A few weeks ago, someone asked about getting large turning blank logs into the back of their pick-um-up truck. They had injured their back and wanted possible solutions which would bypass the pain and still get the wood to the shop. Below are pictures of my solution to this same problem. The crane is a swiveling type from Harbor Freight which is marketed to be mounted in the bed of your truck. I didn’t want it to be a permanent passenger, so I devised this hitch receiver based system to make it both easily portable and quickly removable. It will look a lot better with a coat of gloss black Rustoleum paint covering all of the rusty metal. The two trailer jacks are rated for 800 pounds each and are from H.F. also. The steel tubing is 2”x2” x 3/16” wall thickness. My total cash outlay was less than $130.

Shown in this first picture is the last and smallest of six log sections which I loaded by myself into my truck during the crane’s initial trial. I’m happy to report that the crane passed with flying colors. The log is a freshly cut maple, 22” diameter and 24” long which computes to over 5 ¼ cubic feet of wet, heavy wood. My guess for its weight is 250 lbs. It is suspended by a 1” wide yellow ratcheting strap tightly bound around it, and a 1” wide red tie down strap which I used to make a “bail” for the crane hook. This two strap system proved to be very efficient for both time and effort. The crane needs to be pumped to its full elevation so that the load may be pivoted into the bed without hitting the walls of the truck.

This second picture was taken just as the log section touched down in the bed of the truck. No stress is placed on the tailgate.

This picture shows a little more detail of the assembly. A ½” thick plate is welded to the horizontal “tee” so that the crane’s mounting base can be through bolted to it. The “tee” is raised above the receiver so that it clears the bottom of the open tailgate by just slightly less than 1”. The arm is diagonally braced with 2 pieces of 1 ¼ angle iron and a piece of 3/8 X 1 ½ hot roll steel. The trailer jacks are just bolted to the ends of the tee with the hardware which came with them.

This last picture shows the load strapped in place with the yellow “loading” strap, the crane secured so that it won’t swing around while on the road, and the two trailer jacks have been cranked to raise them to their limits and pivoted to the horizontal position for road travel. The next stop is my shop, where I will reverse the procedure to unload.

The crane can be taken off the truck by one person in a minute or two. Just lift the “arm/hydraulic bottle/outer support sleeve assembly” from the inner support tube of the crane. Then remove the clevis pin from the receiver, and the whole welded tee assembly with the orange inner support tube and the jacks can be slid from the receiver. It is not too heavy for one person, but its shape makes it an awkward task.