In the past I carried a block and tackle on some trips for hoisting food (or game) into the air. There are a bunch of places where you can get cheap (but good enough) block and tackles with steel end plates and nylon sheaves and nylon rope for less that $20. The one I have was rated for two tons - a bit more than I needed - so I modified it by removing two of the four sheaves from each block. This slightly reduced the size and weight, gave me a lot more pulling range for the same length of rope, and still provides plenty of advantage to easily lift the 200-250 pounds I needed.

HINT: Remember that the length of rope you need to get a certain lift will also be multiplied by the mechanical advantage - if you have a 4 line block and tackle and you want to lift 10 feet, you are going to need at least 40 feet of rope (more likely more than 50 feet, all things considered). Guess how I know this  :-[.

For blocks and sheaves and other mechanical stuff I find   (You need to Login or Register online supplier to be very useful. I have found much of their more common stock to also be available locally at the hardware store.

-aj