Patent ID: 7494313

Claim:
An apparatus for use in a lifting and towing vehicle, comprising: a transverse cross bar connected to the end of a boom located rearwardly of the lifting and towing vehicle, the cross bar being positionable below a towable vehicle, and the cross bar having two opposing end portions positionable adjacent to one of a pair of wheels on the towable vehicle; two slidable receivers each removably connected to the opposing end portions of the cross bar, each receiver having an engagement mechanism comprising a handle with a spring-loaded plunger pin mounted on the receiver and facilitating connection and decoupling of the receivers from the cross bar, the receivers also each carrying a wheel support member having an elongated arm and a wheel retainer, and the wheel support members being capable of being swung back and forth in a generally horizontal plane; one or more hydraulic cylinders connected to the wheel support members for driving movement of the wheel support members in the generally horizontal plane, wherein the one or more hydraulic cylinders communicate with cylinder rods that are removably attached to the receivers using removable pivot means which pass through movable plates connecting the cylinder rods to the elongated arms; the receivers with the wheel support members together comprising a wheel lift apparatus, whereby the wheel lift apparatus may be directly removed from the cross bar and from the hydraulic cylinders in the field, including by sliding the receivers over the crossbar and thereby removing them from the crossbar, using the removable pivot means and the engagement mechanism to permit in-the-field conversion from the wheel lift apparatus to an alternate towing apparatus attachable to the crossbar.