I bought another Howard gem rotovator last month from a friend of mine, he has a Chevy diesel long bed truck 

 

I asked him on the phone if he had anything to lift the rotovator onto my truck "yeah no problem"

 

Turns out he's got a bed mounted hydraulic crane, lifts the rotovator easily

 

Just bought a new one and waiting for it to turn up

I'm thinking make a mounting that attaches to my 5th wheel rails so when I need it to be gone as in when I use my 5th wheel I just pull 4 pins and lift it off, this will depend on if the crane has enough reach to get over the side 

 

We'll see

Any pics of said unit? Sounds interesting.

Not arrived yet, supposed to be today

 

but here's a link

 

https://ffx.co.uk/product/Get/Sealey-Ssc900-5051747785359-Static-Mounted-Crane-900Kg

Ah yes. Only seen one of those a few years ago but it was cable and crank operated. Should be handy.

 

When I read hydraulic, I imagined an electric motor/pump with a controller like a larger truck mounted crane, just on a smaller scale.

I used to have a Ford transit with a real hydraulic crane on it when I worked for the Cat dealer

 

This is just a bed mounted engine crane on a swivel

Should save the back a little

I recently installed a small crane in the bed of my truck, got it from Harbor Freight for just over $120 IIRC.  The instructions want you to bolt it to the frame but that seems like it would be intrusive and waste too much real estate.  I put it in the corner on top of a 1/4" steel plate that reaches the edges of the bed cross members for extra support.  I doubt it's sturdy enough for the 1000lbs but it's plenty sturdy to pick up my 200lb generator as it was able to pick up my 250lb butt with ease.  

 

 

That's where I was thinking on mounting mine although I think i'll double nut it so I can remove it from the top as mine is much taller and I don't think it folds so 5th wheel towing it will need removed

Wasn't delivered yesterday..... guess it was the friday feeling for the delivery guy

 

I rearranged to collect from the not so local    local depot at Leicester bout 13 mile away

 

Surprised to see it actually sits inside a bed mounted tube with a taper roller bearing at the bottom so it can be lifted out of the tube and fully assembled it's quite easy to lift it out so no problem when I need to use the 5th wheel.

 

It's rated for 900kg or 1984lbs at the shortest but tested to 50% over so failure is at nearly 3000lbs, at max out it's 250kg or 551lbs so at 50% over thats 826lbs

 

At 826lbs I think I will be able to make a extension just to get a little more reach

 

I also have a electric winch which I'm thinking of mounting low down on the upright and making some pulleys along the jib and down the dipper, we'll see

 

Quite tall to be fair but my truck is too tall to get under any barriers here in the UK anyway so no big deal

 

 

That thing is huge!

 

I have an ATV winch lying around I may add on, it certainly would make things a little easier.  I was gonna put it on my engine hoist but the crane will probably get used more often.

1 hour ago, Sycostang67 said:

That thing is huge!

 

I have an ATV winch lying around I may add on, it certainly would make things a little easier.  I was gonna put it on my engine hoist but the crane will probably get used more often.

Yes it is quite tall

test tomorrow picking up another Howard rotovator from Ely in Cambridgeshire close to the East Coast

Question, is your other truck white and just to the left in the photos? 

10 minutes ago, IBMobile said:

Question, is your other truck white and just to the left in the photos? 

My other truck is silver and parked just behind the shed on the left sort of a little behind the green truck  

if you  mean the reflection in the back window thats my mobile trailer workshop  other than that I'm stumped ??

crane did the job today

 

It is the best most useful thing I think I've bought in a long time

 

it's more than able to pick up from the right rear wheel area and into the bed without removing the tailgate

 

had to remove the tailgate taking the rotovator off as no room on the right side really

 

Definetly going to make a longer dipper for it