Truck bed crane - feedback / opinions?

[Barksdale123]

Saw one of these on the Harbor Freight website. Any experience comments etc.

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[mspmms]

Some Crane feedback / opinions / comments

Meme => link

 

[bgn]

That's a good way to cause a whole lot of damage. Not for the Maverick.

 

[Gray Goose]

See the comments on the Harbor Freight site. Requires reinforcement plate welded to the frame. Maverick has no frame like a full size.
You could fabricate a mount point to the receiver hitch, but lift would be limited to 240lbs to not exceed the 300lb hitch weight limit. (Crane weights 60lbs)

 

[colinl]

That's a good way to cause a whole lot of damage. Not for the Maverick.

yeah, but hear me out.

if you were to install this and then also a snow plow, couldn't you twist the frame one way and then untwist it at the other end?

 

[Gray Goose]

yeah, but hear me out.

if you were to install this and then also a snow plow, couldn't you twist the frame one way and then untwist it at the other end?

Yes! Have done this with a blade on the tractor 3pt. Snagged a boulder and bent the blade mount. 180 turn and did the same to the other side to bend it back.
Then welded in reinforcement angle irons. Fine solution for $500 blade. Would not attempt with a $30K truck. Get a tractor instead!

 

[Guv]

I had one similar in a 85 Dodge 1/2 ton. It had a 4” x 4” square mounting pad. I bolted that to a 12” x 12” x 1/2” thick steel plate to distribute the load across a bigger area. Worked okay.

 

[zach57x]

Why? Just lift stuff yourself...

 

[dusty1787]

I am no engineer or anything like that, but my thoughts would lead me to a crane/hoist that would have to have its own frame/base to spread the weight over the truck bed and not 1 spot.

My idea would be to add a thick steel plate the exact size of the truck bed and fabricate the crane to that base plate. Then use the tie down points in the bed to secure/stabilize it during lifting (counterweight/and transporting) and thus the crane/hoist is using the truck bed as the footprint to lift. Not the trailer hitch or bolted directly to the floor.

But as I have no idea about the design of the truck/structures/engineering....I do not know if or how one could safely secure anything to the unibody design. So that's why my baseplate idea is to secure the whole rig via tiedown/securement spots that already are in the bed, vs attempting to just drill holes into the truckbed and unibody to try and secure it that way.

My idea way then uses the whole truck bed as the footprint and I assume then the 1500lb payload rating would be all that matters. But I assume the crane/plate setup would add a good chunk of weight, along with how do you know if the crane/hoist is secure enough with tiedown points, and how to get the thing in and out of the truck bed, or will it forever stay in the bed? lots of unknowns*

But again, I am no engineer or expert on anything. do not take what I said/showed as something that should be done. This was just my $0.02 on what I feel could be done and how/why. But the OP with that crane/hoist setup I do not feel would be good for the Maverick.

I attempted to try and find any rough photo of my idea, but I could not find anything too close. The best one is the attached photo. but again this would be attached to a steel plate which takes up the whole truck bed to spread the weight...and the crane part would be located at the front of the bed by the window so that whatever you picked up would be placed in the bed behind the crane setup. Again this is my rough idea of how a crane could work, but I have no knowledge if it is actually possible and do not recommend trying unless you actually do know how.

EDIT: after posting and reading this over....with all the work that would be needed to make this work, you might as well just save time/money buy getting a nice set of steel ramps and a cart to then roll the item directly into the bed and eliminate the whole needing a crane idea*

 

[Guv]

I am no engineer or anything like that, but my thoughts would lead me to a crane/hoist that would have to have its own frame/base to spread the weight over the truck bed and not 1 spot.

My idea would be to add a thick steel plate the exact size of the truck bed and fabricate the crane to that base plate. Then use the tie down points in the bed to secure/stabilize it during lifting (counterweight/and transporting) and thus the crane/hoist is using the truck bed as the footprint to lift. Not the trailer hitch or bolted directly to the floor.

But as I have no idea about the design of the truck/structures/engineering....I do not know if or how one could safely secure anything to the unibody design. So that's why my baseplate idea is to secure the whole rig via tiedown/securement spots that already are in the bed, vs attempting to just drill holes into the truckbed and unibody to try and secure it that way.

My idea way then uses the whole truck bed as the footprint and I assume then the 1500lb payload rating would be all that matters. But I assume the crane/plate setup would add a good chunk of weight, along with how do you know if the crane/hoist is secure enough with tiedown points, and how to get the thing in and out of the truck bed, or will it forever stay in the bed? lots of unknowns*

But again, I am no engineer or expert on anything. do not take what I said/showed as something that should be done. This was just my $0.02 on what I feel could be done and how/why. But the OP with that crane/hoist setup I do not feel would be good for the Maverick.

I attempted to try and find any rough photo of my idea, but I could not find anything too close. The best one is the attached photo. but again this would be attached to a steel plate which takes up the whole truck bed to spread the weight...and the crane part would be located at the front of the bed by the window so that whatever you picked up would be placed in the bed behind the crane setup. Again this is my rough idea of how a crane could work, but I have no knowledge if it is actually possible and do not recommend trying unless you actually do know how.

EDIT: after posting and reading this over....with all the work that would be needed to make this work, you might as well just save time/money buy getting a nice set of steel ramps and a cart to then roll the item directly into the bed and eliminate the whole needing a crane idea*

Or, get a knock down engine hoist and take it with you, assemble it (5 min) load item, disassemble…….
Repeat when you reach your destination.
Probably be more to buy but I used to rent these all the time.
Last option is to lift yourself and collect 2/3 herniated disc’s.

 

[Pipes]

I think it would be a nice addition to any maverick !! I am now considering it myself.

 

[Bwicka]

Engine hoist or make your own off of reciever mount .
How often would this get used and average weight of lifted item are the most important missing pieces of info!

 

[maccobra]

I did this on my F150. Used the receiver mount. Worked well. In no way would I mount to the bed! I wouldn’t do this on my Maverick.

 

[JLB]

Total weight of the crane and the item it is lifting is **NOT** the main problem. The problem to solve is leverage.

For example, lifting 500 lbs at the end of a 4 ft arm will create 500×4= 2000 ft-lbs of torque where the crane arm is mounted. The sheet metal of the bed will CERTAINLY bend and twist with any crane boom length long enough to reach the end of the bed lifting only a couple hundred pounds.

Even the hitch receiver is not designed for that torque. The max tongue weight of 300 lbs assumes a lever arm length of only few inches from the receiver to the hitch ball, making the torque only 100 or 200 ft-lbs. The hitch is designed primarily for push and pull forces. It can pull 2000 or 4000 lbs, and push a multiple of that in heavy braking, but is limited to only the 200 or so ft-lbs of torque using a standard towing hitch ball configuration.

The only safe way to assure that the truck bed does not get bent and twisted is to lift heavy items from the ground and lower them onto the truck.

If you are like me and don't have a forklift, Guv's suggestion to use an engine hoist on the ground would be a good idea that would keep your truck bed from getting destroyed. Lift the item from the ground with an engine hoist, back the truck under the item, and lower it onto the bed. Then do the reverse at the destination.

 

[Barksdale123]

I think Im going to go this way. More money but no drilling etc. I need to get a hitch. Not really a priority but would be nice to have. Before I jump, I have to see what the A/C doc says for the house.
90 inside folks. Still better off than Helene's victims.

Total weight of the crane and the item it is lifting is **NOT** the main problem. The problem to solve is leverage.

For example, lifting 500 lbs at the end of a 4 ft arm will create 500×4= 2000 ft-lbs of torque where the crane arm is mounted. The sheet metal of the bed will CERTAINLY bend and twist with any crane boom length long enough to reach the end of the bed lifting only a couple hundred pounds.

Even the hitch receiver is not designed for that torque. The max tongue weight of 300 lbs assumes a lever arm length of only few inches from the receiver to the hitch ball, making the torque only 100 or 200 ft-lbs. The hitch is designed primarily for push and pull forces. It can pull 2000 or 4000 lbs, and push a multiple of that in heavy braking, but is limited to only the 200 or so ft-lbs of torque using a standard towing hitch ball configuration.

The only safe way to assure that the truck bed does not get bent and twisted is to lift heavy items from the ground and lower them onto the truck.

If you are like me and don't have a forklift, Guv's suggestion to use an engine hoist on the ground would be a good idea that would keep your truck bed from getting destroyed. Lift the item from the ground with an engine hoist, back the truck under the item, and lower it onto the bed. Then do the reverse at the destination.

THANK YOU. good points from the little I know.

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