Show me your cranes, please!

[Jocke]

Hey'all!

We've just agreed to buy a 'Mog and as I now have to sit here and wait for it to arrive, my mind wanders. We'll probably end up having our spare tyre on top of the truck roof and as such we'll need a crane with a winch on the vehicle so we can get the tyre up and down. However, before that happens, I think it could be very useful to have a crane to lift up stuff onto the flatbed. I'm thinking up to 500kg (1100lbs) or so. An electric winch would probably be a good idea as I'm lazy. The design I have in my head is some type of foldable thingy that can be swung around. I reckon a mounting point (hollow pipe?) would be a good thing, and then I can remove the crane, and fold it down and stow it somewhere. Temporarily I'd attach this to one of the front corners of the flatbed, and in the future, I'd move the mounting point to a suitable location to get the rear wheel down.

I know there's a brand out there that builds various cranes, but I can't remember the name, and I also recall the cranes being very expensive. Someone else in another thread posted a link to this Harbor Freight Pick-up crane. https://www.harborfreight.com/autom...ickup-truck-crane-with-cable-winch-60731.html That's the sort of thing I'm thinking of.

If your Overlander has got a crane, I'd love to see pics of it and hear what you think of it, price, etc, etc.

(I did a search but couldn't find a thread specific to spare tyre/tire/wheel lift/winch/crane).

Thank you!

 

[Wilbah]

I've wrestled with this subject and while I have not done anything I felt something could easily be done using the receiver hitch and an "adjustable foot".

The hitch receiver would provide stability side to side and the foot would take most of the weight. Something like this would allow you to mount one of those 6" receiver tubes from HF on the frame behind the cab for the tire removal.

You could then make do with a "lesser" weight crane "structure" because your side to side and up and down movements are stabilized. And then it's easier to store as its lighter to begin with. Sorry I dont have pics of anything, just what I have sort of envisioned.

In my "design" (in the fancy CADCAM system I use....aka my imagination, ha!), I would have a round "post" above the receiver hitch that the crane height slides onto and that whole piece can swivel around. I dont thow if this helps you or not...

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

While it might be a bit much why not take a look at how the brick and logging trucks have their cranes. Something as simple as an engine hoist without it's legs but the vertical tube sitting over a heavy wall round tube so that it can rotate. Easily 1 ton rating with a hydraulic jack ram or you can swap out the hydraulic ram for an air over hydraulic ram.

 

[F350joe]

Love my crane, gets used more than I thought. Got mine from harbor freight for pretty cheap and there are vids on YouTube on how to retrofit to an electric winch. The HF model has some play and you need to watch the rust on it, you get what you paid for. Plan on beefing up the deck where it mounts. It doesnt really fold up Like the other fancy ones but those also don’t have a flat top to rest things on. You can pull the pin to take the top part off but you wil want to cover the hole if you do that.

 

[Jocke]

I've wrestled with this subject and while I have not done anything I felt something could easily be done using the receiver hitch and an "adjustable foot".

The hitch receiver would provide stability side to side and the foot would take most of the weight. Something like this would allow you to mount one of those 6" receiver tubes from HF on the frame behind the cab for the tire removal.

You could then make do with a "lesser" weight crane "structure" because your side to side and up and down movements are stabilized. And then it's easier to store as its lighter to begin with. Sorry I dont have pics of anything, just what I have sort of envisioned.

In my "design" (in the fancy CADCAM system I use....aka my imagination, ha!), I would have a round "post" above the receiver hitch that the crane height slides onto and that whole piece can swivel around. I dont thow if this helps you or not...

Thanks! All thoughts and ideas are welcome! Using standard part and bits and then modifying them is a great way to approach the problem. However, here in UK/Europe I have never come across the square receiver hitch system that I regularly see on US vehicles. This kind of rules this out. However, you've ignited a few train-of-thougts in my head. Much appreciated!

Attaching a pic so we all know what I'm ramblin' about.

 

[Jocke]

While it might be a bit much why not take a look at how the brick and logging trucks have their cranes. Something as simple as an engine hoist without it's legs but the vertical tube sitting over a heavy wall round tube so that it can rotate. Easily 1 ton rating with a hydraulic jack ram or you can swap out the hydraulic ram for an air over hydraulic ram.

Yeah, I've thought a bit about those, and whilst having the horizontal arm articulating, I think the height/distance from the ground requires a wire. An articulating arm might be good in some cases, however, I doubt it would be possible to use an arm all the way from the roof to the ground. Sure, big cranes do this, but they're big and heavy. I'd like to keep it as minimalistic as possible.

Thanks!

 

[Jocke]

Love my crane, gets used more than I thought. Got mine from harbor freight for pretty cheap and there are vids on YouTube on how to retrofit to an electric winch. The HF model has some play and you need to watch the rust on it, you get what you paid for. Plan on beefing up the deck where it mounts. It doesnt really fold up Like the other fancy ones but those also don’t have a flat top to rest things on. You can pull the pin to take the top part off but you wil want to cover the hole if you do that.

That's really useful to know. Thanks! I wish he had HF over here. That it doesn't fold up is a shame, but again, simple and cheap usually doesn't come with extra features. Looks like I'll be fabricobbling something together. I guess I need some heavy duty round tubes that'll hold the weight and then some square tubes that can slot into each other and such, and a bit of welding should see me with a useable crane. I need to find a winch with a motor too. Something like the attached pic. Red is crane, blue wire, grey is spare tyre (lying down )



Thanks for all the input chaps!

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

Not that it would be something your interested in but you jogged my memory about something I saw in Germany.

I was at a very large festival and many vehicles illegally paralleled parked alongside the curb. In comes a large flatbed truck with a crane. Saw many vehicles lifted from the side and loaded on the flatbeds. Not a common sight for me here in the state.

 

[Jocke]

Haha, I can imagine that! German efficiency!

 

[Wilbah]

Gotcha for what you're working with. And while you may not have the typical receiver hitches at your disposal in Europe you could fabricate something very similar- one tube has a 2" square Outside Measurement while the "receiver" is a square tube with a 2" Inside Measurement. So the one tube would nestle in the other.

Or order the receiver from HF, I doubt shipping would be all that bad.

Heres one that would suffice

Class III 12 in. x 2 in. Standard Receiver Tube

Amazing deals on this Class Iii 12In X 2In Standard Receiver Tube at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

The only thing to realize if you go this route is the tube that goes into the receiver needs rounded corners, so typical square tubing wont usually work. But you may not want to go this route anyway given what you are working with. I have to believe somewhere in Europe there would be someone who makes a small crane similar to what has been described here. Good luck! Cool vehicle for sure!

 

[Cheyneskeezer]

May be a bit big for your application

 

[lost1]

I recall a fellow mogger who build a vertical exhaust stack behind the cab with heavy duty tubing. This served as both exhaust and base for the crane to load spare tire on the roof.

 

[F350joe]

I recall a fellow mogger who build a vertical exhaust stack behind the cab with heavy duty tubing. This served as both exhaust and base for the crane to load spare tire on the roof.

I think I saw that one too a few years and ago but have not been able to find it again. I wanted to replicate it. I think a headache rack/crane would be a very useful thing for many people. Load your camper, spare tire, or just lift your whole rack to pack and unpack or use as a table while camping. A fabricator could do pretty well with something like that, I think, probably a 30yo patent or some bs.

 

[HAF]

Mine is perhaps more of a davit. I use a simple chain fall to lift my spare. Swings both ways and locks in place.

 

[Jocke]

Gotcha for what you're working with. And while you may not have the typical receiver hitches at your disposal in Europe you could fabricate something very similar- one tube has a 2" square Outside Measurement while the "receiver" is a square tube with a 2" Inside Measurement. So the one tube would nestle in the other.

Or order the receiver from HF, I doubt shipping would be all that bad.

Heres one that would suffice

Class III 12 in. x 2 in. Standard Receiver Tube

Amazing deals on this Class Iii 12In X 2In Standard Receiver Tube at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

The only thing to realize if you go this route is the tube that goes into the receiver needs rounded corners, so typical square tubing wont usually work. But you may not want to go this route anyway given what you are working with. I have to believe somewhere in Europe there would be someone who makes a small crane similar to what has been described here. Good luck! Cool vehicle for sure!

Thanks for the link! I love the big-boys-meccano stye of all the "you may also like" parts below. Sparks my creativity. It would be super handy to have a standard, you never know where you'd want to fit the crane or what you'd want to fit into the receiver tube. Kind of like the various RAM mount balls I have attached on my motorbike for various things, mainly cameras. Endless possibilities.

However, as I'm in Europe, going with U.S. standard at the moment seems a bit counterintuitive. But let me leave the thoughts to simmar. Thanks!