• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

Crane Ideas?

montaillou

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
806
831
93
Location
W.WA
Just a thought, if you have a square hitch in the back:

320b0ecf4c12258b2a0bd0d753ebdc64.jpg

Cabela's sells this one, game hoist, holds ~400 lbs. Unless you need something substantially bigger, seems like easy set up/tear down for small jobs.
 

gimpyrobb

dumpsterlandingfromorbit!
27,786
755
113
Location
Cincy Ohio
It looks like most have their crane mounted on the passenger side, I'm starting on mine and wondering the pros and cons of one side of the bed vs the other?
Life is much easier with a drop side bed. I agree on mounting it away from traffic if you have to use it on the side of the road. Is your truck a drop side?
 

Rmtaunton

Well-known member
1,510
31
48
Location
Smyrna, ga
I mounted my vestel on the passenger side of the deuce but the auto crane on driver so I can see to the right not that it matters much on trucks this tall but I liked being able to see it in the cradle on the donor truck so going same way

Which crane are you mounting Rob


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

gimpyrobb

dumpsterlandingfromorbit!
27,786
755
113
Location
Cincy Ohio
I have a home made one in the bed of the deuce and I plan on putting one of the Liftmoore cranes on the front of my M353 trailer so I can load the trailer and the deuce, but not have to keep all that weight with me 24/7. The 353 will have custom outriggers.
 

Rmtaunton

Well-known member
1,510
31
48
Location
Smyrna, ga
I have a home made one in the bed of the deuce and I plan on putting one of the Liftmoore cranes on the front of my M353 trailer so I can load the trailer and the deuce, but not have to keep all that weight with me 24/7. The 353 will have custom outriggers.
:)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Jbulach

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
2,664
2,200
113
Location
Sunman Indiana
Life is much easier with a drop side bed. I agree on mounting it away from traffic if you have to use it on the side of the road. Is your truck a drop side?
Yep, actually working on my M925 dropside. This was just the best, most relatable, thread that my search came up with.
I started installing my tube on the passenger side for the crane to drop into today. I'm also going to be able to move it to the front bumper as well as the original spare tire jib.
 

silverstate55

Unemployable
2,075
872
113
Location
UT
Several years ago I fabbed up a crane for the back of my Deuce; I welded in a bunch of 4-inch C-channel underneath the bed for reinforcement where crane mounted. I copied angles and designs from a 2-ton engine hoist I have. I had the hubs from a shattered Deuce rear axle on hand, and used one for the rotating base with lots of triangle reinforcements. Majority of steel used were scraps I had on hand. Tacked with 6011 & finished with 7018, using my AC buzzbox (as recommended by 98G). Originally used a 12-volt ATV winch for lifting, but soon replaced it with a Harbor Freight 9K-lb winch a friend gave me (I just had to replace the solenoids & it was like new).

I used the Harbor Freight 8-ton air-powered lift cylinder; it works GREAT but it likes LOTS of volume. I can use it off of Deuce's emergency gladhand but have to be patient for air to build up after short bursts of use. It helps to block rear wheels with short sections of wood 4x4s to help prevent too much body tilt when lifting heavy loads. I have a separate 12-volt electrical system (2 alternators, 3 batteries) to power the winch for lifting, but I try to use the air lift cylinder as much as possible. Got a drum clamping lift from Harbor Freight to lift 55-gallon drums, this whole setup paid for itself just in lifting/lowering 55-gallon drums!

I've used it about a hundred times already, very handy!


20160610_LMTV-Bed_01c.jpg 20170304_M920-Tires-Wheels_01.jpg
 

silverstate55

Unemployable
2,075
872
113
Location
UT
Wow! It lifted an lmtv bed?! I lifted an mep002 and that was about as much weight as I'd care to lift.
Yup! Drove the 931 out from underneath it, and backed a trailer in underneath it to deliver it.

20160610_LMTV-Bed_01d.jpg

3 members here will remember their stuff packed into the empty space in front of the LMTV bed last summer, when I delivered it to them. :-D

I've also lifted an MK48 transfer case (about 1100-pounds in the crate) in & out of the Deuce bed, twice! Just had to block the space between the top of the rear tires & bottom of bed to limit body lean...but I keep the Michelin XZL tires at around 85psi so it wasn't a problem.

I've used it to load my trailers countless times, following too many GL wins. I've found too many uses for it, and now that it's in another state in storage (head gasket went out), I really miss it!!

ETA: I did modify the bottoms of the cargo cover bow uprights to add another 1-inch in height, so that when the crane is stowed the cargo cover does its job and you'd never know that the crane was back there.

20170309_M931A2-Deuce_Utah_01.jpg
 
Last edited:

rustystud

Well-known member
9,280
2,988
113
Location
Woodinville, Washington
Several years ago I fabbed up a crane for the back of my Deuce; I welded in a bunch of 4-inch C-channel underneath the bed for reinforcement where crane mounted. I copied angles and designs from a 2-ton engine hoist I have. I had the hubs from a shattered Deuce rear axle on hand, and used one for the rotating base with lots of triangle reinforcements. Majority of steel used were scraps I had on hand. Tacked with 6011 & finished with 7018, using my AC buzzbox (as recommended by 98G). Originally used a 12-volt ATV winch for lifting, but soon replaced it with a Harbor Freight 9K-lb winch a friend gave me (I just had to replace the solenoids & it was like new).

I used the Harbor Freight 8-ton air-powered lift cylinder; it works GREAT but it likes LOTS of volume. I can use it off of Deuce's emergency gladhand but have to be patient for air to build up after short bursts of use. It helps to block rear wheels with short sections of wood 4x4s to help prevent too much body tilt when lifting heavy loads. I have a separate 12-volt electrical system (2 alternators, 3 batteries) to power the winch for lifting, but I try to use the air lift cylinder as much as possible. Got a drum clamping lift from Harbor Freight to lift 55-gallon drums, this whole setup paid for itself just in lifting/lowering 55-gallon drums!

I've used it about a hundred times already, very handy!


View attachment 676741 View attachment 676742

Do you have any close-up pictures of the crane ? I plan on building one very similar soon. Thanks.
 

silverstate55

Unemployable
2,075
872
113
Location
UT
Do you have any close-up pictures of the crane ? I plan on building one very similar soon. Thanks.
Rusty, I believe that you can start at this post and work your way through to get the idea:
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...uce-Recovery&p=1240679&viewfull=1#post1240679

Like I mentioned earlier, the ATV winch didn't last long before I swapped it with the Badlands (Harbor Freight) 9k-lb winch that was given to me, and I moved it farther back as you can see in my later pics above. I know there is a lot of headscratching on the way I went about fabricating it, but like I mention in the older thread, it was made from 95% leftover scraps I recovered from my grandfather's old farm, and I was getting pressed for time with other responsibilities. But it fits under the cargo cover and it has exceeded all of my expectations from it, something that doesn't happen too often for me!

As the old saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak. Even though I installed a new inner grease seal on the Deuce hub, when it gets warm outside, grease drips out of the hub onto the base, making a mess. I wish I would have made the jib boom just a foot or two longer, but it works & fits just the way it is....

Hope this helps.
 

silverstate55

Unemployable
2,075
872
113
Location
UT
And it's well worth it to use the air-assisted hydraulic ram; trying to pump that cylinder by hand while lifting will wear anyone out! I don't have any pics on hand but it's an exact fit for the standard HF 8-ton engine hoist cylinder.
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website like our supporting vendors. Their ads help keep Steel Soldiers going. Please consider disabling your ad blockers for the site. Thanks!

I've Disabled AdBlock
No Thanks