Game Lift for Hunting Vehicles

[hps1]

Wait a minute hold the phone...that thing on back of jeep and truck is what i need!!! Did you make it, buy it..any more pics..i could have seriously used something like your animal jack on my oryx hunt..please more info

In answer to Juiceking's question, the lift on the back of my jeep is the result of several years of trial and error to figure what works best to handle game in spite of a bad back. Handling deer was bad enough, but when I added 4-500# exotics to the mix, the search began.

My biggest problem was getting the animal from the field to camp where a stationary boat winch can unload and load it into back of pickup for transport to processor. I had already built a "drawer" inside the bed of my pickup to enable items in front of bed to be reached from tailgate.

The drawer was 3/4" plywood with two rubber wheels at front and a 3/4" roller at back of bed. You could pull the drawer far enough out to reach items near front with a 2-300# load.

Mounted a boat trailer winch on 3" angle iron across front of bed and added door hinges to the rear end of "drawer" and front end of the ramp, which lays flat inside the drawer. Use 1/4" pins to connect the hinge halves and hold the 3/4" plywood ramp to the drawer, when deployed. The pins are stored on back of driver's side tool box and a bolt is mounted there to prevent inadvertently "unloading" the pickup should one decide to accelerate too quickly w/tailgate down. Remember the trial and error mentioned at the top of page? Nuff said about that! Over the years, the drawer warped where it was not supported on either side of the roller, so I added a couple of 1" ball rollers I found @ Harbor Freight.....wish I had found them earlier, I wouldn't have had to make the bushings for my roller, just mount 5 or 6 of these in bed: https://www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-roller-ball-bearing-67060.html .

In use, pull drawer out flush with end of tail gate, slide out the plywood ramp and insert pins. The control for boat winch is inside driver's tool box. Have loaded many 500# Nilgai cows with this setup.

The only problem is that you must unload the entire truck before loading game, then the ramp is placed on top of the entire load for transport back to camp. Stage 2 to follow.

Regards,
hps

 

[hps1]

When I began hunting predators seriously, the ranch owners suggested I try some night hunting for predators, so decided to build the chair for an elevated nighttime platform. Added this hitch mounted chair, thus blocking access to the ramp. Back to the drawing board in order to handle the heavier critters. Added the boom, using same winch which worked until it didn't. This heavy cow bent the schedule 80 1 1/2" boom so had to turn it around; pointed straight up solved the problem.

Then came the jeep; no problem hitch mounted chair moved over easily with slight change to mount spare tire on chair and increase the ground clearance on chair for the lower jeep and added a 1500# ATV winch to back bumper to do the lifting.

All's good until one day while transporting a good sized Nilgai to camp, I heard what sounded like a rifle going off in back seat. Seems the receiver on the jeep, being a bumper mounted hitch as opposed to frame mount on pickup, had pulled the threads on a bumper bolt which became a huge problem. The nut was welded inside the box frame, no way to get to it. Fortunately, it was metric and I was able to tap it out to next larger US SAE thread. To lessen the mechanical advantage exerted on the rear mounted boom, I revised chair, placing the boom receptacle as close to bumper as I could which solved that problem and is serving me well.

ETA: Picture of latest version w/boom next to bumper.


Regards,
hps

 

[troy fairweather]

Great ideas, better then laying the tailgate across the back and pulling them up.

 

[Juiceking]

When I began hunting predators seriously, the ranch owners suggested I try some night hunting for predators, so decided to build the chair for an elevated nighttime platform. Added this hitch mounted chair, thus blocking access to the ramp. Back to the drawing board in order to handle the heavier critters. Added the boom, using same winch which worked until it didn't. This heavy cow bent the schedule 80 1 1/2" boom so had to turn it around; pointed straight up solved the problem.
View attachment 963422View attachment 963423View attachment 963424View attachment 963425
Then came the jeep; no problem hitch mounted chair moved over easily with slight change to mount spare tire on chair and increase the ground clearance on chair for the lower jeep and added a 1500# ATV winch to back bumper to do the lifting.
View attachment 963426
All's good until one day while transporting a good sized Nilgai to camp, I heard what sounded like a rifle going off in back seat. Seems the receiver on the jeep, being a bumper mounted hitch as opposed to frame mount on pickup, had pulled the threads on a bumper bolt which became a huge problem. The nut was welded inside the box frame, no way to get to it. Fortunately, it was metric and I was able to tap it out to next larger US SAE thread. To lessen the mechanical advantage exerted on the rear mounted boom, I revised chair, placing the boom receptacle as close to bumper as I could which solved that problem and is serving me well.
View attachment 963427View attachment 963428View attachment 963429View attachment 963430
ETA: Picture of latest version w/boom next to bumper.
View attachment 963431

Regards,
hps

Thanks alot i enjoyed the story and the evolution of your invention im definitely going to be looking at something like that in future

 

[LoonWulf]

When I began hunting predators seriously, the ranch owners suggested I try some night hunting for predators, so decided to build the chair for an elevated nighttime platform. Added this hitch mounted chair, thus blocking access to the ramp. Back to the drawing board in order to handle the heavier critters. Added the boom, using same winch which worked until it didn't. This heavy cow bent the schedule 80 1 1/2" boom so had to turn it around; pointed straight up solved the problem.
View attachment 963422View attachment 963423View attachment 963424View attachment 963425
Then came the jeep; no problem hitch mounted chair moved over easily with slight change to mount spare tire on chair and increase the ground clearance on chair for the lower jeep and added a 1500# ATV winch to back bumper to do the lifting.
View attachment 963426
All's good until one day while transporting a good sized Nilgai to camp, I heard what sounded like a rifle going off in back seat. Seems the receiver on the jeep, being a bumper mounted hitch as opposed to frame mount on pickup, had pulled the threads on a bumper bolt which became a huge problem. The nut was welded inside the box frame, no way to get to it. Fortunately, it was metric and I was able to tap it out to next larger US SAE thread. To lessen the mechanical advantage exerted on the rear mounted boom, I revised chair, placing the boom receptacle as close to bumper as I could which solved that problem and is serving me well.
View attachment 963427View attachment 963428View attachment 963429View attachment 963430
ETA: Picture of latest version w/boom next to bumper.
View attachment 963431

Regards,
hps

Nice!


Friend of mine has a hitch lift for big tuna, looks pretty similar. Seemed like a neat idea, but ive never gotten to use it or see it in use.

 

[alsaqr]

i built this about ten years ago, works great:

 

[hps1]

Nice!
Friend of mine has a hitch lift for big tuna, looks pretty similar. Seemed like a neat idea, but ive never gotten to use it or see it in use.

Never had a need for a lift for the fish I've caught, but only fished offshore a couple of times. A fish that would require a lift would make for one big fish fry!

i built this about ten years ago, works great:

View attachment 963800

That'll do the job, alright. Back before I started hunting exotics, I built a similar rig for my '65 Chevy pickup. I built the back bumper with a 2" pipe socket mounted just outside the open tailgate on driver's side and also used it in my work to pick up heavy hydraulic lifts & shop equipment and swing the load into truck bed.

The lower half of lift is 2" pipe with an inch and a half stem to fit into bumper socket. The top half of lift is 1 1/2" so that it extends in order to be high enough to field dress a deer. I later welded a 2" socket on the back bumper of this old '61 Ford hunting car. It worked great on deer and hogs, but would be a bit light for the larger exotics.


Later made an extension to hitch mount on different pickup w/factory bumper.


Winches can make all the difference when the going gets rough. I have a hitch mounted 9500 # Warn winch and hitches/wiring on front and back of my current pickup and the jeep. The rear mount paid off on this Nilgai, which my hunting partner had shot that expired about 100 yards inside the brush line, 250 yards from the hard surface. It had rained for weeks and water was standing in the roller chop (similar to plowed field surface), making for some extremely tough sledding even for 4X4. Tree roots extending from brush line provide a "bottom", but a few yards out, there is little or no bottom.

I carry a 200 yard spool of 5/8" poly rope just for such eventualities, but was a hundred or more yards shy in this case. To further complicate matters, there was a huge black cloud moving in our direction. Only choice was to drive out in the roller chop and use winch to drag the nilgai out of brush, pick it up and haul it back to the road. As long as I could hug the brush line, all was good.

Right around the corner, however I was forced to favor left due to larger bushes. I finally managed to get close enough to the nilgai for my partner to hook up the big winch line, just as the bottom dropped out of that cloud.

Decided we didn't have enough time to turn the truck aound and use lift to carry the cow out. Instead, used the pickup like a ropin' horse and backed out far enough to drag her to the edge of the brush, just as the truck mired to the frame. Had my "swamper" cut the cow loose and hook up to a large mesquite tree, then pulled myself out.

By this time, my bud looked like a drowned rat, and I wasn't much drier as winch control wires were running through open window. My floor mat had 1" water in it from blowing rain. Was hoping I had enough rope to reach the cow from the road now, and we headed back out, following our own ruts. The windshield was totally fogged up making it difficult to see where I was going; about half way to the road, I broke through and once more the truck was sitting on the frame!

At this point, I was not sure I had enough winch line to reach the nearest tree! It was still pouring hard as my partner ran out the winch line. It barely reached, but I could not cut wheels far enough to the left to follow the line. Fortunately the winch had the muscle to slide the truck sideways on it's frame in the mud and we reeled 'er in. Had to make two more pulls to get back to the road and still had to recover the cow.......hopefully the 200 yards of rope would reach.

Ran out the rope and was a few yards shy, but had a few shorter lengths of rope, which we spliced in and managed to get a line on her. Debated on using winch but elected to rig a snatch block on a large bush and again use the truck as a ropin' horse. Partner had to walk her in and occasionally un-snag her from a stump or large bush, but just as the hard rain stopped, we got her back to the road, and my partner began the field dressing chores, while I re-wound the ropes and stowed them away for the next encounter.



The big winch and spool of rope are seldom used, but they sure paid for themselves that morning!

Regards,
hps

 

[LoonWulf]

Never had a need for a lift for the fish I've caught, but only fished offshore a couple of times. A fish that would require a lift would make for one big fish fry!

Some of the big tunas can break 200lbs.....dont think hes gotten one of those yet.
I still want to use it for hunting, but with all the lava rock there isnt much chance for vehicular recovery.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Fortunately the winch had the muscle to slide the truck sideways in the mud and we reeled 'er in. Had to make two more pulls to get back to the road and still had to recover the cow.......hopefully 200 yards of rope would reach.

.............

The big winch and spool of rope are seldom used but they sure paid for themselves that morning!

Regards,
hps

I can attest there is no such thing as too big of a winch, too much rope/cable/chain, or too strong of anything.

I don’t know if this is a real rule of thumb but mine is to take the weight of your vehicle and double it. Quadruple it for ATVs. My F250 is about 5800 lbs so I have. 12,000 lb winch and I have needed every bit of it several times. My dad has a 5,000 lb on his Polaris 450 and has pulled tractors out of mud holes by anchoring the wheels behind a tree.

You will regret it if you don’t....unless your like most of the trucks around here which have winches just for looks alone to go along with their impractical lifts and wheel/tire choices. Haha.

 

[alsaqr]

For about 15 years my Toyota pickup had a 6,000 pound Ramsey winch. That winch did a great job. Then the solenoids went bad. Ramsey wanted over $200 for new ones so i bought a 8,000 pound winch: That winch is very heavy to install and remove, about all i can handle.

 

[hps1]

Some of the big tunas can break 200lbs.....dont think hes gotten one of those yet.
I still want to use it for hunting, but with all the lava rock there isnt much chance for vehicular recovery.

WOW, that's a big fish! I'm sure lava would tear up your tires; even the caliche roads are hard on tires here. Thorns are the nemesis of tires in the brush country, that was another selling point of the jeep, the other advantage is maneuverability in thick brush and lighter weight in sand or mud.


I trailer it on highway because the tires are loaded w/slime, making them almost puncture proof, but anything over 40 mph will scramble your brain.

I can attest there is no such thing as too big of a winch, too much rope/cable/chain, or too strong of anything.

I don’t know if this is a real rule of thumb but mine is to take the weight of your vehicle and double it. Quadruple it for ATVs. My F250 is about 5800 lbs so I have. 12,000 lb winch and I have needed every bit of it several times. My dad has a 5,000 lb on his Polaris 450 and has pulled tractors out of mud holes by anchoring the wheels behind a tree.

You will regret it if you don’t....unless your like most of the trucks around here which have winches just for looks alone to go along with their impractical lifts and wheel/tire choices. Haha.

Amen!

I bought the winch for my truck (net wt 5000#) but when I got the jeep, moved it over as the pickup doesn't hunt all that much any more. I told the wife, that if I couldn't find a parking space for the jeep, with tht 9500# winch I can always hang it up in any nearby mesquite tree.

I like having choice of front or rear mount so that if I ever get stuck and the going only gets worse forward, I could switch winch to back hitch and retreat. Have never used the rear hitch for winch, but it is comforting to know the cables are there should it ever become needed.

So far, I've never stuck the jeep, but have pulled out a number of other vehicles, the largest was a friend's full sized Suburban buried in edge of a overflowing stock tank. Had to bury the jeep in 2WD to anchor it, then pull myself out once the Chevy was out.

Lots of those "city trucks" around here, too. Always watch to see if the driver climbing out of the cab is wearing some of those old wooly sheepskin chaps and a Hopalong Cassidy hat.

For about 15 years my Toyota pickup had a 6,000 pound Ramsey winch. That winch did a great job. Then the solenoids went bad. Ramsey wanted over $200 for new ones so i bought a 8,000 pound winch: That winch is very heavy to install and remove, about all i can handle.

If you still have your old winch, get the numbers off of the solenoids and type them in on google or duckduckgo. My solenoids went out on the small winch on my jeep and you had to buy the entire control box w/both solenoids from manufacturer which was priced within a very few $$$ of a new winch. I put solenoid numbers in and came up with a number of sources of same solenoid (with pictures to verify the wiring pattern was identical to mine. Ordered a couple of each so now have spares in glove box. The price was less than $20 for all 4 delivered IIRC.

Regards,
hps

 

[LoonWulf]

I trailer it on highway because the tires are loaded w/slime, making them almost puncture proof, but anything over 40 mph will scramble your brain.

Thats funny, and i know exactly what you mean.
I did that by accident....sorta.
Kept putting off replacing a sidewall punctured tire by filing it with fixa flat.
Truck shook so bad by the time i got them swapped my buddy thought we were gonna die last goat hunting trip.



Oh speaking of lava. Kid I work with decided to poach a sheep couple hundred yds off the highway, and then pick it up with he Spiffy new tacoma. Hit a shallow hole and it collapsed on him.
Got the thing so stuck the tow guys snapped cables trying to get him out.
Hes done stupider, but that one amused me to no end......