I'm planning on lifting my Viking, but noticed how high the bed will end up being. I use mine to hunt, and often enough hafta retrieve/load deer by myself. Not an easy task when the bed is up high. So if the pic uploads right, my description should work. You could mount a bar to back of roll cage above head rests, with a centered pulley pointing out back. With Viking backed up close to a tree, bed in dump position, and deer at end of tailgate my idea should work. Tie rope to tree, route thru pulley, and tie off to deer legs/head. Next simply drive forward til deers weight is mostly in the bed, set parking brake, and lock bed back in down position. Back machine up and undo ropes. The red I drew on bed in pic would possible a heavy piece of rubber to avoid rope rubbing bed. What yall think?
Deer Loading Idea
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I like your thinking. One think to consider is the distance from the end of the tail gate to the ground when tilted. You might need a ramp or board that hooks in so when you drive forward the deer enters the bed. An alternative to this and one the Viking is great at. Gut the deer in the field. Go get a six pack of beer and pick up your two best buddies from camp. Drive back have them load it up while you celebrate!
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I do agree with getting the buddies, but there are many times im huntin when my buds are workin ha. I figured a guy could get the head up high enough against the tailgate to make the drag work. I may never do the build, but figured it was decent enough to share.
I thought bout that, but I haven't invested in a winch. Haven't put one on anything I own in many yrs as I never needed one. I don't do much mud ridin, or hardcore work with mine. Mainly trail ridin and huntin so I've gotten by without one for awhile. More than likely will add one at some point.
I mounted a winch to the frame under the bed, then using an old bed extender I bought at harbor freight years ago, made a boom that swivels around on top of it. I welded a couple of pulleys to the top of the boom and use the winch to lift animals in the bed by myself without any problems and I don't have to look for a tree to back up too.
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A few years ago, we came upon a guy that had a deer down...and we asked him if he need any help loading it into his Ranger. He said "no thanks, I have a pulley." We were curious so we stuck around to see his setup.
What he had was a very similar idea to what flyin51 is talking about. He had an attachment to the top of his cage and then used one of those pulley gambrel systems like this HME Products 4:1 Gambrel-402419 - Gander Mountain If you get the 3 pulley version, I think you need something like 28 pounds of pull to lift 300 pounds of weight.
He hooked the pulley system to the top of his cage, and then attached the other end to the deer. He then raised his bed and had a piece of plywood that slid out to fill the gap between the bed and the ground. Then he just grabbed the other end of the rope and pulled that deer right up into the bed. Talk about simple! You could just hook one end anywhere...it could be a strap to the corner of the cage, or maybe even one of those tie downs in the bed (if they are strong enough?)
Check this out on Youtube....as easy as it gets!
What he had was a very similar idea to what flyin51 is talking about. He had an attachment to the top of his cage and then used one of those pulley gambrel systems like this HME Products 4:1 Gambrel-402419 - Gander Mountain If you get the 3 pulley version, I think you need something like 28 pounds of pull to lift 300 pounds of weight.
He hooked the pulley system to the top of his cage, and then attached the other end to the deer. He then raised his bed and had a piece of plywood that slid out to fill the gap between the bed and the ground. Then he just grabbed the other end of the rope and pulled that deer right up into the bed. Talk about simple! You could just hook one end anywhere...it could be a strap to the corner of the cage, or maybe even one of those tie downs in the bed (if they are strong enough?)
Check this out on Youtube....as easy as it gets!
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Never was into hunting, always want to get into it and it's good to see this is how you guys transport deer and even moose into the bed of a truck, never knew how people transported them
Not a bad idea at all and its pretty basic but it can work. I'd be in to see this all come together. Hope it works out.
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This is exactly how I do it with my truck. Except with moose and elk. I just gut the deer and lift those in. Only word of advice is like somebody else mentioned, build or buy some kind of a ramp that hooks to the tailgate or box of your Viking. I use a set of quad ramps, then just drive forward until the whole animal is in the box. This way you don't have to tilt your bed at all. If it works for bull moose and elk, it'll work for deer.
Another word of advice, take lots of rope. You never know how far the tree will be away from you. I take about 200'. Believe me, you need it at some point.
seems like the idea would work but you better hope part of the deer doesnt get caught under the bed before it goes up the ramp or you will just rip that part right off the deer. I also think the rope would eventually degrade and snap from rubbing against the corner of the bed often. I also wonder if all that weight pushing down on the bed while its in the dump position is good for the shocks.
I figured a guy would need something on the front of the bed to prevent much rope rub. As far as down pressure on the shocks, I cant see it hurtin anymore than slowly shutting the bed down like normal use. The idea of a board to fill the bottom gap as a slide would work to avoid damage to animal or machine when initially loadin. As far as havin to find a tree, I have never killed a deer where trees weren't in the very near proximity, if not within feet of the animal. My idea was to have a way to load the animal, with minimal permanently attached equipment. The crane/winch idea is nice for sure, just more than I want hangin off my machine.
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I hoisted this deer into the tree by myself with a pulley system. It dressed out at 252lbs. Did the same with a wild hog (just under 300lbs). I would think it would be easy to drag one up into the bed of a Viking.
![Reindeer Mammal Elk Barren ground Caribou Trophy hunting]()
A friend of mine in Colorado hoists whole elk up by himself with an engine pulley hoist. I'm talking hand over hand and no sweat.
I'm more worried about fitting one in the bed...rather than getting one in the bed
A friend of mine in Colorado hoists whole elk up by himself with an engine pulley hoist. I'm talking hand over hand and no sweat.
I'm more worried about fitting one in the bed...rather than getting one in the bed
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Thanks...deer hunting is what I do! Been very fortunate and had a couple really nice ones published. Go big or go home!
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Unfortunately that's the bad part, I hafta wait til prob mid September to get him back from the taxidermist. He said it would take 10 months turn around. That's the only bad part of using a great taxi--THE WAIT!! He is much wider in person really.
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That's a dandy!
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