Game Hoist Questions/Opinions

After being alone and killing animals decided it was time to build something to help get game out of the woods.

Have looked at just about every possible link online at receiver mounted game hoists and was looking for some opinions.

Going to be building it myself but stuck on a few elements.


1st of all, why is the pivot feature so necessary? Many claim you need to load the game in the bed of the truck but what is wrong with leaving it hoisted while driving back to camp if you could hold it steady against the lift?

2nd, if it is that necessary to load in the bed is it possible without pivoting?

3rd, if we have a dedicated ranch vehicle how portable would the hoist need to be? One solid piece, multiple small sections?

4th, we are going to be using an electric winch, can those cheap harbor freight style winches take the elements?

We bought a 2000# winch so trying to come up with a design that can lift close to that weight.

I'm not sure how big of animals you plan on killing, but I would think the weight capacity of the winch will exceed the weight capacity of the receiver hitch of the truck or the material you will make the hoist out of.

Q1. I think if you tied the animals neck to the hoist to stabilize if from flopping around this would suffice. If you had a 500# hog tied off it could put some stress on welds and bolts bouncing around bumpy ranch roads.

Q2. I've never shot anything big enough that I couldn't load it in the back of the truck myself. I killed a 210# buck opening weekend and still managed to get him in the truck. I hunted elk in Utah in September and they used a winch and a pallet as a ramp to get elk as big as 1000#s in the bed. It worked great.

Q3. If the only purpose of the truck on the ranch was to hunt out of, I would attach it to the receiver hitch and leave it at that. Unpin it and take it off if you need to, but I wouldn't make it in several pieces.

Q4. As cheap as the stuff is at Harbor freight I wouldn't plan on it lasting too long, but then again as cheap as it is, might be worth a shot if you add the extra warranty to it.

I am working up some plans to build an a-frame cleaning station to be able to hang several deer at one time. Post pictures of what you come up with, I would like to see them.

Would a modified tripod that set in the bed work? A-frame with an extension to the ground? Couple of wild ideas1

Black would be 2" square tube 3/16" or maybe 1/4"

Blue would be 1.5" square tube.

red would be holes with pins.


Second picture shows the winch collapsed.

Scot, Heres an idea that might help. If you took the 1.5" pipe that goes into the receiver hitch @ the winch location and changed it to a continued 2" pipe as is above that, and welded a 1.5" round pipe so that it could be inserted into the receiver hitch that would give you a pivot point to help load an animal into the bed of a truck. You might need to put a set of roller ballings @ the junction to ease pivoting. Hope you can understand what Iam talking about, if not please fill free to p me and we can discuss it ont he phone. God Bless, Joe

The drawings look very workable.

I've thought about using a 1.5" round pipe but liked the added stability of running the square for both.

I wasn't sure about pivoting with the winch mounted stationary. Most of the pivoting models I've seen have the winch mounted above the pivot.

I completely understand. Maybe you could run 2" square from the top all the way to the receiver then weld the 1.5 round there so it fits inside the receiver hitch. This would give you more stability and strength throughout. I think with where you have the two pulls you would have plenty of swing room to get into the bed of the truck. Good luck with the project.

My metal store sells most metal in either 10 or 20' pieces, so thats why I opted to use the lighter metal in the middle. Otherwise I'd have to buy 20' for the 2" which isn't cheap. Figured with heavy enough 1.5" the cost wouldn't be too different. But whether it was square or round 1.5" shouldn't change much.

We have two. A monarch brand and a homemade one. We do not use the pivot thing at all, and I wish they didnt have it.
We clean every deer using the hitch mounts.

- The single roller pulley a the very top, if the cable pops out of the roller it can get wedged up there, a beach to get out. An extra guide/eye not far from the roller would help

- I would like to to be 4 to 6 " taller for all the huge bucks I shoot.

- A stabilizer running that would run from the vertical post to the gambrel would be nice to stop the deer from twisting

- A light mounted at the top shining down is golden. Did it this weekend

- If its a buck and you hang it by the front legs, something to help hold the head in a more vertical position for skinning would be helpful. Or, if you leave it hanging the whole night back there, the head will get rigor and hang funny.

- I would also like overkill on the winch. The ones they put on there work but if your a one man show the upgraded size will help

My buddy built one. It is out of 2 in square, and does pivot. I like the pivot. You can lift the deer off the ground, gut, skin, then pivot and lower it into the bed. If it didn't pivot, I don't think you could let it down by yourself, and position it in the bed.

We used a boat winch that has a strap instead of a cable. He ran the strap through a link of chain at the top instead of a pulley wheel. That fixed the problem of falling off the wheel and binding up. So far it has worked like a champ.

Oh and ours does not break down. It is one piece that we just pull out and leave at the lease.

I think the colapsible will decrease the capacity of it. and pretty much all you will get out of it is the novalty of saying... I built one that colapses.

I wouldnt want to hange 2K lbs off the back of my receiver hitch on my 1500 chevy. Maybe on my old 1-ton, but still seems like alot.

matt

With the design of running the hoist to the ground I would assume the capacity is greatly increased. That is the advantage of the collapseable is I would be able to rest the inner tube on the ground but could move it up and pin it while traveling.

I can still make the pivot feature work with this design just have to figure out exactly where I want it to pivot.

Also I am going to mount the winch on the upper 2" L to give more line capacity and once pivoted I wouldn't have to worry about the winch moving.

Also as far as less strength with the collapseable model. I am talking about running two 3/16" pipe tightly inside one another I assumed I would be getting more strength than a single 2" 3/16" pipe.

The greatest thing about this build is I'm only looking at having about $100 total if I can make it work with the 2 10' sections of square tube.

Here is one I built for my EZGO cart. I used the winch from Northern Tool that has the anti reverse feature.

If you run a single assembly how obnoxious would it be to ever remove if necessary as 3/16ths 2" square isn't exactly light.

Dryfire, do you just drive with the animal hanging? has that created issues?

Anti reverse would be nice on the crank.

Get one of these http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-ton-capacity-pickup-truck-crane-with-cable-winch-37555.html

The winch will take care of the anti-reverse as it has an in and out on the remote. Then pull a pin for free spool.


Can't tear up the truck as it is a loaner until a buddy gets back from his service abroad. Then it will go in our daily driver or a new lease vehicle which is why I was stuck on the reciever mount.

Here's what I use. It's a 3000lb smittybilt winch. I usually have to tie a long rope because the winch will only pull in 35'. Cool ideas on the hoisting thing. I'd like to build something like that for a polaris ranger and use the front mounted winch.

What do you do once you pull them to the truck though?

I rely on my manly muscles to lift him in
Seriously.. that's a problem I'm hoping you guys solve and I can copy. I too would like to hoist, clean and pivot them into the bed. Right now I have a large oak tree that I winch the animal up...then drive my truck underneath and lower them in.

What's your budget I am just trying to do this as cheap as possible. Amazon has a lightweight model for 90 that will do everything.

It would not be difficult at all to build a pivoting model that had a receiver so you could use your winch as is but it would cost a bit more for extra metal...

That $89. one looks pretty neat. I'll have to try it on the polaris ranger.

I can tell you the thin walled tubing will not lift a 200+lb Missouri buck.

Where did you get the receiver hitch mount for your winch, great idea.

We mounted a 3000lb ATV winch from Harbor Freight this weekend on the roll bar of our hunting truck, aka "the beast".
It's a 87 4 Runner with the top removed

got a new battery and the solonoid for the winch, all the wiring including the handheld remote is in a plastic toolbox to stay out of the elements. Going to mount a solar panel to it to keep the battery charged which also serves as a backup to the main truck battery.

That is from Curt Mfg. They have one with or without handles. A little pricey but so are Chiropractors.

No issues. I winch it up and drive right back to camp for cleaning.

Totally new design, will post pictures momentarily.

here is what i have

How does it work? Is it easy to swing when loaded? Very cool looking.

I like the second design the best. You might check on how the winch is to be mounted. A lot will only pull straight, I do not understand why but I have seen it on both winches I own. So you might need to mount at an angle. I would go no less than 11ga sq tubing. Also if you double up your winch line it will almost double your wieght capability and also make it easier on the winch since you will have the end to a solid anchor. It will make you line speed slower but could make the winch last longer.

I was planning on running 3/16" so it will be a heavy son of a gun. Interesting thought on direct line pulling. I was sure hoping it would be close enough to straight up not to have to worry about it.

Wasn't too worried on doubling the line as most of the time it would be way under winch capcity but it can with the extra snatch block so I can double up and get the double capcity but there is no way that little dakota could lift 4000 pounds without totally coming apart.

Scot, I really like you second drawing. It beefs up all aspects of your original design. With that round tube you also get the swing arm without cable tie up. Looks great. Let us know how it works.

I pretty much stole a combination of two designs from TBH but should be building it this week. Waiting for winch to arrive then it will be build time. Shouldn't take more than a few hours to knock out.

If it works well and anyone is willing to sign one heck of a waiver I'd have no problem for building one or something similar for others.

Dee Zee just game out with a game hoist that is rated up to 600lbs and is $180, I think is what it went for.

Most of these are very simple designs to copy but I am not going to steal there no rotate setup so I don't have game moving.


I am planning to not have $150 total in my setup. Hopefully closer to $100.

I don't understand what the difference is in which direction it pulls. Do you have 150 in it with the winch? Where did you get it, I need another one.

Yeah black friday deal on the winch was $50 for a 2000 pound with snatch block and remotes/wiring kit.

Going to buy one piece of 2" x 3/16" squre tube I hope only costs me about $80 then a piece of rolled steel rod and a few collars and I should be in at about $130 for a heck of a setup if it all works out.

I will add a second snatch block/pulley on the main mast is there are issues pulling across and getting the winch to work properly.

I bought one of those $89 hoists. I figure if it's not beefy enough, I'll weld some extra support to it. I'll let you know how it goes.

I just paid $150 for one from Academy - where were the ones for $89?

Mine says 450# is the capacity. Could I increase it by welding an extension to the ground from the bottom of the vertical part?

Click this link http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Gear-Deluxe-...5083&sr=8-1

I just hunt north TX and haven't seen many deer that go to 200 lbs. As far as hogs go...100 lbs or under is a keeper above that I just drag the carcass out of the way and leave it for yotes and buzzards

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/u...nch#Post2837795


There is the resulting build.

You can get a small compound pulley hoist cheaply...Personally,I
always have a headache rack on my truck....and a come a long...It
works for an old man..I've built the type in prior pictures for
some of my buds to mount on their ball insert in their trucks
for hogs and axis...but the comealong works, and I can throw the
rear end over the rails if need be...and it's cheaper..DD