Its one thing to figure out which ATV to purchase - its another to figure out how to haul it around.

If your like me - taking the 250_ pound fiberglass topper off the truck to carry a ATV is a serious pain in the butt.

After the last ordeal (rear window replacment $700) and before I bought another truck without a topper - I had a brain flash and decided to build something to easily remove and replace my topper instead of investing in another vehicle.

After some initial concept drawings I noticed that what I needed looked a lot like a engine hoist with a articulating platform that would go inside of the topper and lift it up off the truck.

Well, thats exactly what I built and I'm here to say that it works - wonderfully. Its so easy the wife can (and did) do it.

Remove the topper clamps - roll the articulating lifting pad on the arm of the "Lift-Off Topper Popper" into the the topper and operate the hand pump to jack the topper off the truck. Pull the truck out of the way and set the topper down on blocks or - I use a small trailer so I can haul the topper out of the way behind the house.

I paid $200 for the enging hoist and another $100 in materials. Interesting is after building the thing I discovered that it is now a lot easier to stash my ice fishing gear in the garage by just jacking the heavy stuff all the way up through the rafters. Beats the old carry it up the ladder stunt.

If your interested in building your own or my design sketches etc - PM me. I added pictures to my PICS here. And FYI - I did register the drawings for patent search so dont get any wise ideas...LOL

OK - the good news is that this contraption folds up and takes about the same foot print of a table saw. But for the labor and risk savings - its worth every square inch.

 

That is an exceptional idea!


I would have to modify the legs of the engine hoist to make them longer. My camper shell "topper" is full size, your looks like a short box. I see you have to stand on the back of the engine hoist to keep it from falling forward. Perhaps some swivel out leg extentions are in order? If you made them so they didn't get any wider just longer then they would still fit between your rear tires.


That is food for thought, I too have topper woes [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] My garage isn't tall enough to lift the topper up with a cable winch or pully system so right now it's laying in the back yard on some blocks where my kids trample it and the dogs climb on it....it's a bad situation really. I was thinking of putting up 4 poles and rigging a pully system then keep the topper suspended. I may still do that as the jack thingie you have wouldn't transport the topper down the slope of my back yard for storage.

I think your topper popper would work best for those people storing their topper in the garage or other paved/hard surface or like you say moving the topper from truck to trailer. It's a great idea

 

what kind of topper[make/model] do you have?, my leer fiberglass probably weighs only 100#, i can stand in the bed and lift the top on my back and just walk it off the truck[8ft bed], onto 2 horses. as far as your quad, whats wrong with a trailer? picked up a cheapy from harbor freight[$199, 4x8,1185 lb capacity,12 in. wheels/folds to store-2x5' footprint
fits both the eiger and the longer wheelbase tbx 400[not at the same time of course, thats coming..... yours seems like a great solution to a problem that wasnt there......

 

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.......i think as i mentioned to the previous poster that your cap isnt really as heavy as you think[as much as it is clumsy to handle], consequently i think your pulley idea would probably work fine.........we hang our canoe in the pole barn[16" old towne] with 2 deer hanging pulley setups[capacity around 100-150 each], pull it right up to the rafters

 

Unfortunately your opinion on it doesn’t change the reality of how much it weighs. That’s pretty presumptuous of you oper2nyst. But no surprise. It’s all of 250 pounds. Model is a LEER 100XQ. We had a 250 pound neighbor sit on the platform and it took more effort to raise the rear of the jack then it did with the topper on it. Which pretty much validated what the dealer told us when we called them and asked. They said 260#.

I really wonder why unless you have a know-it-all complex why the weight of my topper would be contested?

In the picture you will note the tail-gate down. On a full size topper you would want to remove the tailgate and get the platform further into the topper. Fortunately that’s not very difficult. Note the platform arms – this extends past the CG of a full size topper.

Yes the wife is standing on the jack as although it would stay in one place - it was a little windy when we did this the first time and I wasn't taking any chances with my topper! If I were to add 20 pounds of weight to the rear of the jack I wouldn't have been as nervous about it. Nearest weight around was the wife...lol

Not everyone has a pole barn or enough height above there truck to lift a topper off. I noticed my truck came up about 2 inches and I had to raise the topper about 3 inches more then first thought to clear the bed rails. Maybe its a F-350 thing but I see many trucks with the tailgate being higher then the front of the bed. This adds up to needing a lot more head room then what I have in my garage.

I have 4 trailers in my yard able to carry combined 12 quads. With the reduction in MPG and the cost of fuel - its nice to run the quad into the bed and not have to mess around with a trailer. I have 7 trailers counting boats and utility. Fully aware of trailer issues. Thats why I came up with this.

OK – all that being said – I appreciate any constructive criticism. It works but maybe not yet perfected. Most things first developed are not.

I like the swing out legs idea. It would add stability. I will think about how to hinge those.

 

I use a similar procedure, but in my garage i use the roof trusses, and pulley my topper off of those, back in the garage, lift the topper off, leave it suspended in air, and drive out, then i can back in, lower it back on the truck, and drive away.

 

ditto,simple and effective[and unfortunately; non-patentable, oh rats]......this works just fine in a standard 8' garage......... because we all dont have pole barns...........

 

"I really wonder why unless you have a know-it-all complex why the weight of my topper would be contested?"


dont get your shorts in a bind sport[ and, why yes, i am a board certified know-it-all], didnt say yours weighed any certain thing , did say mine was about #100[probably less based on my lifting abilities at 54]
and it is a full 8' unit[ its a 95 model, equivalent to a number 100 model in current leer listing, ,based on that its not a stretch to "guess" your 6 footer isnt that much heavier[another #150 ?, not likely]..... and dont be soooo sensitive

 

I don't feel like grunting and squeezing my intestines into my ******* thank you very much

 

hey! arent you the other guy that thought this thing was a good idea?......figures , and if your having trouble with your n*****k try working out , for crying out loud you're just a kid......