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The A-frame kit (hoist) for M35-let's talk about it

jesusgatos

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Thanks hoopsoft, read the whole thread about your setup. You know, one thing I didn't understand was the guy's comment about the way you have those cables attached, he said something about it doubling the load/force? But it looks like you have it set up pretty much how the TM says to connect the cables (except for those clamps being on there backwards). Am I missing something?
 

hornetfan

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WOW alternatives for A-frame

I thought I'd toss out the idea for a different approach to using an A-frame on a deuce which allows using an A-frame hoist on trucks without a winch. Why not use the A-frame hoist with either a chain hoist or worm-gear hand winch? For a 3000 lb load the hand effort is minimal and you would also have much finer control over the load. The A-frame could be slightly modified to capture a mounting frame for a hand winch between the legs and shackle mount. The hoist could also be adapted for use at the rear of the truck. The front of the bed or lifting points can be used to anchor the top of the A-frame when used in the rear. Add pivot points inside the bed and a good come-along or a second chain hoist for the top anchor line and you can move loads into the bed easily.

An A-frame hoist is handy enough that it would be useful for an M35 W/OW, too. I have a 4000 lb hand worm-gear winch (with brake for lifting) with 200' of 5/16" Tech-12 synthetic rope on it. With a bracket to the two front shackles on my military Land Rover I have an emergency winch -- slow but with snatch block it pulls 8000 lbs and only weighs 27 lbs. I've got the same type of tow bars for the truck so will be adapting them to an A-frame. It should be good for at least 1500 lbs vertical lift with plenty of safety factor. I need to make the pivot brackets (on the bumper end of the A-arms) which bolt to the shackle mount a bit longer to capture the winch plate but it should be workable, light, and useful.

Just an idea. :)
 

emr

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A few guys were saying a chain hoist would be good, Well when I had mine I used a chain hoist for a few reasons instead of the winch, easier and more controllable operation, I liked being right there doing the work as i lifted things, It was fine and worked well.
 

gringeltaube

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.....................Ran a chain through the lunette-eye and that worked fine, but need to figure out how to make a point to hang a pulley from. Any ideas?
Why would that be a problem and not the solution...?
Remember KISS...!: short piece (14-16 links) of 1/2" chain (like what's used on the winch); form a ring by joining both ends into a larger eye-piece; then slip ring over lunette eye and feed large link through eye. A 3/4" or 7/8" shackle will provide a nice & safe hanging point.

G.
 

Attachments

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We made a set for mine used oil field tubing 3" and 2.5 inch, they are adjustable from 12' to 18'.

I've picked up the front of another deuce with it. (supporting the bumper with hilifts to not stress the springs)
Can you post a picture that shows where/how the tubing meets at the top?
 
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jesusgatos

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And how about an A frame mounted on rear of the truck? Anyone saw anything like that before?
Click the link in my last post. Was only lifting a few hundred pounds and didn't have a bed on it, so just threw some 7/8" bolts through the mounting feet and called it good. Planning on building a custom rear bumper that will stick out a little ways past the M109 box and will incorporate 1" mounts though.
 

John S-B

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I'm extending the front frame of my WO/W deuce. I have a 3 point lift boom (for a tractor) that I'm going to modify to fit on the front bumper shackles. I just have to cut off one of the tabs for the hitch pin on one side. I just have to work out a way to attach the top link attachment point to the frame rails just in front of the radiator. Then I can just use a chain hoist off the end of the boom. I think I'm just going to have a 1/2" thick reinforced cross bar made up with an attachment point for an adjustable toplink.
 

73m819

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And how about an A frame mounted on rear of the truck? Anyone saw anything like that before?
A lot of oil field winch trucks have a a-frame setup on the rear. "pole trucks"

In vn, we had about 1/2 dozen m52s that had behind the cab winches and a-frames that pined on the rear lift brackets, the a-frame was a take-a-part, tel-a-scoping, with a separate pined on apex shive setup, had two adjustable cables with a chain end, the cable eye attached to the apex, the chain attached to a bracket off the frame next to the winch, when the a-frame was broken down, each leg fit in brackets above the tires, below the 5th wheel (brackets looked like the ones on the pipe line truck), everything else fit in the behind the cab tool box. The idea was to beable to self load/unload lighter stuff like gen sets, ect. the winch was a front winch with a transfer pto drive, (like the 815 mid winch) the rear a-frame worked very good as long as you did not try to lift a d8 dozer. Standing the a-frame about straight with a two part line, you would be surprise what you could lift. In fact worked so good that we build some shop builds as the factory trucks died.

These trucks arrived as described above, all were exactly the same, looked factory built, now the funny part is that in all the years that I have been around big trucks, construction, ect., I have not seen any others and since I have been into MVs, not one TM shows this "tractor kit" or even mentions something like it. It is hard to believe we had the only ones built but ???. I was USAF engineers but most of our trucks and iron came from the Army (at the time the USAF did not have tactical vehicles), so these m52s started out Army.
 
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jesusgatos

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Just posted a bunch of medium adjustable towbars for sale in the classifieds section. First twenty people to respond are gonna get them for $150ea. Finally affordable enough to be able to justify cutting them up to make an extended A-frame hoist.
 

pigpen60

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Probably been posted but..In my tm it shows the A-frame legs each being 2 piece with a pin. In my opinion it uses lower leg of tow bar and a fabbed upper.
 

6x6guy

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Looked and looked for information and ran across a picture of a WWII truck with the same configuration - well most of it ( there were no specs ) just going by the picture- what's that old saying with a welder and a cutting torch I can fix anything but a broken heart. I see it in my mind - toss it around a bit, make a drawing - make a rough copy of the device that I'am working on and then refine it several times and then to its simplest state. Just took it to the next level and it works for me with no problems for what I designed it for. It has lifted beds, cabs, engines, transfer cases including a M109 body. Functional and pulls apart and stows on the truck, and I can do it by myself- simplicity.
 

Storm 51

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I think I have the TM or TB in the garage that covers the A-Frames for M-37 and Deuces. I'll try to remember to dig it out later today.
 
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