# truck bed crane



## MidGAOutdoor (Apr 7, 2011)

thinking about getting one of these truck bed cranes with a jack and a winch from harbor freight. and a reciever high winch mount plate to stick in the reciever. the crane will mount to the place thats in the reciever. ill only be lifting about 500 pounds of log at a time. has anyone ever busted a frame doing this before. dad said they used to bust them in the field loaded with corn and soybeans back in the day. this is an 03 F250 super duty extended cab SRW short box. 6.0 deisel. there are holes in the bed where the previous owner had a gooseneck or fifth wheel in it. im trying to avoud taking the tractor and a second truck and trailer for a few logs.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*my buddy has the same lift*

He has a similar Ford truck and lifts very Oak door and other heavy equipment with it. I don't recall the mount he used, but if it were me I'd want at 1 at least 1 1/4" thick plate that spanned 2 of the bed's cross members underneath.
If I recall a receiver hitch has a 500 lb tongue rating, which can be exceeded, I'm sure without out a failure, but I'd be cautious if I went that route. There's a few great ideas for moving and loading logs in the milling section. An A frame or U frame with a winch at the front end seems like it would be best since you can lift on a pulley then pull forward using the same winch location.
I'll see if I can find that one.

By Golly it was posted by YOU!


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## Alchymist (Jan 2, 2011)

Here's one I saved the picture of, thinking I might do one like it someday:


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## Alchymist (Jan 2, 2011)

My other thought was to make the supports on the right side into a T outside the hoist plate, and let the back leg extend back toward the rear wheel, taking more of the torsion load off the hitch when the boom is swung over the truck box.


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## MidGAOutdoor (Apr 7, 2011)

Alchymist said:


> Here's one I saved the picture of, thinking I might do one like it someday:


i like that. i was just gonna put a jackstand under it


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## tvman44 (Dec 8, 2011)

The receiver on that truck should be rated for about 550 lbs carrying weight so I would not be at all concerned about the frame.


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## Alchymist (Jan 2, 2011)

It's not the "weight" the hitch can carry, it's the long moment arm from the crane boom - it will multiply the weight of whatever is on it by a factor of 5 or 6 where the hitch is concerned. Picking up say 400 lbs is putting a torque of over a ton on the hitch.


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