What is the best way...

[corksil]

...to get an 80cc mini-bike out of the back of a lifted pickup truck?

This is all about convenience, because if it's not convenient -- it won't happen. I am very lazy.

I've been pondering this for a while and the best I can come up with is....

-throw a rope [or a stone with rope attached] over a tree limb
-connect rope to portable DC powered winch
-connect other end of winch to three lift-points installed on rope via carabiner
-push remote button on winch, watch bike be hoisted from truck
-move truck out from under hanging bike
-push remote button on winch, watch bike be lowered from tree limb
-disconnect carabiner, ride off into sunset with truck waiting for returning bike

Who can come up with something more clever? Don't say "use a ramp" because that sounds too difficult. I'd have to lift the ramp out of and in to the truck, twice. I'd also have to carry the ramp in the truck any time the bike was in the truck. It's also pretty fcking difficult to get a bike rolled backwards down a ramp without help. Especially with a tall truck that has a tailgate 5ft off the ground.

Don't say "buy a lift gate" because that would entail a lot of heavy lifting while trying to get the bike maneuvered from the lift gate to the bed of the pickup truck. And lift gates are really expensive. And I hate heavy lifting.

Who has a better idea?

The obvious problem being a lack of adequate strength tree limb in all locations, and my arm getting tired after failed attempts to hurl a stone over a high tree limb.

[MrAtom]

Originally Posted by corksil

-throw a rope [or a stone with rope attached] over a tree limb
-connect rope to portable DC powered winch
-connect other end of winch to three lift-points installed on rope via carabiner
-push remote button on winch, watch bike be hoisted from truck
-move truck out from under hanging bike
-push remote button on winch, watch bike be lowered from tree limb
-disconnect carabiner, ride off into sunset with truck waiting for returning bike

ACME sells giant slingshots you could possibly use.

[JohnnyBravo]

Get a come along... And use your tree method!

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by corksil

...to get an 80cc mini-bike out of the back of a lifted pickup truck?
.......

How heavy that bike is?

[JohnnyBravo]

Get a mini truck to haul toys

[JohnnyBravo]

Originally Posted by Motofool

How heavy that bike is?

I think the height of the truck is the problem; Lifted trucks kinda tall to be picking stuff up into. Ever seen folks picking stuff up over their heads to put it in the back of a truck cause they made it super tall?

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

I think the height of the truck is the problem; Lifted trucks kinda tall to be picking stuff up into..........

In that case, he could back the truck up against an elevated platform or lift the front of the truck until the tailgate touches the ground or a combination of both.

Or to use a winch and build something simple like this:

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Triple Jim]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

I think the height of the truck is the problem.

Yes, I have to agree. Maybe get a cheap stock pickup truck or van (my choice) for hauling things like motorcycles and minibikes, and save the lifted truck for things like changing street light bulbs and picking cherries. I can unload my DT100 from my Dodge van by myself very easily. I back it to the rear door, let the rear wheel down to the ground, straddle the seat, and back the bike up quickly, letting the front wheel plop to the ground without drama. Getting it back in isn't much harder, but I usually get someone to lend a hand, because my back, having suffered 59 years of abuse, sometimes lets me know I made a mistake if I lift heavy stuff alone. If I do need to load it alone, I just use a 2x10 as a ramp, again, no drama.

[Dave Wolfe]

I vote for putting a car airbag under the bike. Detonate the airbag and the bike should fly out.

More seriously, perhaps a tow hitch bike carrier of some sort, and rig up some sort of hitch lowering adapter if needed?

[empire00]

I have done something similar to this in the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPRe-YQkRGQ

[JohnnyBravo]

Where's that loading motorcycles in truck fails video when you need it

[JohnnyBravo]

Originally Posted by Motofool

In that case, he could back the truck up against an elevated platform or lift the front of the truck until the tailgate touches the ground or a combination of both.

Or to use a winch and build something simple like this:

Mans bike weighs more than his truck

[adouglas]

Bring a friend.

Best if you don't care a whole lot about the minibike.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

Where's that loading motorcycles in truck fails video when you need it

This one perhaps....?

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Bk834]

I'm still young with a good back, and can lift, but I ended up getting 2 sets of 7.5ft aluminum folding atv Ramps to make life easier. Too short and steep a climb with just one set..You just make a longer and less steep 15ft ramp outta both sets, by putting 4 cinder blocks between the middle meeting points of both. Making sure it's stable afterwards...Then you can just ride it up or down yourself into all but the most lifted trucks. I do it by myself with my toys a good bit.

[Triple Jim]

Originally Posted by Bk834

I'm still young with a good back, and can lift...

Watch out, being young and lifting things I shouldn't have, like kegs, is why I now have to be a little careful about what I do to my back.

[corksil]

All of you have good ideas. I have been ruminating on this for about two years. It's a simple question with multiple answers, but certainly not as simple as it seems.

The problem with using a come-along is that the handle needs to be reachable to operate the come-along. If the bike is hanging from a tree with the handle halfway between the bike and the tree limb, it won't be easy to reach the handle. Also sketchy because those things don't have a smooth ratcheting action. With every click of the handle, the bike would be bouncing and swinging around, which would increase the chance of breaking the tree branch it was all hanging from.

The bike is probably 140lbs or so. I've never weighed it but it's a b!tch to lift without any kind of help. I can lift one of these from the ground up on to the tailgate of the truck by myself but that's about it. The bike I made this thread about is considerably heavier.



The tailgate is above my waist, but I've never measured the height.

Backing the truck up to an elevated platform is a good idea. Then again... how common are "elevated platforms" in comparison to trees with strong branches?

Also a good tip to find a low pickup truck or van instead of using the lifted truck. I've kept my eyes out for the right deal for years but I still have not seen it. I suppose I could take a sawzall to the roof of one of the old minivans I see for sale on CL...

A tow-hitch.... I have also considered that.



Or also..



Unfortunately neither one of these options are practical due to the length of the truck. I usually must park diagonally in parking lots and take up several spaces. The truck is very big and putting a bike on the town hitch (even if the bike was perpendicular to the truck itself) would make the truck even longer. It is already a behemoth.

As for using two aluminum ramps... One for rolling the bike up, and the other for walking along side the bike while loading/offloading. Aluminum is light weight so it wouldn't be terrible to lift the ramps in and out of the truck, but the ramps would have to stay in the back of the truck while I was "away" on the bike. One consideration is that there is a serious homeless problem around here. And a serious meth problem. As a result of those two combined factors, there are lots of tweaked out homeless people who would steal the aluminum ramps from the back of the truck while it was parked. If you are wondering what homeless people need aluminum ramps for... two pieces of aluminum of that size and length would probably net atleast 15-25 bucks at one of the scrap metal recycling businesses around here so the tweaked out homeless crowd would definitely have "incentive" to take the ramps.

Unfortunately I do care a bit about the bike, so kicking it out of the back of the truck wouldn't really make me too happy. Even if I didn't care about the bike, getting it into the truck wouldn't be the easiest.

So far I'm still thinking that a rechargeable, battery operated, remote control winch, coupled with some lift straps and a strong tree limb is my best option.

Thank you all for contributing.

[dcj13]

For an 80cc bike, the tree/winch solution sounds pretty good.

Simplicity and elegance go hand in hand.

[corksil]

Okay now we are talking. Apparently a "drill winch" is exactly what it sounds like. An electric drill motor provides the engine which actuates the winch.

Perhaps pictures would explain it better.







Then again I just realized that the drill would have to be reachable and that wouldn't be likely if the bike was hanging between it and tree.

The red X is the location of drill/winch.

[corksil]

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...1900_200381900

[Flying]

get swole

[corksil]

54 bucks for this... rated at 118 amp maximum draw with a 2000lb load. That's a lot of power.



But apparently winches and hoists are not the same. A winch should be used for pulling things, applying horizontal force to an object. Apparently the clutches and locking mechanism in a winch are not designed to hold an object hanging vertically.

So I find this.. rated for 220lb lift if used in this configuration...



5amp 110ac current draw. That would run off the power inverter in the truck, and if I mounted the hoist in the bed of the truck with a few pulleys.....

Dangit why can't I just build one of these things out of an old angle grinder or something? I hate buying new sh!t all the time, it's too expensive.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by corksil

....The red X is the location of drill/winch.

The red X could be the location of one or multiple pulleys.

https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=285821

Originally Posted by corksil

........Dangit why can't I just build one of these things out of an old angle grinder or something? I hate buying new sh!t all the time, it's too expensive.

Link to original page on YouTube.

[empire00]

Harbor Freight Engine hoist?

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-c...ane-69512.html

[Triple Jim]

Better to use a bed mounted crane than an engine hoist. That way he can load and unload it wherever he goes.

[corksil]

...bed mounted engine hoist. I already have one of those. I let a friend borrow it and he converted the base of the crane to mount and swivel on his flat-bed. The problem is that I have a pickup truck with a flimsy thin steel pickup bed. It mounts securely to his steel flat-bed, but to make it work with my truck -- I'd have to cut through the pickup bed and mount it directly to the frame of the truck. When I didn't need the crane it would leave a hole in the bed, then I could not transport loads of soil etc in the bed of the pickup due to the hole. Also concerned with that thing swinging from side to side. If the truck is parked on a hill, and you lift a load with the crane -- it instantly swings toward the bottom of the hill once the load leaves the ground. Solution would to be to not park on a hill, but I don't know if there would be enough room to swing the bike into the bed of the truck without it hitting the sides of the pickup bed and it can't lift high enough to hoist a bike over the sides of the pickup bed.

Surely these obstacles can be overcome, but other considerations are the weight of the crane mounted in the truck. I'd be hauling around an extra 4-500lbs of dead weight (crane) and I wouldn't be using it very often so fuel mileage would suffer. Removing the crane from the back of my pickup would also be a major chore by myself. Probably about parallel [in terms of effort] to lifting a bike in and out by hand or with ramps.

[corksil]

motofool I like your pulley idea. I'm gonna watch those videos tonight (lol @ the wood scissor lift) and hopefully they trigger some epiphanies.

Thank you all for helping, I've literally been thinking about this for two years now.

When I bought the truck, I was having so many issues that I got a beat up old 50cc honda and carried it everywhere with me for a few months. The truck would constantly die and leave me stranded, so the minibike was a 'life-raft' or 'dingy' of sorts. Instead of being dead on the side of the road, I could unload the 50 and ride off to collect and return with repair parts. The mini bike paid for itself almost instantly due to lessening my "down time" in between and during jobs that required the truck. Now the fifty has been replaced with an eighty, and lifting the 80 in and out of the truck is waaay harder than it used to be with the 50.

I'm gonna keep thinking about this --- you guys are fVcking genius and keep coming up with great ideas.

[corksil]

So far this is looking like the best option for 54 bucks.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...1900_200381900

Or possibly this for 60.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...0033_200660033

I need to do some research on pulleys before I know enough to feel comfortable proceeding.

[JohnnyBravo]

You've never learned about the old block and tackle huh?
(Edit) Never mind, looks like you've learned a new trick in your last post

[MLR]

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=b...SaZCswQgjYIpwU

Dont need power, all you need is a tree, balcony, or even the good old "sky hook".

Or, if you know Scarecrow aka "Captain Shane M. Schofield, USMC" borrow his "mag hook".

["A"]

I load many of my bikes up to the bed of my pickup truck, at least 6 times a year.

In my experience, never ride the bike up, walk along side of it and throttle up the ramp.

Park truck in lower ground, plant ramp at higher elevation to lower the truck bed.

[Mohawk]

A couple of lifeboat Davis bolted to the truck bed . Or just get a friend to help lift it.

[mgentz]

Originally Posted by corksil

The obvious problem being a lack of adequate strength tree limb in all locations, and my arm getting tired after failed attempts to hurl a stone over a high tree limb.

I don't think that's it....

[corksil]

Originally Posted by "A"

I load many of my bikes up to the bed of my pickup truck, at least 6 times a year.

Thanks for the info. The bike has been purpose built for this particular application, and if I can figure out how to load and unload it easily enough, it might be in and out of the truck numerous times per day.

I'm still pondering this but I've become busy with work so no real progress has been made.

The main problem with using a block and tackle with electric winch --- Is that a secure overhead lift point must exist at every load/unload location.

In addition to that, I need an easy way to connect/disconnect to that overhead lift point. Throwing a rock over a tree branch is a little too mickey mouse for me but it could work if it had to.

The conundrum continues.

[corksil]

Originally Posted by Mohawk

A couple of lifeboat Davis bolted to the truck bed . Or just get a friend to help lift it.

Dude what is a 'lifeboat davis'?

[corksil]

After thinking more about this... switching from a pickup bed to a flat bed on my truck would make this a hell of a lot more simple.

With a long enough ramp, I could ride up one side onto the truck -- and ride off the other.

A friend proposed a lift gate, but those are more expensive than an aluminum flat bed. A lift gate would have it's own difficulties entailed, like getting the bike from the lift gate to the pickup bed.

[dcj13]

Originally Posted by corksil

Dude what is a 'lifeboat davis'?

He meant "davit"

[JohnnyBravo]

Originally Posted by dcj13

He meant "davit"

Then what's a davit

[corksil]

Hey does anyone have an aluminum flat bed that would fit a short bed crew cab f350 laying around? Could they ship it to Hawaii for me next time they go to the post office?

Making progress on this project is becoming a chore.