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Iowa Honey Producers Association |
The Buzz Newsletter December 2004 |
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Truck Hoist Here is an idea born out of necessity that might help others. We were pollinating melon and pumpkin fields and moving 150 colonies to and from, when my wife, Carol said, “I’m not picking up that many hives next year.”
That winter I was looking at a farm magazine and saw a nice hoist. When folded down it looked like a roll bar back of the cab of a pickup truck. I contacted the company located in Canada. They wanted $2300.00, too much for my low budget operation. I thought I could do better building my own. This is what I did.
The vertical part of the hoist is an old manure spreader axel I found in my junk pile. The horizontal part is 2” and 1 3/4” square pipe. The small pipe telescopes inside the larger one for different reaches. I had a farm implement cylinder. The fork is 3/8” by 4” flat steel. To power the cylinder of the hoist, I used a hydraulic power unit that is run by the truck battery. Then I added a winch. The total cost was around $500.00 out of pocket, the rest I had on hand and free labor.
We can load and unload 50 hives in about an hour. Now maybe our backs will not hurt, and it is much safer. Submitted by Ron Wehr
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