Hi,

I have an e150 van and am looking for something to help lfit cargo. I'm considering a crane/winch, ramp, or a liftgate. Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

Leon

 

How much weight and size ?

Are you loading lifted item in van or carry it on lift ?

Hitch mounted device or perm. ?

How much are you willing to spend for product ?

 

Mainly loading food stored in coolers to sell at Farmers' Market or catering. We have about 15 to 20 coolers weighting 80-120 lbs each. Coolers vary in size and need to be stacked on top of each other. Our budget is small, but starting to get minor injuries (back, hips, legs) lifting the stuff in and out, so have to pay what's needed for the right solution.

 

A home-made ramp would be the cheapest, but would not really solve the problem as you would still have to be lifting and carrying the chests to get them up there. If you put the chests on wheels, then you could just push them up the ramps, but then securing them in the manner you mentioned might be trouble.

You really need a ramp made with rollers like you would see at UPS or FedEx, but I can't seem to find a link to one. Here's a link to an inexpensive ramp from Harbor Freight.

I can empathize with you on this one. My dad is quickly becoming wheelchair bound and I am struggling to find a cost effective way to load him in and out. At the moment, he can still climb in the front seat, but I'm not sure for how much longer.

 

Harmar AL065 Inside/Outside Wheelchair and Scooter - Harmar Inside Vehicle Lift

Something like this will cost you $700+ and lift 250 lb. Took 2 min. To find doing Google search, many other prod. Like it on the market. There is also a hitch lift platform for pick up Trk. But don't know how it would work without tailgate, it was around $300

Good luck

 

Nice rig, but I don't think it would work with the doors on the back of the van. Then there's the cost - nothing is affordable in this day and age.

 

The units I have looked at like this one are very versatile and should have no problem with van doors if it can move out of the way to raise that rear hatch, should work on a van.

With fab shops charging about $75 per hr. plus materials, it doesn't take long to spend $500 and your product may not be as finished as modding something like my first example to fit your needs.

If van is plain unfinished interior cargo van I would consider building frame that slides in with center support beam. ( secure frame how ever you like ) Center Beam slides out of rear door which could support a small ATV type winch ($30 at Harbor freight). Design a strap which lifts using the cooler handles. Would lift coolers from ground at rear of van and carry them to any point inside by pushing cooler to side and lowering once inside you could stack them and if rack is built with tie down points it could secure coolers. Pretty simple, if you can justify spending the money to build it. Anything less and your back to lifting coolers at some point.

 

Kind of like a hoist beam in a shop... Cool idea!

 

Exactly, but this would telescope out rear of van. I have seen pic. of something like this when I started planning my hitch lift. years ago but cant remember where.

Some straight trucks like casket companies use this type lift but I beam is perm. and sticks out back. You could use I beam inside and design roof rack with another I beam which slides into tube just like hitch receiver then after you stop and open doors put 4' section of I beam into tube and tighten bolt to hold in place. Or leave I beam on rack and slide it back to open doors, then back forward to meet I beam inside van. I beam could hang 4' beyond back of van if you put a light and flag on it. Many diff. ways you can go but they all cost $500+ if paying somebody else to do it.

Something like this I would look in junk yards for roof racks and pick up truck racks made from 1" steel tubing. would have to be cut down to fit inside van. Will give you a cheaper starting point if you are handy at all.

Thats my .02 good luck, back to my projects.

 

Thanks, I was wondering could e-tracks and a winch be used. If I could attach e-tracks along the ceiling of the van, I could attach a winch to the ceiling e-tracks and lift things up. Also, e-tracks on the side of the van with a winch might be able to pull the coolers into the van with a ramp. Is this possible?

Leon

 

FWIW I have lift similar to the one linked to in the back of my 1990 E350. I use it to lift my powerchair. It works fine with the doors.

You also might look in to getting a used wheel chair lift or a hitch mounted lift. I think it would be easier to set the coolers on a platform and rasie the platform than to lift them with the crane.
500 Lb. Capacity 12V Winch Powered Hitch Lift

If you were handy I bet that could be made to work with a van.

They make a Tommy Gate that will fit your van but the standard truck model will not. The van model is not as common so it sells for more.

I looked into a lot of different ways to get my chair in my van and went with the crane. Then about a week after I eventually got the crane worked out , I found a deal on a newer nicer van with a rear mounted hydraulic wheelchair lift. It is WAY more convenient than the crane.

The lift is rated at 800lb so we have used it to load large items. It works great for that as well.