That's not too redneck, just creative. Now if you were using a shoestring or duct tape or something like that to support the load she might have a point.
I picked up one of these 110V overhead winches at Harbor Freight several yars ago. By far one of the most used tools in my garage! You can't believe how much you'll use it once you have it. Hanging parts for paint, lifting the tractor to change the blades, loading stuff onto a bench or a truck... hell, I even used it to lift my motor and trans onto the frame. They show it mounted on some crappy square tube but there are actually 4 mounting holes that allow you to run some bolts up to secure it pretty well. They're on sale right now too.