If I understand correctly, you would still need a ramp for the winch to pull the machine up. The boom lifts the sled up from beside the truck and it just swings over onto the deck. No ramp.
Sled decks with a winch & boom
- Thread starter Boondockin800
- Start date
If I understand correctly, you would still need a ramp for the winch to pull the machine up. The boom lifts the sled up from beside the truck and it just swings over onto the deck. No ramp.
I have 2500 lbs winch mounted to the front of my deck which I can put in the middle or on each side of sled deck for emergency loading or if I need to load at 5 am and dont want to wake the neighbors. Works slick, just pulls the sled on the ramp right up onto the deck. And it has come in handy on breakdowns so you dont have to have a bunch of guys trying to pull it up onto my lifted truck.
Looks great! I am in the planning stages of building something similar. Can you give a few more details or pics of the crane? Like were you mounted the winch, what thickness tube you used to build the crane, how you mounted it to your bed? Thanks for sharing your design with us.
T
thinksnow
Well-known member
The only problem I see there is where to hook the cable. If you hook it on the front bumper, when it nears the top of the ramp it will be pulling down hard on the sled, right? I guess it would be better if you hooked lower down by the spindles then the pressure would be less. Maybe I am just over-thinking this a little.LOL
Lots of good ideas. Keep them coming.
Saw a homebuilt unit like this years ago in the Black Hills. Older couple, looked to be at least in their 70s. He had pulleys rigged up in a couple different places. I didn't pay real close attention but he somehow ran his cable down under the ramp and around a pulley on the end of the ramp and winched the sled off and down the ramp until the tail was on the ground. Then he and momma wrestled the sled the rest of the way off the ramp. Slid the ramp and winch to the other side and unloaded the second sled. Loading, he just hooked to the sled bumper and pulled them up. His winch was mounted on a headache rack that was higher than the ones I normally see on decks and his winch was about bumper height. If I remember right he even winched the ramp back up into the truck. At the time I'd never seen or heard of a sled deck and was very impressed with the ingeniousness of it all.
My parents run a deck with a boom on it that my dad made. They are almost in their 60's and makes it really easy for them to load the sleds and go. Its a really simple setup and works well.
He welded a frame out of 3/4" tube and angle iron, slapped some plywood on it, panted the plywood and tossed a handfull or two of sand on the wet paint for traction. In the front he has a T shaped slide for the outside ski on each side, and for the boom he has a 1/4" plate mounted to a frame thats bolted to the bed of the pickup.
The boom mounts on the rear of the deck so you just ride up next to the bumper of the pickup hook up the cable, swing the sled around to where you want it and strap it in.
He also has a cutout in the front for the sliptank which is a nice thing to have on the hill
He welded a frame out of 3/4" tube and angle iron, slapped some plywood on it, panted the plywood and tossed a handfull or two of sand on the wet paint for traction. In the front he has a T shaped slide for the outside ski on each side, and for the boom he has a 1/4" plate mounted to a frame thats bolted to the bed of the pickup.
The boom mounts on the rear of the deck so you just ride up next to the bumper of the pickup hook up the cable, swing the sled around to where you want it and strap it in.
He also has a cutout in the front for the sliptank which is a nice thing to have on the hill
I really wish all of the questions in this thread were being answered.........
Even if it is an old thread.
Can anyone provide video of using the crane to load their sled?
I'm really curious to see how that works. Do you guys manually swing it over to the deck once you have it raised? Is that difficult to do?
What brand crane are you guys using? Is everyone doing it with an electric winch, or is anyone doing it manually?
I'm tired of setting ramps up all the time, and I could really use the extra room in the bed of the truck if I don't need to have ramps in there.
Even if it is an old thread.
Can anyone provide video of using the crane to load their sled?
I'm really curious to see how that works. Do you guys manually swing it over to the deck once you have it raised? Is that difficult to do?
What brand crane are you guys using? Is everyone doing it with an electric winch, or is anyone doing it manually?
I'm tired of setting ramps up all the time, and I could really use the extra room in the bed of the truck if I don't need to have ramps in there.
I have my deck in the garage on the floor with the sleds on it right now, so I can't get video for a few weeks. We have an electric winch lift the sled up from a small rope around the steering post where it comes out the top of the hood. The sled will have a "nose high" angle on it, so you lift untill the front of the track is high enough, and swing the sled around. It moves easier than you'd think. My crane is mounted drivers side front, so we drive a sled up alongside the truck but facing the other way. Then when the sled is high enough, you swing it around in a big "U" and its easy to control it coming into the headache rack because the back of the sled will drop and the track will stop it if you let go.
My only complaint with it is that I'd like to upgrade my winch. I bought a $60 winch and need to use a snatch block and it takes longer than I'd like. Wireless remote would also be cool. We will be continuing on version 2.0 ( haha) soon and these issues will be addressed.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's awesome man!!!
Would really like to see some pics and/or video!!!!!!!
That's awesome man!!!
Would really like to see some pics and/or video!!!!!!!
S
sledneck_03
Well-known member
i seen these i think on Trucks a couple years back, you can even get on that has a trailer hitch attachment
http://www.spitzlift.net/gallery.htm
http://www.spitzlift.net/out_rec/index.htm
they also fold up and are removable to hide it under the deck
http://www.spitzlift.net/gallery.htm
http://www.spitzlift.net/out_rec/index.htm
they also fold up and are removable to hide it under the deck
Yeah, they want like $1400 for them though and I'm not sure how easy it would be to swing a sled onto the deck if the crane is on the hitch.
Would someone plz post a vid?!
S
sledneck_03
Well-known member
whats $1400 compared to a $50-70,000 diesel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0jUR7FIXvA
Here is a motorcycle, but it would have to be mounted higher.
Im not sold either, but frick a rig pigs 10" lift and 40" tire ford truck it would be a steep climb on to a deck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0jUR7FIXvA
Here is a motorcycle, but it would have to be mounted higher.
Im not sold either, but frick a rig pigs 10" lift and 40" tire ford truck it would be a steep climb on to a deck
The ramps aren't as bad to load as you think. I just used my STF for the first time last week on my Dodge 3500 6" lift 35" tires, 10' ramp, the deck is pretty dang close to 6' up. It looks a bit steep, but I actually stopped on the ramp and took almost nothing for throttle to get it up there. Put a 12' ramp on ANY truck and you can pretty much stop on the ramp.
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