I was watching a truck modification show on TV this weekend and saw a demonstration on something caled a Spitzlift. It's basically a mini-crane that can be mounted in the back of any truck, or attached temporarily to the tow hitch. It lifts up to 700 pounds, weighs about 30 pounds, and can be folded up to be carried and stored in a small space.

The demonstration showed an engine block being picked up and put into the truck. The hand crank stays put when you release your hand from it so one person can lift heavy loads into or out of the bed of the truck. It looked like it really worked well but II wanted to know if anyone has heard or or tried this thing? It can be seen at http://www.spitzlift.com. Any feedback on this would be great.

 

My dad has something similar on his S10, but it has a hydraulic jack for the lift. It can lift 500 or 1000 lbs. depending how far the arm is extended. It works ok, but not that great. The suspension takes up most of the force, so you have to block the frame to keep the rear from bottoming out. And if you attach it to the bed, make sure you bolt right to the frame or use a big metal plate under the bed because the bed is kind of thin and will buckle. On the big trucks it would probably work better. Just my opinion!

 

I just got one of these last week, and it's really amazing. Easy to set up, VERY easy to use, and folds up pretty small when not in use. There's some really clever engineering in this thing. I can definitely recommend it.