The bike pulley’s I used were from Harbor Freight and cost $7.50 each so $15.00 for this setup.
The pulleys are rigged using the locking mechanism meaning the rope must be vertical to release. If I hadn’t installed the pulleys first, I would have probably just used some ropes and hooks to release some tension and keep it balanced.
I thought about using boards and eye bolts, but didn’t want to hassle with raising the topper manually to get the boards in. Ultimately, I ended up mounting an eye bolt to the topper with a support brace. The orange straps were just temporaries I used to locate the center of gravity.
Now I can drive in, hook up the winch, push a button, and off comes the shell. When it’s near the ceiling I hook up the pulleys to level it and keep it from rotating.
For what it’s worth… the winch was from Harbor freight as well. On sale along with the always available 20% coupon it was $55.00. A couple boards, some hardware, and piece of u-channel brought the grand total to around $90 something plus tax.
It might not be the best looking, but I didn’t break the bank and it is very quick and easy to use. The hardest part now is getting the clamps loosened. Next I’ll work on a quick release setup.
