Month: September 2023

How I Transport my Wheelchair(s)

David Freeman

When I became disabled such that I could not walk the VA issued me a four wheel cart to get around. Included in the deal was a Hamer lift that went into a standard trailer hitch receptacle. At the time I received this setup I drove a Jeep Wrangler.

The four wheeler didn’t work for me so I went on my own to get a wheelchair. At that time I weighed something like 347 lbs. so I needed a heavy-duty wheelchair. The one I settled on was a Jazzy 614 HD, with the HD standing for Heavy Duty. I did some modifications to the Hamer lift to fit with the wheelchair. Soon thereafter I traded the Jeep for a GMC pickup.

Although this isn’t my rig, it is similar to what I had
hanging off the back of my pickup truck when I visited Roy Huntington.

With a rig similar to that shown above, I visited Roy Huntington at his shop with my heavy-duty chair bouncing around on the Hamer lift behind my GMC pickup. Roy took a look at the rig and offered to do some improvements. While he was welding up some stress points we were talking and Roy asked about transporting the wheelchair in the truck bed. I told him I had checked into options to do that and the medical equipment providers offered lifts in the $2,500 range which was a little steep for me.

Roy suggested I could buy a hoist from Harbor Freight or Northern Tool Supply for around $500 that would accomplish the same purpose. I took that suggestion to heart and here’s the result:

Here’s an overview picture of my wheelchair hoist unit, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

I bought the hoist unit from Northern Tool Supply for around $500. I don’t remember now if the motor and controller were included or if I had to buy them separate, but either way I have the hoist unit in the back of my pickup and it works well for the two electric wheelchairs I now own.

Here is a closer look at the rig with my lightweight, folding wheelchair all hooked up.

The floor of the pickup bed needed some reinforcing so I bought a steel plate from Lowes, along with some strips of steel and my son Phillip and I jury rigged the installation so that it is secure and won’t rip the floor out of the pickup..

Steel reinforcement of the hoist mount in the pickup truck

I mentioned that I have two chairs, a heavy chair and a lightweight one. The lightweight chair can be lifted by one strap wound through the footrest and the back of the seat.

To lift the heavy chair I added eye-ring bolts to each of the outrigger wheel units.

Jazzy 614HD with eye bolts at four corners for lifting.

I drilled a hole in the lift post so I could insert a peg through it to keep it from swinging back and forth while I drive.

http://A pin inserted through holes in the lift pole keep the arm from swinging.

I’ll wrap up with just a couple of comments. The Jazzy chair weighs something like 225 lbs. which is well within the hoists’ limits. I can hook that chair up and lift it in and out by myself using the hoist. The Majestic chair weighs just 60 lbs. and my sons, grandsons and several friends, lift it in and out of the truck for me. When I’m by myself I use the hoist. It has push buttons on the controller that fold it up for transport and unfold it for use. All in all it’s a handy rig and I thank Roy Huntington for suggesting it to me.