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.