My contraption worked!

So a few months ago I thought up an idea to load my RTT onto my truck without the help of my neighbors because they are not always around when I need them and my wife is not strong enough to lift it above her heard.

So after a little searching and research I came up with this design because my HOA will not allow a permanent structure in the front yard. I got all the items for just about $200. I started with the 1/2 ton truck crane with winch from Harber Freight, then went and had a 2" .25 thick steal pole welded to the bottom of the crane. Then dug a 3' hole and set a 3' long slave pole in concrete.

I honestly didn't think it would work but I tried it tonight and it worked like a champ. It took about 30 min from start to finish.

Hope this helps someone that is in the same boat I was in.

 

I assume you could also hang a basket from the hook and do some hoopin'

 

I don't see why not.

 

You could also make it as a receiver device that slides into your hitch, lifts the tent, rotates 90 or 180°, then lowers on the ground.

 

I thought about that but I didn't want to assemble the crane above the truck just incase i dropped it.

The crane is heavy so I have to put it together in stages but the crane will rotate 360 if needed.

 

I like it! well done!

 

I read the title at first glance as "My contraception worked." Phew, that's a shareable sigh of relief.

 

What kind of foundation did you use. It looks like a disaster could be on the horizon. Do some research on Jib Cranes to get an idea of the effective load and structure required. Base load plus the height and reach need to be known. Hate see that RTT end up on your head.

 

More likely to end up crunching the truck than brain

 

He is 3' into the ground, estimating that is a little under 1/3 of his height above ground. A tensioned stay anchored to the other side of his yard would help with the horizontal force vector. Two tensioned wire stays, 60 degrees apart would be even better.

 

The foundation is .25" steal tube set in 3'x3' hole. Hole is filled with concrete and reinforced with rebar.

 

I thought about that when I first build it. After some testing and trying different extensions on the crane I found that the shortest setting had very little flex and was very stable with a 130lb load.

 

He mentioned HOA so it's doubtful. I've never lived in one but once I owned some property that joined a HOA development on the back side. Those people can be bat sheet crazy.

Great job on the contraption!