My buddy Kevin who owns Nova Nectar Apiaries (100 hives), has a flat deck truck that he runs with a lift gate on the back. He does move hives from time to time (not a lot) and was always telling me I should get one.
Well I found one on kijiji off of a wrecked 2007 GMC and it was for sale for $250. I went and picked it up for $225.
I believe it is a Waltco, almost identical to this one:
http://www.liftgateme.com/Waltco/PDF/Waltco%20Lift%20Gate_Medium%20Duty%20Rail_ptn_series_om.pdfIt needs a bit of minor work (2 pieces of minor channel iron needs replacing) and the cover for the guts where the motor/pump/tank is housed is rusted with a few holes, but these are only minor cosmetic repairs more than anything.
I will have to remove my tailgate and rear bumper, but the one thing I overlooked was the trailer hitch receiver. I am hopeful the gate will clear the receiver or I may have to remove it, or adjust the mounts of the lift gate and move it back enough to clear the hitch.
Thinking about it, since I bought the truck in 2002 and had the receiver hitch installed to pull the trailer across Canada, I have only ever used it once since, and that was just last week to move a friends utility trailer.
I could probably recoup what I spent on the gate by selling off the receiver (with adjustable hitch) and brake controller.
Does anyone else have or use a lift gate? I have to admit they are nice when lifting heavy stuff, and my back is not getting any stronger.