We Never Had a Hoist

Dad never had a hoist on his truck so this is how we got unloaded at the elevator. I'm glad I took these pictures.

We had quite a few eIevators with a hoist Iike that up here in AIberta before they tore them down and buiId the huge concrete monoIiths of today.

Wow. Good thing you didn't have a bigger truck. I remember before we had hoist wagons we had a Stanhoist wagon hoist. We used to fight over who got to let the wagon down lol. Isnt that odd to have so much fun doing something so simple.

I did see bigger trucks than our little one be lifted to get unloaded. Yes when times were simplier.

This is how we did it before hoists.

OSHA would never let that happen today probably? Lol. Thanks for the pics.

I had a '48 Dodge farm truck that got hoisted that way 'cause it didn't have a hoist under the box.

The drawback on that was having the entire truck tilted that way the fuel level in the carburetor got messed up and you sometimes had a starting problem.

The elevator I went to had a down grade going out of the elevator, and if my Dodge acted up several guys would push it out the door and I'd drop the clutch on the down grade.

Still had hoists like that up until the last 5 years they will lift a 2 ton truck even seen s ten wheeler on it before

Thanks for the pictures, our elevator had a lift like that. I hauled grain in my 54 Chevy 1/2 ton, one day the lift did not stop and put a crease in the top of the cab. There insurance paid to fix it,still have the pickup.

Goose, our 49 International did the same thing when the drive over hoist lifted it. Carb would run over and the six volt system sometimes wouldn't start it. Lucky for us there was a steep grade after we went out the door so we could coast down it and let the clutch out.

Yes, that was standard equipment in the wooden elevators when I was a kid. Although a lot of farmers had hydraulic hoists by then there was still the odd one that needed a lift. And yes, sometimes they needed that sloping driveway out for a roll start after the carburetor flooded on the lift.

I sure like your pickup. My grandpa had one like that. When did they start putting the cab corner windows in them?

How many bushel will that truck hold

I think they had 5 window cabs from 48 thru early series 55. They were deluxe cabs.

Had that type of hoist in the nearby elevator into the 1980s. Barge boxes and the two ton trucks.

The elevator in town has the hoist for full semis, would lift a 2 ton truck as well.

I still have the Stanhoist for a 3pt here that we used on barge boxes in ear corn.

Paul

Those old hoists would discover leaks that you never knew that the truck had before.

I took a load of grain to the elevator in our 1935 Dodge truck. I made sure that it was in neutral, but when they raised the truck the box caught on the grate and dragged the front wheels off the hoist.

When the truck frame dropped on the hoist, one side of the bell housing mount cracked. I drove the truck home; Dad wrapped a short piece of chain around the cast mounting and drew it back together with a bolt. It ran that way for several more years when we got a newer truck.

Yup used to have a couple like that in the Ovid elevator one for the feed grinder and one for the pit. We went to a hoist as the pit would let you dump from either way, and some times the feed line would get in the way of the pit. If you had a hoise you could jump the line, and dump while the others had the pit blocked. that used to PO some of the guys at the elevator line. When the owner of the elevator would ask sonny do you have a hoist knowing we did he would tell me to go bring it up.
I was about 18 at the time and he was about 60 so sonny was in respect to all.

The paper mill in the next town switched from pulpwood to chips in the seventies. The box trailers that they hauled the chips in didn't have hoists so they built a tilting platform that they backed the trucks onto and raised them tractor and all to dump the chips. A big wheel loader with a huge oversized bucket then carried them up onto the pile. The mill has been vacant now for about ten years due to email.

Have that same set up in our corn crib my grandfather built in the 50s. It still will work, we have a drive through corn crib with the Meyers elevator running under the floor, use it every year.

John B.,

Really neat old photos. Thanks for posting.

We always had a hoist, but mom drove the 30 Chevy that didn't have one. The old guys thought it was so much fun to get that lift started before she jumped out and they would make her ride it up screaming all the way. Can you I imagine what "the law of the land" would say now??? Mom also worked at the elevator in her youth sticking trucks and running the scales. They would sometimes stay open until 11 pm during harvest. She can't hardly believe it when I tell her I am hurrying to the elevator before they close at 6. The one in Ottawa wouldn't stay open for the Pope. Luckily, Baldwin is still good old boys who will sit and wait if you call them when you start the truck.

I'm not sure I would want my 58 GMC lifted that way - I think most fluids stay in it just because they are level below the seal!

Betcha somebody got their Heritage Iron magazine in the mail last week...

There's an article on custom farm toys in this issue, and one of the photos is a model of an old wagon hoist similar to that.

Our local feed mill in my home town, Shelby, OH, had a hoist like that, only there were grapples that lifted the front wheels of a wagon or truck. The old mill was built around 1910 and the hoist ran on two big I-beams bolted to the ceiling joists. Much grain was hauled on barge box wagons then and so the wagon was unhitched from the tractor, then lifted. When it was let down someone had to grab the tongue and walk it down so it wouldn't hit the floor. If it was forgotten the wagon stood there on the tongue and back wheels. It was not an OSHA approved job to re-attach the grapples and pull the tongue away, but I never heard of any injuries. The old hoist met it demise about 1960 when local BTO made a wagon out of an old semi trailer. Must have held 300-400 bushels and it pulled the I-beams out of the ceiling.

Dad didnt have a "grain truck".Just his big heavy pickup with sideboards. I remember the truck hoist. Even got to ride it up to the top. Our old feed store still has a hoist ,but I doubt that it's lifted anything in years.I wonder if it still works?

Every old elevator in this area had one of those hoists. I remember seeing them used many times when someone would bring in a ton truck or pickup to dump. And you could almost bet the line at the elevator would get impatient because either the carburetor would get flooded afterward or oil would find it's way into the combustion chamber of a few cylinders (these trucks almost always were 6-cylinders) and either wouldn't start or would fog the whole place once they did start. When these trucks were seen in line you were thankful if you were AHEAD of them. Mike

Complete with a broken board!

Nice truck.

Looks like this truck I just bought from the original owner. Just has 15,000 miles and was always stored inside.

I well remember that type of lift. Unfortunately the hill when you left the elevator went up rather than down. It made it more difficult for those times when the engine would not start.

Today's lifts are a bit larger, enough to handle semi tractor and trailer.

Our local elevator was like this back in the day. They've since shut down the mill part and just do retail business, not many farms left in that part of that county since it all got developed. The places we used to farm are all businesses and homes.

your lucky we used a big shovel lol

never understood the 5 window thing. 2 side windows 2 vent windows 2 corner windowa 1 rear window 2 as had split windshild Thats 9 by my count.

Remember them well. Out of the four 2 ton grain trucks we had only one had a dump bed. I always crossed my fingers and prayed while the truck was up that it would start when back down on the ground. We also had a semi with sides built on a 45 foot flatbed trailer. The elevator operator dropped it one night, made a big mess.

Yep, the elevators all had those here. They disappeared in the 90's or so. There were also a number of stories about the cables breaking and dropping trucks 8 or10 feet.


Gene

This old 49 Mercury (on the left) had a good many rides on the elevator lifts as it had no hoist. My uncle used to haul about 90 bushels on what was really just a 3/4 ton truck. Single 17 inch tires. We never thought much about it at the time but I would not want to overload a vehicle that much now. GVW was 6800 pounds on that truck.

Back when I was 15, my great uncle had some soybeans left over in the bottom of a bin built into his barn. Not enough to make a trip to town in the big truck, but too much to not haul in and sell.

At the time, his farm pickup was a 1977 Ford F100. He always bought new pickups for the farm, but always got the absolutely most cheap model he could, no A/C, 4 speed, don't think it even came with a radio.

Anyway, we cleaned out the bed of the pickup, stuffed some burlap sacks in the gap between the tailgate and box, and augered the beans into the bed of the pickup. They all fit, but the load was level full to the top of the box.

Here's where I come in. Great uncle had been in some legal problems, and was not at that time in possession of a valid driver's license. Great aunt had a license, but could not/would not drive a manual transmission. That left me, with my learner's permit.

We all three loaded up, and away we went with me behind the wheel. 17 miles to town. Technically legal, since great aunt was a licensed driver and was with me, but probably not the best safety prospect.

That pickup was so overloaded, I'm surprised the front wheels were even on the ground. I can remember every time I hit a bump, I would lose steering control and had to concentrate on not oversteering and sending us into oncoming traffic. Not an easy job for a somewhat novice driver.

We made it to the elevator. I had ridden along while hauling grain so I knew the drill about pulling onto the scale to weigh.

I was under the impression we were going to have to shovel the beans off by hand. Instead, we were directed to the "old" elevator that was seldom used.

There, they dropped the lift down from the ceiling. I don't recall exactly how it was powered, but it was a small lift, I don't think it would have lifted anything bigger than a pickup or barge wagon.

I drove the frontend onto the carriage. They lifted the front end of the pickup a foot or two and I backed up several feet to the pit. Uncle opened the tailgate, and up I went. Sure beat the heck out of shoveling by hand.

I still work part-time on the farm; in my 30+ years of ag work, that's the only time I've ever seen a lift in action. I'm not sure if they even have them around anymore. Next time I drive a load of grain to town, I'll have to look (if I remember).