Beehive lifter

[Steveman 3]

Is anyone interested in buying a kaptarlift electric hive lifter? 

 

My back is not as young as it used to be! After a bit of research looking at the best way for moving and working my hives I found the kaptarlift from Europe and thought this would be the best option for me.

 

Luckily my brother now lives over in that part of the world and he was able to get a bit of a deal direct from the factory.

 

If I can get a couple more ordered then they can will be $4,245+ gst(if any) including shipping to nz.

 

There is a fair bit of information about kaptarlifts online and lots of videos on YouTube showing how they work. If anyone is interested in placing an order please let me know.

 

 

[yesbut 5477]

Welcome to the forum Steveman !!

[tom sayn 1256]

i'm interested. would have to do a bit of research on the price considering that the manuka thing just went bust.

how about a manual one?

but considering the state of my back and i really hate hiring someone at night, most guys turn up half drunk....

 

[Steveman 3]

Yea, they do have a manual option. I was after an electric so only discussed that one with them.

 

If there was interest in the manual I could definitely look into that also.

 

Cheers

[Ron GRG 0]

I would be interested Steve, do you know how long it runs for before it needs recharging ? is it the latest model they have out ?

 

thanks

[Alastair 6697]

Not saying don't buy one, but I have used a manual one, the guy who owns it has modified it because in NZ sites are often on a slope and the wheels on the lifter are too close together for stability he moved them to the outside on a bigger axle he made.

 

Even with that it needed a fair bit of muscle power to keep it balanced on the moderately sloped and damp site we were working. The wheels are thin and I could see a power driven one easily getting bogged in the wet.

 

All the same it's probably the best option out there in it's class.

[Ron GRG 0]

23 hours ago, Alastair said:

Not saying don't buy one, but I have used a manual one, the guy who owns it has modified it because in NZ sites are often on a slope and the wheels on the lifter are too close together for stability he moved them to the outside on a bigger axle he made.

 

Even with that it needed a fair bit of muscle power to keep it balanced on the moderately sloped and damp site we were working. The wheels are thin and I could see a power driven one easily getting bogged in the wet.

 

All the same it's probably the best option out there in it's class.

 

thanks Alastair good to know ...  guess you need flat sites

[Steveman 3]

On 12/31/2017 at 8:27 PM, Alastair said:

Not saying don't buy one, but I have used a manual one, the guy who owns it has modified it because in NZ sites are often on a slope and the wheels on the lifter are too close together for stability he moved them to the outside on a bigger axle he made.

 

Even with that it needed a fair bit of muscle power to keep it balanced on the moderately sloped and damp site we were working. The wheels are thin and I could see a power driven one easily getting bogged in the wet.

 

All the same it's probably the best option out there in it's class.

 

Good to know, cheers for that. 

 

It sounds like they have widened the latest version, and here in central Otago wet is not normally to much of a problem! Not sure if they have changed the wheels though.

 

Is there anyone else out there who has used one or used something similar? Would love to hear any feedback, good or bad  

 

I would struggle to justify the cost of a crane for my few hives so figure something like this could be a good solution for me. 

 

we are visiting family over in Europe in June so I might hold off until then and have a good look at one over there before buying.

[jamesc 3127]

I don't want to be too negative, but this looks like a night mare .... the higher you lift it the higher the centre of gravity goes, and the bigger the mess.  We used to have a Nissan atlas with a tailgate loader, with which we used a barrow to shift bees. That also was a nightmare .... but the tailgate loader was quite handy for taking honey off.

[deejaycee 2439]

56 minutes ago, Steveman said:

 

I would struggle to justify the cost of a crane for my few hives so figure something like this could be a good solution for me. 

 

This'll be going on our new ute later this year:  https://www.topmaq.co.nz/shop/automotive/500kg-electric-ute-deck-swivel-crane/

 

Build a cradle for it to lift the hives, and buy a good quality sack barrow (solid, with fat wheels, long enough toe) to get the hives to the ute, and you're good to go. 

 

We built our own ute crane about 8 years ago for our first ute.   Still does the job well.    Cost about $800 to build the crane and cradle back then.  The sack barrow was close to $300, but it's been worth its weight in gold. 

 

[yesbut 5477]

I saw that a while ago & wondered if it would grab anyone

[Philbee 4466]

Ive used this kind of tool extensively for general use.

There are two serious issues on sloping ground, one being lateral stability and the other being the risk of losing ones footing when pulling the trolley backwards up the slope as the only way to get the loaded trolley up an incline is to pull it.
Your feet can easily lose traction and you end up on your backside under the load.
Might work well enough on flat sites 

[Kiwifruiter 594]

1 hour ago, deejaycee said:

 

This'll be going on our new ute later this year:  https://www.topmaq.co.nz/shop/automotive/500kg-electric-ute-deck-swivel-crane/

 

Build a cradle for it to lift the hives, and buy a good quality sack barrow (solid, with fat wheels, long enough toe) to get the hives to the ute, and you're good to go. 

 

We built our own ute crane about 8 years ago for our first ute.   Still does the job well.    Cost about $800 to build the crane and cradle back then.  The sack barrow was close to $300, but it's been worth its weight in gold. 

 

I have the same crane on my trailer. Would you like to have a play before pressing the button?

[Over Worker 973]

23 minutes ago, Kiwifruiter said:

I have the same crane on my trailer. Would you like to have a play before pressing the button?

That would be a good idea...they look ok for the money. 

[Rob Stockley 3414]

1 hour ago, deejaycee said:

This'll be going on our new ute later this year:  https://www.topmaq.co.nz/shop/automotive/500kg-electric-ute-deck-swivel-crane/

Recommend adding a heavy duty Deans connector up near the motor. That way you can disconnect the electrics for storage in the ute = no dangly bits between sites. 

[Kiwi Bee 549]

I like more the German hive  lifter. It looks more stable.

I play with the idea to make one myself.

[Steveman 3]

On 12/31/2017 at 7:45 PM, Ron GRG said:

I would be interested Steve, do you know how long it runs for before it needs recharging ? is it the latest model they have out ?

 

thanks

Hi Ron,

the website says lithium battery has 4 hour use time and 6 hour recharge. It is the latest version they have out. 

I’m going to have a look and a test drive of one in June so will have a better idea if it might work for me after that, will post something around then and take things from there

 

Cheers

 

[Steveman 3]

26 minutes ago, Kiwi Bee said:

I like more the German hive  lifter. It looks more stable.

I play with the idea to make one myself.

Do you have any more info on the German one?

[Steveman 3]

3 hours ago, deejaycee said:

 

This'll be going on our new ute later this year:  https://www.topmaq.co.nz/shop/automotive/500kg-electric-ute-deck-swivel-crane/

 

Build a cradle for it to lift the hives, and buy a good quality sack barrow (solid, with fat wheels, long enough toe) to get the hives to the ute, and you're good to go. 

 

We built our own ute crane about 8 years ago for our first ute.   Still does the job well.    Cost about $800 to build the crane and cradle back then.  The sack barrow was close to $300, but it's been worth its weight in gold. 

 

Did have a wee look at this and their 800kg one, could be great for lifting hives. Did wonder about the boom length though and also liked the idea of a hive lifter for putting in escape boards and harvesting.

Do you know of an easy way to adapt a crane to lift supers but not the whole hive? 

[Kiwi Bee 549]

@Steveman the video 1,2 and 4 shows the more stable version

 

http://apilift.de/Video-Demo/video-demo.html

[Ron GRG 0]

Ill be interested in how you get on Steve in June

[Lee Taylor 24]

On 1/2/2018 at 10:30 PM, Steveman said:

Did have a wee look at this and their 800kg one, could be great for lifting hives. Did wonder about the boom length though and also liked the idea of a hive lifter for putting in escape boards and harvesting.

Do you know of an easy way to adapt a crane to lift supers but not the whole hive? 

Scissor clamp. I am thinking about playing with one for my mother in law now as she can no longer lift boxes. It may even come in handy for me when I'm feeling lazy.

[BACKAID 6]

1 hour ago, Lee Taylor said:

Scissor clamp. I am thinking about playing with one for my mother in law now as she can no longer lift boxes. It may even come in handy for me when I'm feeling lazy.

Hello All..

 

Its been interesting seeing all the above comments. i have had the full electric lifter and the manual lifter from Kaptalift..and i have showed these around a number of beekeepers and this is the general feedback.

 

Electric option: Great tool, down sides are:

Its to heavy to lift on your own onto the back of a truck/ute. 

Must be charged every night if you intend to use it most of the next day. (so must remember to plug in).

Price..this was the biggest issue as it was hard to justify this amount if you had not a lot of hives. as most people who had 4-5K would chose to go with a crane over a trolley.

 

Manual Option: Great tool, very simple and easy to use,

Light enough to lift on your own onto a truck/ute deck.

No battery to worry about so you can work it hard or as easy as you want

Being manual nothing to go wrong with electrics etc.

Price was acceptable, but the design could do with a couple of changers. but over all great way to save working your back.

 

 

So in short i took on the recommended changers and built up some manual trolleys, if anyone is interested in them please message me. 

Pic shown fort your interest.

 

 

 

 

[Ron GRG 0]

 

On ‎19‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 11:46 AM, BACKAID said:

 

 

Hi, so this is has been modified for kiwi conditions any up in the north island we could see ?

thanks

[BACKAID 6]

Sorry no. I have 2 left not sold out of some being built now, due to be ready in about 4 weeks. 

Also i never noted above but another point i had others say was.. Pushing the trolley  Manually they preferred but if the lift and lower was powered this would be very usefull for when working it all day....so i am working on this now and will have this as an option down the track.