Independent comparisons. We may earn from shop links. More info

Pick-up crane buying guide

Updated: 22 October 2026

You are about to spend hundreds of pounds on a jib that has to live in your load bed, haul a generator or a log over the side, and still leave you confident when you drive home. The [pick-up crane comparison](/hub/lifting-equipment/pick-up-crane) holds four amazon.co.uk rows with shelf prices and specification clashes. This page is the order of decisions before you click buy. If you remember one rule, buy the safe working load at the reach and boom angle you will actually use, not the largest pound figure in the title. Peter F. read these listings on 20 October 2026. There is no lab test here. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are about to spend hundreds of pounds on a jib that has to live in your load bed, haul a generator or a log over the side, and still leave you confident when you drive home.

Our top picks

Pismire Pismire 1,100 lb crane and 3,500 lb winch

Best overall

Pismire Pismire 1,100 lb crane and 3,500 lb winch
8.8/10about £1,013.25
View offer
Generic Generic 12 V pick-up crane RSWTC87

Best value

Generic Generic 12 V pick-up crane RSWTC87
5.6/10about £328.61
View offer
DEFNES DEFNES truck bed crane

Alternative

DEFNES DEFNES truck bed crane
4.1/10about £968.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What you are actually buying
  2. 2.The job, then the crane figure
  3. 3.Mount, 12 V and the listing itself
  4. 4.What these four listings do and do not say
  5. 5.Work rules, and driving home

What you are actually buying

A pick-up crane here is a bed jib: a base plate, a rotating column, a telescopic or pinned boom, and usually a 12 V winch that pulls cable over a sheave. The job is to lift something from ground level to bed height and slew it into the bed. That is a different machine from a lorry-loader, from a 230 V beam hoist, and from a folding engine hoist on castors. None of the four listings prints LOLER compliance, a UKCA mark, or a British Standard number. At work, lifting equipment falls under LOLER and PUWER. At home the duties differ, but the vehicle plate still limits what you may carry once the crane and the load sit in the bed.

The job, then the crane figure

Start with the job. Loading your own bed beside the truck is what these jibs are for. Pulling an engine across a driveway is usually a workshop hoist or a gantry, even when a bullet mentions engines in the bed. Read the crane figure separately from the winch figure. If there is no chart by boom hole, you do not have a configuration-specific safe working load. The pick-up crane capacity page walks through the Pismire and DEFNES titles.
Pismire Pismire 1,100 lb crane and 3,500 lb winch

Testsieger

Pismire Pismire 1,100 lb crane and 3,500 lb winch
8.8/10about £1,013.25
View offer

Mount, 12 V and the listing itself

Treat the mount as engineering, not as the hole pattern on the advert. A 13 in square plate or a 27 cm base is the footprint of the jib, not proof that a Hilux or Ranger bed can take the bending moment beside the truck. Ribbed beds need spacers. The load path should reach the frame or a hitch the manufacturer rates. None of the four listings prints outriggers, and side slewing without them can roll a pick-up. Treat 12 V as a fused feed you must build. Listings rarely print cable gauge, fuse size or duty cycle. A wireless-remote bullet does not answer wiring, and an unanswered remote heading is not a specification. Do not fill a blank from a larger number in the title.

What these four listings do and do not say

Price is a poor sort key. The Generic row is the entry shelf price, states 12 V and a remote claim, and prints no safe working load. Its weight field shows 1 g, which is not a usable mass. VACARX gives hook height and rope, and states no voltage and no limit. DEFNES prints a fold and both 7,000 lb and 5,000 lb, including a higher claim at maximum height, with no star line. Pismire is the only row that separates a 1,100 lb crane line from a 3,500 lb winch, with 4.4 from 141 and an item weight of 57 kg. Those review texts are labelled United States or Canada. If you need a chart, none of the four supplies it.

Work rules, and driving home

LOLER applies to lifting equipment used at work. Regulation 7 expects the safe working load to be marked, and where capacity depends on configuration that information should be on the machine or kept with it. Unless a written scheme says otherwise, HSE cites twelve months for a vehicle-mounted crane lifting goods and six months for lifting accessories, plus examination after you assemble the crane on the truck. Private use is a different duty. Do not stand under the load or lift people, and stop if a weld or rope looks wrong. Crane mass plus the load still counts on the vehicle plate. A fold claim is storage, not permission to drive at speed. If the page prints no safe working load, wait for a seller document.

Common questions

What weight can a pick-up crane actually lift?
Only the safe working load marked for the boom position you are using, or a figure the seller confirms in writing for that position. The winch pull is not that number. If the listing prints nothing, you do not have a lift limit to rely on.
Why do titles print both 1,100 lb and 3,500 lb?
Because one line is usually the jib structure and the other is the winch drum. Pismire labels them separately in the title. DEFNES prints two crane-related figures that fight each other, including a higher claim at maximum height. Use the crane line for planning unless a chart says otherwise.
Does a 12 V crane include a battery?
Not on the kept listings. Pismire includes a winch kit, and review themes describe short leads and clips too small for a vehicle battery. Plan a fused feed from the starter battery or a leisure battery you can reach. A remote claim does not put a battery in the box.
Is a wireless remote in the box if the page asks about one?
Only if a bullet answers yes. The Generic listing claims both wired and wireless control. Pismire's bullets do not promise wireless, and a review describes a wired controller. DEFNES asks about a remote and does not answer it in the captured bullets.
Do I need a LOLER examination at home?
LOLER binds at work. If the crane is work equipment, examination and record-keeping follow HSE guidance, including a check after you assemble it on the truck. At home you still need a sound mount and a sound machine. You do not get a pass from stars or from a low price.
Will the crane overload the pick-up on the road?
It can. The jib mass lives in the bed, and the load adds on top. If you are near the manufacturer's gross weight or payload line, weigh the outfit rather than guessing. Folding the boom does not take that mass off the plate.

Related pages

How to fit a pick-up crane

Pick-up crane vs engine hoist

Best pick-up crane

Pick-up crane

Truck crane capacity: the crane figure, not the winch

Sources

Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts on these four listings were scored on 20 October 2026. Page updated October 2026.

  1. HSE: LOLER overview (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  2. legislation.gov.uk: LOLER regulation 7 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  3. HSE: thorough examinations of lifting equipment (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  4. HSE: working under vehicles (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  5. HSE: safe lifting by machine (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  6. HSE: PUWER overview (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  7. Vestil: truck jib cranes (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  8. amazon.co.uk listings B0899QCBP7, B0HJK8VZ9W, B0C58W2GK8 and B0GL25GG29 (retrieved 20 October 2026)