Portable Crane Sprouts Legs For Heavy Lifts

Portable Crane Sprouts Legs For Heavy Lifts PICKUPS Accessories Sidney Stubbs can easily load a trailer or pickup box using his home-built crane that slips into a receiver hitch For heavy lifts he attaches a stable base with legs and a ball hitch for near 180-degree flexibility     “There are cranes on the internet that attach to receiver hitches for lifting objects over the tailgate but I wanted one that had a stable base and worked with the tailgate down ” says Stubbs “Using the ball hitch lets me move it around while the adjustable leg jacks let me use it on uneven ground ”     Stubbs picked up the folding crane mast and boom on closeout but says any folding crane would work His adjusts in height lifting the boom up to 97 in above the ground when mounted to a receiver hitch A hand winch mounted to the boom feeds a tow strap up and through the rotating boom     The crane mast came with 2 by 2-in tubing for a standard receiver hitch at its lower end To get the increased stability and versatility he wanted Stubbs fabricated a base with a 2 by 2-in center rail Two cross arms each have two 300-lb RV stabilizer jacks with adjustable legs at either end The legs attach at a slight outward angle similar to outrigger legs A quick release lever extends them from 11 to 19 in in height     The center rail has the ball hitch at one end and the coupler for the crane’s receiver hitch tube bolted to the other The ball hitch locks the base in place while allowing Stubbs to pivot it from side to side for setup     The coupler is a length of 2 1/2 by 2 1/2-in tubing with a 1 1/2-in male half hammer threaded pipe union with a nut welded to the underside of the coupler A second male half pipe union is welded to the tongue just behind the ball hitch     “The cross bars have female half threaded pipe unions welded to their top centers ” says Stubbs “To mount them to the tongue I match the pipe union halves and tighten down the nuts Once I drop the legs into place and adjust them to match the contour I attach the crane ”     Stubbs says the portable nature of the crane and its base adds to the versatility “You can lift any kind of heavy object and swing it into the bed of the truck ” he says “When you’re done you can break it down into 4 pieces The largest is the crane and it folds up like a jackknife only 46 in long ”     Stubbs says the crane is handy when deer hunting and can even be used to pull fence posts out of the ground     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Sidney Stubbs RR1 Site 6 Box 21 Beaverlodge Alta Canada T0H 0C0 ph 780 354-2727; sid s47@hotmail com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.