Motorized hitch lift

[Old tool guy]

Need a little … a lot … of help. Or a sanity check. We have 2 electric bikes, they weigh about 65# each. We’re old. We have a yakima ebike hitch rack with a ramp, problem is they are still difficult to load. I can do it, wife cannot. The attached pictures are off the yakima site, the one with the ramp is accurate, it’s that steep. Really would not help to extend the ramp, for one thing it won’t stow in the vehicle and the bike still has to get up into the tracks. We have an f-150 and an odyssey, even the low odyssey is too much for the wife.

So i’m wondering if there is a way to fabricate an electric hitch lift that would lower the rack to the ground so the bikes can be easily loaded.

 

[mike93lx]

MoTow Hitch Lift

Use this hitch lift with Double eBike / Bicycle Carrier for simpler ground loading or with virtually any 2” hitch bike rack for dirt bike, cargo rack, etc.

motowus.com

 

[Old tool guy]

Thanks, that might work.

 

[Old tool guy]

Thanks Mike. Now i feel bad … asking the question. I started digging after you posted that and found other options. The MoTow is $695 without the electric motor, $200 extra. The Lift Buddy is is $649 with the electric motor, and it’s less than that on amazon.

 

[mike93lx]

Thanks Mike. Now i feel bad … asking the question. I started digging after you posted that and found other options. The MoTow is $695 without the electric motor, $200 extra. The Lift Buddy is is $749 with the electric motor, and it’s less than that on amazon.

All good. I've done the same.

Hope you find something that works. E bikes are awesome and help people get out that might not otherwise, but they are heavy

 

[Old tool guy]

Wife is retired, she really likes riding. Takes her back to childhood days. I’m still working, i like riding weekends. She can’t go alone at the moment cuz she can’t load & unload. I ordered the LiftCaddy, supposed to be here this week. I will probably put it on my truck and leave it there for the summer, that way she can go riding during the week.

 

[mike93lx]

Wife is retired, she really likes riding. Takes her back to childhood days. I’m still working, i like riding weekends. She can’t go alone at the moment cuz she can’t load & unload. I ordered the LiftCaddy, supposed to be here this week. I will probably put it on my truck and leave it there for the summer, that way she can go riding during the week.

Please share your thoughts once you get a chance to use it.

 

[Old tool guy]

Do you ride? We went to the High Bridge trail sunday, not many people around, town was very quiet. Probably go to Jamestown this weekend and ride to the Chickahominy bridge and back. There is this nice biker bar (hah!) where we stop for lunch on the way back to the parking lot.

 

[mike93lx]

Do you ride? We went to the High Bridge trail sunday, not many people around, town was very quiet. Probably go to Jamestown this weekend and ride to the Chickahominy bridge and back. There is this nice biker bar (hah!) where we stop for lunch on the way back to the parking lot.

I did a bit of Mountain biking when living in MA but gave it up partly out of fear of breaking my collar bone and partly because I am out of shape. I'd love to get back into it.

Maybe as my kids get older. Right now, they are loving the pump tracks in Henrico

 

[no704]

I’d look for a used wheelchair lift. I used to design them. With a little modification it would fit the bill perfectly.

 

[Old tool guy]

This arrived today. Says it weighs 35 lbs … that’s the heaviest 35 lb i have ever picked up. It is very sturdy, but the instructions ****. Installed it on the truck and tried it out, not sure I like it.

 

[Old tool guy]

Here are some pictures. It comes with a locking hitch pin which is nice. The buttons on the remote are backwards from the instructions, no biggie, but the remote is cheap and the buttons can be pushed too far and they get hung up. It’s slow to raise & lower but i guess that’s because it’s geared for heavy loads. And a little noisy.
In the closeup picture you can see the hairpin that secures the tilt bracket. The safety wire is actually attached to the lift pin that keeps the lift from dropping during transport. It’s a nice safety wire … but no mention of how or where to secure it, and no safety for the tilt pin. So I looped them together, figuring that the chance of both pins being out at the same time is slim.

 

[Old tool guy]

Pictures of the first load. I’m a little disappointed at how high the bike rack is off the ground, but that’s not a function of the lift. The handlebars interfere with the lift motor during loading, and the bike hits the center post on the bike rack at the same time, which is aggravating.

Looks like a trolling motor.

So as i’m finishing up the test, mama says “why don’t we just get a trailer we can wheel the bikes onto? Ok, why didn’t you mention that last week. So now i’m looking into that option. Probably won't work.

 

[mike93lx]

That's too bad. Looks like the life motors that are used for powered tongue jacks on rv's

Small trailers **** to backup... Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Mikes61]

Most E-bikes have a “walk“ mode. Would that help you push it up the ramp and load the bikes?

 

[NUTTSGT]

That's too bad. Looks like the life motors that are used for powered tongue jacks on rv's

Small trailers **** to backup... Just something to keep in mind.

Small trailer and bigger the truck, the harder it is. Trailer gets out of whack before you can see it in the mirrors.

Consider bicycle flags for the rear of the trailer.

HF start making their 4x8 trailer again? That would probably be perfect for a couple of bikes.

 

[Old tool guy]

Most E-bikes have a “walk“ mode. Would that help you push it up the ramp and load the bikes?

Mine has a walk mode, i think, but you have to go through several menu pages to get to it. Mama does not handle workarounds well, she thinks everything should be easy to use.

Case in point. Kitchen faucet was a single handle model, started to drip just a little. I showed her that you could get the handle in just the right position …with one finger … and it didn’t drip. She couldn’t be bothered. You should be able to turn it off without thinking. I bet nobody elses wife has this problem. And her solution, and i caught her showing the girls how to do it, was to grab the handle with both hands and pull hard. If you pull hard enough it won’t drip. And she refused the workaround ... a decent husband would fix it.