Anyone use a manual truck crane and grapple to load wood into a pickup? I'm looking at the hitch-mounted cranes and wondering which, if any, is worth a try.
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Truck Cranes
- Thread starter Holmes Anderson
- Start date
I have no experience with truck cranes, but I'm guessing a rig like Glenn Lucas has would be more useful. I'm thinking I might try to build one. (if I can get the motivation and block out the time)
View: https://youtube.com/shorts/L-xNH7qKlAM?si=6OEXsDUaPbZaoCTW
Can’t answer about cranes, but I’ve used a ladder (ie 8ft ~Little Giant type). Lash the log to the mid-point of the ladder, leave one end on the ground a little away from the truck gate and lift the other end up until the log sits on the truck bed. This way the force you have to lift is equal to half the weight of the log.
I have a bed hoist purchased from Harbor Freight mounted in the rear of the bed so that it doesn't interfere with 4' load capacity between the wheel wells. The column is supported with homemade bracket attached to the edge of the bed and a right angle bracket underneath connected to the frame.
I use a hitch mounted hoist that was originally purchased for processing deer. I now use it without the gambrel for loading logs onto the truck. I put two straps on the hook instead of the gambrel. Works fine and eliminates the need to have a hoist permanently mounted to the bed of the truck.
I also use a hitch-mounted hoist (https://www.vikingsl.com/rack-jack-ii/). Rather than using the hand crank, I use an electric hoist that really makes things easy. Here it is in action.
If the auto makers keep making pickups taller and taller, everyone will need a crane to load everything!
I've started to keep a small step stool behind my seat, because the bed of my truck is 41" above the ground.
My diesel Dodge seems small next to some of those monsters.
Seems to us that some of those with massively jacked up trucks got them to drive to go to Walmart and McDonalds.
Those guys prob wouldn't dare get the bed dirty with nasty ol' wood.
This is the portable "crane" I use these days to handle trees and load big wood on trucks and trailers for other turners.
Get one for your back yard and haul it to the logs on a trailer. The kids can play with it on weekends.
Tree down, no problem. Lift, cut, load, haul.
And this one is handy, for 2000 lb logs as well as rocks.
I pushed over a 95' tall tree then carried it up the hill to a better spot for chainsawing.
It can fit in the garage.
JKJ
That is nice if it is where the wood is!
In september I was offered some some trees that were about 6 miles down a forest trail so after cutting them to 100" lengths they were about 600 pound each and I loaded them with the bed mounted hoist until I figured I had a load.