L-e-vator – portable lift system

---

out of 5, based on 10 reviews

---

THIS DOES NOT WORK AS SHOWN. The winch and cable system is all screwed up. It is a half-baked idea constructed in someone’s basement or garage! They thought they could weld a lifting frame together and attach a store bought winch and sell it. But they forgot to work out the lift winching and cable system. The winch is in the wrong location, not mounted logically, turned in the wrong direction, and has no friction free routing design. I don’t understand why there are so many positive reviews on this winch. For many years now, buyers have been pointing out the flaws. THEY ARE RIGHT! Why doesn’t this company (Viking is the manufacturer, not e-Trailer) listen to its customers all these years and make the changes? If they had just taken the time to change a few obvious design flaws that people have been pointing out for years on the website, it would have been a great product. Modifications have to be made to position the winch so that it can crank without resistance force from interference with the frame and poor routing of the cable. Go to the Viking website…notice that in the photos of the guy using it with a deer, the winch is on the wrong side, and in some cases, the winch was modified by placing it on a two by four at the top of the frame. The cable is terrible…. it gets caught on the spool as a “birds nest” that can lock the cable into the spool and you can’t release the cable. It’s bent and kinked.The twisted steel cable is brittle, unruly, does not wind on the winch correctly, and is like a spring waiting to attach you if you try to release it. It simply does not handle the work load. The cable starts to splinter after about 5 uses. The weight capacity is not as advertised. Well, it’s nice for 25 pounds but not 300! Remember that although they advertise the weight as being able to lift 300 pounds, the resistance in the system from the cable rubbing against the frame and being positioned wrong which adds to the strain. I stood on this thing… I weigh 195 pounds… and I could not crank myself up. Also, be aware that the load has to be balanced from side to side. If it tips to one side, the plastic rail runners on the sides cause additional resistance, bind, and wear out. The whole frame can tip forward or sideways if you are not careful to steady your load while cranking it up. It needs a wider footpad or back support.Unfortunately, I am not even going to bother to return it…too much hassle to pack it all up. The frame materials are at least usable and a start to re-design the whole system to make it work better. I give it one star. Stay away from it… it is not worth the hassle and is a big disappointment. I suggest Viking listen to its customers and stop selling a half designed product.

---

If you can get it together correctly it works great and I recommend it, but if you lack a mechanical aptitude you should give this a pass.The instructions are very poor… the parts list says you have a set of 13mm and 8mm hardware, but the instructions say you need 8mm and 5mm (they are incorrect) Big bolts in big holes, small ones in small holes. They say slots in the base face up to place the base, there are no slots, there are hooks that open down. FYI: the 13mm and 8mm fit ASE 1/2″ and 3/8″The winch cable is too long for just lifting the platform, and attached awkwardly. I unwound it all the way and rewound it tightly on the spool, then used a bit of duct tape to hold the excess tight on the spool. I am thinking of detaching the cable from the spool, shortening it, and then using a button ferrule to reattach the cable to the spool for cleaner and easier unwind and rewind.

---

For years I’ve been using one of those hitch mounted devices that allows you to raise your deer up to tailgate height using the same hand crank winch that this device uses and that device has served me well over the years but the drawbacks were that it’s very heavy, very large, takes up quite a bit of space in the back of my truck and required me to remove the towing ball that’s always in my truck hitch, assemble the heavy 2 piece device, secure it in the truck hitch, pull out the cable, attach the gambrel and then start cranking to raise the deer up. I will still use that device for the times I want to skin and butcher my deer while it’s hanging from the back of the truck, but I was really looking for a device that was much smaller, lighter and simpler to use to simply get my deer raised up and into the back of my truck easily and this Viking Solutions tool was the answer. It was very easy to assemble and came with nice instructions. Once assembled it quickly folds flat for storage in your truck and it takes up very little room. It functions exactly as advertised and works very well. All you have to do is drag your deer into position then simply turn handle on the winch and the deer quickly and easily raises up to the level of your tail gate so you can just roll the deer into the truck bed. Couldn’t be easier. The other nice thing about this tool is that it can be used for many other lifting jobs around the house. I’m very glad I bought this tool and very impressed with it’s design, ease of use and it’s efficiency. Great tool to have for hunting and at home.

---

1. had to drill 2 new holes to mount the winch so it is centered2 on support cables replaced bolts with pins to allow for quick fold up of unit3. added 2 1 inch wheels to allow it to move easier.that took all day I will be trying out tomorrow . will using it to load a mobility scooter on an off a picki up truck . will update pictures if it works.

---

I just used this lift to put my 100lb generator into my truck. It worked pretty well. It lifts the generator easily but it was to close To the truck and needed to move it. This is almost impossible. Being able to put your load on it and roll it up to the truck would immensely improve this. Could use wheels to help. I think the complaints people are having about the rubbing is because they are trying to bring the cable from the wench over the wheel on the wench . This is normal Use but I this application the cable goes down the other side. I like it but because of the difficulty moving with weight on it and bad instructions I give it 4 stars

---

This thing is a bear to construct and the instructions make IKEA flatpack seems like child play. After struggling for an hour I did get it put together and this is definitely a nice purchase. I highly suggest the manufacturer make a video showing how to put this thing together and frankly remove the dead animal from the packaging so that a wider audience would buy this to lift boxes and not just dead deer!

---

I didn’t buy this to load deer into my truck. I bought it to lift several hundred pounds of washer/dryer combo up into the 3 foot high closet in my RV. It just barely fits, with about 1/2″ on either side. No room to hold it. This little lift picked it up just level with where I needed it and my wife and I just pushed it into place. What would have been a practically impossible chore was quick and easy. I’ve used it to load and unload furniture and it just works great. I did mount a piece of plywood with some self tappers to make a more useful platform. Strongly recommend.

---

I have been looking for a lift system that I could use around the house for lifting heavy items. There are scissor lift systems but they weigh 180 lbs, which means I would have too leave them in one place which doesn’t work for me because I need to use it in a variety of places ( upstairs, downstairs, etc.) They are also very expensive and do not lift the item very high. I received this item in5 days !! Quite easy to assemble assuming you have assembled “stuff” previously. My first project was to carry the unit downstairs ( very light) and lift 40 lb. Salt bags high enough to dump into my water softener. This was super easy. For anyone with a bad back, arthritis, or if you’re just not very strong , I think this is a must have.The only suggestion that might make the product a little easier and maybe safer are wheels and possibly some type of plug to insure the support cables don’t slip.Thanks for providing such an incredible product!!!!

---

The product was repackaged somewhere along the way and arrived as a box within a box. Both the original box and the repackaged box were really in rough shape, held together by shipping tape. The product itself looked like it was either used before or suffered the same fate as the box. Unit is scratched and marked but does seem to work. impressively all the bolts and part were still in the box. The instructions are poor but it is a simple design so it can be figured out pretty easily. It will mainly be used by my wife when she is out hunting by herself so I will update the review when she gets to use it.

---

I’m 62 and had back surgery and was searching for a portable way to help load deer on my rear ATV rack. After reading reviews, I decided to give this a try especially for the price. I shot a buck, around 150 pounds, and this lift worked great. It raises around 40″-41″, the height of my rack, and I was able to easily slide the deer onto the rack. I welded a bracket on my rear rack so I can transport on my ATV.