Beam size for Pickup Truck crane boom?

[Bill McCarthy]

My problem: I need to stand upright a 950 lbs motorcycle that has fallen, I'm unable to pick it up by myself. I don't need to lift the entire 950 lbs off the ground, the wheels will stay on the ground.

My idea: A beam that will lay across the bed of my pickup truck; its approximately 5 ft across the inside of the bed. The beam will extend about 4 ft beyond the side of the truck (so 9 or 10 ft overall length). I'm thinking of something like a see-saw, with the fulcrum on one side of the pickup bed. A vertical support on the opposite side of the lifting end, pushing the end down, held in place against the top rail of the pickup bed. I'll put a winch along the boom, with a pulley or block and tackle to lift the bike with. I'm planning on using southern yellow pine.

What size beam do I need? Is a 4x4 strong enough? Laminate 2 2x6? Anybody have a better idea?

This is not meant to be a permanent installation in the truck. It goes in and out as needed.

[Jim Becker]

Hmm....how about just buying a case of adult beverages and have a few friends help you raise it up? :)

[Bill McCarthy]

Its not a one time thing. I live out in the country, down a dirt road. I live by myself, only 2 other houses on the road. Although I'm getting better at riding it in the dirt/mud; depending on the condition of the road, I'm sure it'll go down again. I can't always find someone to help me, so I'm trying to figure out a way to do it myself.

[Frank Pratt]

Get a smaller bike?

I know, I'm no help at all, but i'm serious.

[Greg R Bradley]

950 pounds is an obscene motorcycle. 950 pounds on dirt/mud is a mistake. Whatever it is, at 950 pounds it doesn't have an appropriate wheel/tire size relationship or suspension geometry for dirt/mud.

I'm betting you started riding or started riding again recently.

[Wayne Lomman]

Any pine is too weak to be certain. A green hardwood pole is better. Cut one about 4 or 5 inches diameter at the small end. Green timber will bend and give plenty of warning if it is going to fail. Dry timber will snap without warning. Like you, I live in the bush and I have to do things independently. This works. If you want to ride your bike where you do, good on you. Jim's idea is great but I hold Christmas parties in a telephone box... Cheers

[Nike Nihiser]

He lives on a dirt road, don't think he has a choice sometimes about riding on dirt/mud.

[Tom M King]

I like the way this one can stay in the truck: https://www.harborfreight.com/12-Ton-Capacity-Pickup-Truck-Crane-60732.html

Looks like it needs a winch though.

[Mike Nolan]

A torsion box type beam is much lighter for a given strength. 2x4 top and bottom, plywood sides. I would have 8 inches between the 2x4s. The plywood does not have to be thick. The attachment of the plywood to the 2x4s does not have to be real strong. The beam should be 4 plus inches wide so that it doesn't want to fall sideways. I would rip the sides of the 2x4s so that they are flush against the plywood.

[Thomas Canfield]

I like the way this one can stay in the truck: https://www.harborfreight.com/12-Ton-Capacity-Pickup-Truck-Crane-60732.html

Looks like it needs a winch though.

I have the one with winch on arm and jack under arm. Works great but problem is getting it mounted in pickup bed. The floor is not strong enough to support the mount and a larger plate is needed both inside and under the bed to stiffen the mount. I keep putting off having welding shop add plate, and the plates I used for initial mount ended up bending the bed when lifting about 350# chunk of tree section.

[Bill McCarthy]

Guys, thanks for all the responses. The bike is a Harley Davidson Road Glide Ultra, one of the big touring bikes. Prior to this one, I had the Electraglide Ultra, which essentially the same except for the fairing. They are heavy. A Honda Goldwing is also close to 950 lbs. The Road Glide handles better in the dirt than the Electraglide did, but as was already pointed out, they are not made for dirt. I have 1/2 mile of dirt, out or back, until I get to the pavement. I've gone out in the morning and come home in the evening, stayed dry all day, but at the house it rained and the road was mud.

I had looked at those cranes that mount in the truck, but as Thomas noted there are some mods that need to be made to the truck. The cost and effort to do all that is not something I really want to do.

The idea of a green pole might work, but sooner or later the green pole won't be green any more; it will have dried.


A torsion box type beam is much lighter for a given strength. 2x4 top and bottom, plywood sides. I would have 8 inches between the 2x4s. The plywood does not have to be thick. The attachment of the plywood to the 2x4s does not have to be real strong. The beam should be 4 plus inches wide so that it doesn't want to fall sideways. I would rip the sides of the 2x4s so that they are flush against the plywood.

The torsion box is something I had not thought of, but sounds intriguing. Let me ask some questions. Let's say I use 1/4" plywood. 2x4s 8ft long. Would I use two pieces of plywood 8 ft long by 8 inches wide? Should I cut a dado or rabit into the 2x4s that the plywood would afix to? Do I need any other pieces of plywood? What I mean is do I need additional pieces of plywood 4" long by 8" tall to go between the outside plywood? Space them about a foot apart?

The truck is a F-350 and the top of the sides of the bed are about 5 ft off the ground, so I pretty much have all the height I need, I just need to extend far enough so that when the bike becomes upright, its clear of the truck, about 4 feet.

[Mike Kreinhop]

Rather than figure out how to pick up a fallen bike, what about a method to transport the bike to the paved road safely, such as a trailer? Assuming the 1/2-mile dirt road was your private driveway, you could park the truck and trailer near the paved road while you were out on the bike.

[Walter Plummer]

This type is also available. https://www.discountramps.com/apex-receiver-hitch-crane/p/HMC-1000/. This was the first one I found, others also make this style.

[Tom M King]

I thought maybe there was something already on the market: http://www.motobikejack.com/

[Bill McCarthy]

I thought maybe there was something already on the market: http://www.motobikejack.com/

Tom,
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

Something like this is exactly what I need. I was not aware that something like this existed. While looking for more information on this product I discovered a competitor, the Dustriders Motorcycle Hoist (https://www.advmotorrad.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=531).

I've sent inquiries to both and I'm waiting for responses. I will be buying one or the other. Not only will this solve my problem on the dirt road, it will take care of problems in other places whereas my crane idea wouldn't work.

Bill

[Tom M King]

and you don't even have to walk to the house to get the truck. I don't know what made me think to look for such a thing.

[Pat Barry]

I think you need to figure out how to keep this from happening and fix the way you ride to prevent this. Learning how to ride over tough terrain while keeping your balance is a skill you need to develop as it will help you even in parking lots. Practice in places where the terrain isn't an issue however. Parking lots, after hours, are a great place to learn.

[Myk Rian]

I think you need to figure out how to keep this from happening and fix the way you ride to prevent this. Learning how to ride over tough terrain while keeping your balance is a skill you need to develop as it will help you even in parking lots. Practice in places where the terrain isn't an issue however. Parking lots, after hours, are a great place to learn.
Apparently Bill is an experienced rider. You must have just skipped over post #11.

[Tom M King]

Like Forrest Gump said.........it happens.

[Bill McCarthy]

I think you need to figure out how to keep this from happening and fix the way you ride to prevent this. Learning how to ride over tough terrain while keeping your balance is a skill you need to develop as it will help you even in parking lots. Practice in places where the terrain isn't an issue however. Parking lots, after hours, are a great place to learn.


Apparently Bill is an experienced rider. You must have just skipped over post #11.

Guys, I appreciate all the help. I think I will be going for something like the MotoBikeJack. My most recent problem is that the county came in and "improved" the road. In one corner, when it rained, water would collect. So the county came in and added more dirt to build up this area. The problem has been that they only put down clay; it needs to have sand mixed into it. Its just to soft. Now when it gets wet, everything just sinks into it. My truck is a 4 wheel drive F-350 diesel. When going through this area, if I don't stay on the throttle, the truck will just bog down and eventually come to a stop. It'll leave 3" deep ruts (the motorcycle tires are much narrower). In addition to being soft, when the clay gets wet, it also gets slippery. Soft and slippery are not good conditions for a motorcycle, especially one designed for pavement. Its not possible to avoid this turn; as you can see in the picture, the trees get in the way.

Its been a little over a week since it last rained here, so things have dried up quite a bit but not perfect. I ventured forth on the bike this evening. This corner is not as hard as I'd like it to be, but I managed to get through. If I could use a term I learned driving a boat, you'd say I had a "snake wake". If this area was a straight away, even though soft, it would make things much simpler. The fact that I have to negotiate the turn as well as deal with a road surface that moves underneath you, can make for a "lively" ride. I thank the powers that be every time I get through it.

Prior to the "improvements" being made, the only time things were really difficult would be when it is raining; as I said clay gets slippery when wet.

As for the practice riding, I don't get as much as I'd like to. If you're interested, google motorcycle rodeo. I'm nowhere near good enough to compete, but its something I hope to be able to do. I've had some very skillfull riders helping me out with this. If I get this jack, I'll be able to practice more on my own, because I'll now be able to get the bike back upright on my own. Most of the riders doing that rodeo stuff, like the Cops, are riding HD Road Kings. Its the same frame as my bike, but without the bags and fairings, I think the weight of those come in between 750- 800 lbs.

On a different note, I might go ahead and build a torsion box beam, just for the practice. I can still use a small crane to load heavy things in and out of the truck.

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