything that involves rope and/or pulley (like the climbing systems mentioned) require you to either find a way to hold the weight by hand (Person 2) or uses a stopper of sorts (cam or friction) and when you want to go in the other direction you have to unweight the device, etc.
When putting the spare back up, the amount of talking to god involved with getting the holes to line up with the studs is not to be understated. And trying to do that while simultaneously holding the weight of the load (even with a mechanical advantage) or unweighting to activate the thumb lever on an ascender seems a bridge too far for me.
By the same token, getting the spare holes to line up on the truck hub requires the same sorts of discussions, especially with a heavy tire like ours. For that task, we have a set of airbags (like the ones firemen use to lift cars off people pinned down) which also serve as our bourgeois leveling blocks if we can't find a level place to camp. They are VERY minutely adjustable and store relatively easily.
Just food for thought.
EDIT: In fact, I have to replace our rear winch next week (story for another day - sigh) and I expect to use the chain hoist in that effort as well. Its only 180 lbs though
