Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Receiver Hitch Game Hoist recommendations

Looking for a receiver hitch game hoist- Kinda like the look of the Prohoists model, but it has been on backorder forever.

Any other good alternatives? I can see a use for one of these for a lot more than just hoisting big deer. My 65-year old back could use some help!

Bighorn,

We have a homade one and the one Sportsmans Guide sells. We use them when we travel to hunt quite a bit and they work well. I like the SG version as it swivels. If you wanted one to just pick up the deer and spin into the truck, I'd get the swivel type. I believe SG was getting about $99 last I checked.

I have a Monarch that will lift and swivel anything that needs to be lifted and swiveled. That thing is heavy built.

Bighorn - First let me say that I'm not a professional welder but I could build one that'd satisfy me.

If you're interested here's what I'd do. I think it would be less expensive??

With tubing strong enough, it could be welded into an unusual _T shape that would fit the reciever.

I would buy and bolt or weld a 'boat wench' to the upright and a pully or loop on the underside of the T.

It could be made to swivel w/o too much adaptation. It could be used not only as a hoist, for gutting/skinning but also weighing.

Food for thot:

Love those boat wenches.

Now R C - That's sure a PRETTY one altho it seems a little fragile.

It seems a little weak on top.

I imagine it wouldn't hold a game animal up very long.


Now keeping you up.....that might be different.

I don't recall the brands but two different commercial ones I've used needed reinforcement braces welded on. The winch and pulleys were not very good either. But these were the basic models.

Seems like it would only be a little more trouble to start from scratch and use better components.

Bighorn:

You might take a look at this one. I like it because it has both a ratcheting cable lift and a hydraulic lift and you don't have to sell an arm and a leg to buy it.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/400298400589?_lwgsi=y&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

KC

Doesn't go high enough to be used as a skinning gambrel etc.

http://www.quickwinch.ca/

I have one. Only thing I would change, is that I wish it went 2 ft higher. However, then it couldn't fold up to only 4ft long. BTW, it will swivel if you put the pin under the upper length.

Cust curious, but is that hoist tall enough to (cleanly) lift carcass over the side of a pick-up or do you still have to sort of drag it over?

On a big deer, you will be dragging some portion of the critter across the tail gate. I severely hurt my back in 2005, so I have used mine especially when I hunt alone. I'm somewhat healthier now, so I don't always use it. Sometimes it's just faster to gut and skin on the ground.

I have one of those ones from sportsmans guide as well. they work very well and I am quite pleased with it.

Here's a pic of the SG hoist I use:

I have a ProHoist, paid $100 for it shipped new & I love it.

Reloader - Can you give us a pic?

Yeah, I can build one but when you figure in time, torch gases, & welding $ ---$100. doesn't sound bad.

The only problem I see with most of these game hoists is they stand smack in front of the tail gate, exactly the area you want to keep clear for loading.. I have seen pics of ones that are positioned to the side of the tail gate and that would seem a better idea...Edited to add pic of one found on the Net:



Personally, for loading game, I think a set of ramps and either a come-along or an electic ATV winch is a better idea.

If you want to hang a carcass to skin it in the field, I can see some benifit with a hoist. But even for skinning I think they are less than ideal as a carcass hung by a single point using a gambrel can twist and turn as you pull on the skin.. I prefer to hang game using an S hook through each hock, hanging these via two eye bolts as this secures the carcass much better. This is not impossible with a reciever hitch hoist set-up, but is certainly not "usual"..

regards,

Peter

Thanks Pete for posting the pic.

That particular model would work but it doesn't have enough frame work for myself.

The SG hoist in the earlier post is more along the lines of what I'd build. Even there I could make the receiver tube angled or doglegged to get away from center of tailgate.

I like the adjustable height in the upright and the horizontal top tube, I'd make longer to give more room between game and the hoist main frame.

Thanks Again

Tend to agree: no idea why somebody would build one so short unless it extends?

One idea I did see I particularly liked is in the pic below:



With the gambrel winched all the way to the top, it is held securely to stop the carcass twisting/turning as you skin it..

I am not sure if the "prongs" used on the hoist in the pic would be strong enough, but it would be easy to build something similar but using heavier gauge materials..

Regards,

Peter

http://www.prohoists.com/Products/photos/632_1.jpg

Price has definitely sky-rocketed. I only paid $100 + shipping two years ago.

The company name has changed since I bought mine.

Looking at the site they do two..one fairly cheap rated to hold 300Lb and the model in your pic which is a bit more expensive but is rated to 600lb..

I like the fact that with either model, some of the weight goes directly to the ground..

Here is a dirt simple, adjustable length, field skinning hoist that I built from 2" tubing and just used a cable come-along that I had laying around.

I made it angle away from the tailgate so I could open the tailgate and use it for my field bench. With steel, pulley, paint, bolts, etc I'm sure I'm under $40 total.

Very nice Lonny. Looks simple and lightweight.

A simple hitch extension gets mine out beyond the tailgate.
Of course now that I drive a full size truck, I need a longer extension.

I bought that model for that very reason. I use it to load animals onto my atv. I slide it into the receiver hitch & let the foot take the weight off until it is positioned properly onto the back rack. I don't use the supplied winch. I use a Harrington 1/4 ton chain fall with a 10' chain. It makes loading a snap!

very slick!!

I love the come-along idea. Combine that with round pipe instead so that you can rotate it onto your tailgate and push deer into the bad. That would be wonderful.

I like it so much, I've got one similar under construction right now.

Many thanks for posting.

A question for the mechanically inclined which I'm not! I had three discs fused last year, so my lifting days are pretty much over. I've got factory class three hitch, 2 inch square tubing, 3/16 thick for the lift structure, a really heavy duty boat trailer winch and a gambrel made from 3/8" steel. What do I use for the swivel joint to load the animal into my truck and given the above specifications, do I need to make a "foot" to contact the ground?

Stoneybroke, A cheap bottle jack could be used if you're worried.

Thanks, I didn't think of the jack. So happens, there is a Tundra frame jack hanging on the garage wall. That is half of the equation. Now to figure out the swivel mechanism.

Glad it could be of some help John.

Redbone's idea of using round tubing for pivoting so the skinned critter could be swung around into the truck bed would be a really nice addition.

Stoney-You might take Redbone's idea and use some round tube in conjunction with your square tube to get the swiveling effect. I'd do a little playing around with pencil and paper to get a plan before you cut or buy material. I never did use anything underneath my hitch as a foot, but when lifting something heavy like say an elk, you will notice some sag in your truck.