Portable hoist system with adjustment features

A portable hoist assembly including an adjustable support strut mechanism, comprising:

• a body providing for stable and secure mounting of the portable hoist assembly, the body serving as a support and including vertically separated upper and lower pivot points for connection to a boom and the support strut mechanism;
• the body including a cylindrical mounting element configured to slip together with a top end of a cylindrical pivot mast to be lowered into connection with the mast for pivotable support on the mast, and the body being a short body having limited height defined by a height of the cylindrical mounting element and extending to just below the pivot point for connection to the strut;
• the boom pivotally secured to the base at said upper pivot point as a horizontal pivot axis at one end of the boom for up and down swinging adjustment of a remote end of the boom relative to the body;
• a motorized lift mechanism, with a tension line extending outwardly relative to the boom and suspended from the remote end of the boom;
• the boom having a length of at least three to four feet;
• said adjustable support strut mechanism comprising a linear structural member having two ends, one end connected to the body at said lower pivot point below the boom, less than six inches below said upper pivot point of connection to the boom, and the other end connected to the boom at a pivot connection remote from the body, to act as a support strut for the boom, the body, the boom and the support strut thus defining a geometric shape of a triangle with a sharply acute angle at said pivot connection when the boom is essentially horizontal;
• said adjustable support strut mechanism having adjustment means for adjusting an angle of inclination of the boom and also allowing folding down of the boom for storage while the strut and boom remain connected to the boom and the body, without disassembly, the adjustment means comprising the linear structural member further comprising a first arm connected to and slidable with respect to a second arm so as to adjust the length of the support strut and thus to adjust the angle of inclination of the boom with respect to the body, with a locking structure for securing linear structural member at a selected length to provide a desired boom inclination;
• the boom being a structural channel open at bottom, and wherein the first and second arms fit into the channel of the boom when the boom is folded downwardly, with the support strut mechanism remaining connected to the boom and to the body, to form a compact portable and storable configuration defined by the boom, the lift mechanism and the body;
• the portable hoist assembly having a total weight less than 45 pounds;
• and
• the portable hoist assembly having a load lifting capacity of approximately 1000 pounds.