Bumper mounted foldable crane hoist

A bumper mounted foldable crane hoist for vehicles having a chassis and a load bed with a tail gate forming an access opening to said load bed comprising:

• an elongated horizontal housing structure having a bottom and spaced apart end and side walls, means affixed to one of said side wall for mounting said housing to the vehicle chassis below the level of the load bed along the edge of the access opening, said housing forming a bumper for the vehicle;
• an elongated support column with a base section attached to one end thereof, shaft means pivotally mounting:
• said base section on a horizontal axis between said side walls at one end of said housing structure to facilitate the movement of said support column in a vertical plane relative to said housing structure from a stored horizontal position with said support column lying within and extending along the length of said housing structure to a fixed upright operating position with said support column disposed perpendicular to said housing structure;
• means on said base section for maintaining said support column in said fixed upright operating position;
• an elongated boom pivotally mounted on the other end of said support column opposite said base section to move from a stored position alongside said support column to an operating position extending outwardly from the axis of said support column;
• a hoist line mounted on said boom for handling a load, means on said housing for applying a hoisting force to said hoist line, means mounted on said base section which are selectively and operatively connectable with said hoist line to pivot said support column to said upright operating position;
• anti-friction bearing means mounted within said support column and base section for supporting said boom for rotation about the central axis of said support column relative to said base section to shift loads suspended by said hoist line over and away from said load bed.