Lifting Shackles Types And Varieties

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Lifting shackles are designed to provide a closed connection of two components for lifting, pulling and loads as well as connecting components together in rigs. This is usually up to 1,200 Tonnes.

Shackles are manufactured in several different types and sizes, here are a few examples:

Dee Shackles- a ‘D’ shaped shackle featured a slim design with smooth bow and can be purchased with or without a safety locking nut to secure the screw pin in place to prevent tampering or any accidental movement. Options include extended long Dee Shackles as well as many sizes and capacities.

Stainless Steel Dee Shackle

Stainless Steel Dee Shackle

Bow Shackles- the same principle featuring a wider bow to provide extra flexibility with increased surface area on accessories such as slings. Also available in an array of different sizes.

Stainless Steel Bow Shackle

Stainless Steel Bow Shackle

Budget Economy Shackles- these are still manufactured to the correct safety standards as well as being certified to the working load limit as purchased. Economy shackles are cost effective and ideal for non aggressive use.

Premium Brand Shackles such as Green Pin lifting shackles are manufactured from the best quality materials and feature the signature green screw pin. Ideal for more intense work and long term use such as the hire industry.

Stainless Steel Shackles are perfectly suited to outdoor applications where the environment is particularly corrosive such as offshore where sea salt quickly corrodes unprotected material.

There are so many types of Lifting Shackle on today’s market to suit nearly every shackling requirement that could engrave planet earth! There are even Lifting Shackles designed for the theatre industry, coated in a black finish to prevent reflection of light in order to remain subtle.

Pallet Trucks- Making Life Easier

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Hand operated or electric Pallet Trucks are perfect affordable handling solutions designed to make life easier by enabling you to lift and shift palletised loads up to 5 Tonnes.

Hand Pallet Trucks are operated by a steering lever that incorporates a release handle, the lever if pumped raises the truck forks in order to lift the load, pulling on the release handle slowly lowers the load. The truck is designed to be driven under a pallet and operated as above, the pallet can easily be pushed or pulled by hand once raised off the ground.

Manual trucks are ideal for transporting pallets around warehouses and for unloading loads from lorries with tail lifts. Before the new 2013 anti-dumping laws that raised taxes on Pallet Trucks up to almost 50% this type of truck could be considered disposable starting at prices little over £100 online, sadly this is no longer the case.

Electric Motorised Pallet Trucks are operated with ease featuring electrically assisted travel and steering operated from a handle similar to a hand pallet truck. These are often used to transport heavier loads or used when operation is intense so it becomes important to make things easier for workers as this often makes them more productive in the warehouse. Electric models are battery operated with a long battery life, most people use the trucks in the day and charge them overnight.

When used outside in the British summer (and obviously winter) pallet trucks can start to rust, for that there are a variety of corrosion resistant galvanised pallet trucks and for the food industry; Stainless Steel models are available as food can often be heavy to transport in bulk, supermarkets often used pallet trucks to unload pallets of meat and vegetables to save time and make life easier! A small addition goes a long way.

 

The Worlds Smallest Electric Chain Hoists

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Size is everything! Well, in lifting at least! The size of your electric chain hoist may pose some serious problems when trying to integrate a hoist into a small or confined area. For this reason mini chain hoists have been designed and produced to the required standards.

For some reason along with small often comes only a small supply of power; one phase. For 90% of chain hoists on the market this poses a giant problem, 90% run on three phases of power! However the clever people over at Yale Hoists have already thought about this problem and provided the optional 1 phase series in 110v or 230v options.

The Yale CPS Electric Chain Hoist is the worlds smallest electric chain hoist by far, from the image below you can see it comfortably sits in the palm of your hand, easy to handle, lifting up to 250kg thats a 1/4 of a tonne! Incredible for such a small machine, the Yale CPS just keeps on pulling. Fitted with a top hook for easy installation and removal, this unit can also be combined with a beam trolley or beam clamp allowing horizontal travel or static positioning on the beam.

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Yale CPS Electric Chain Hoist

What is even better is that you can order your very own CPS with FREE DELIVERY for the next severn days from Crane Handling or by emailing sales@cranehandling.com or by calling 01384 441235 Today! Once ordered you will receive your hoist next day after despatch, super fast service from the experts in Lifting and Handling Equipment.

Ideal for quick heavy lifting tasks, the Yale CPS Electric Chain Hoist can also be used for everyday industrial use and is often used on Swing Jib Cranes as they are small and easy to use featuring a two button control pendant complete with emergency stop for safety. The pendant cable is always 1m less than the requested height of lift, this can be extended or shortened upon request when purchasing.

How Does It Work- Lifting Magnets

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Permanent Lifting magnets are perfect ideal items of lifting gear that make lifting magnetic objects such as steel, easy.

An Eclipse Magnetics Ultra Lift Plus Lifting Magnet works with four safety features, the safety catch, the lifting eye, hand brake release and a ‘safety shim’.

The safety catch locks the handle in the ‘on’ position to ensure that the load remains secure once activated.

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The Lifting Eye is an additional safety catch, once tension is applied the mechanism locks the handle to prevent is from flicking backward and dropping the load. A hand brake release button is used to release the load, it can only be used when the magnet is not in operation due to the lifting eye and safety catch. This can easily be operated with one hand.

Lifting Magnets are a perfect alternative to big bulky chains and slings, no need to rig up your load, simply drop, load and go!

Firstly the load should be Pre-tested, this involves placing the safety shim on the load and lowering the lifting magnet in to place. The magnet is then switched on by rotating the handles 120 degrees anti clockwise.

To ensure the load is fully locked in place the user should check the handle is in position correctly and then lift the load a little just to check, if the load is secure with the safety shim in place a 3:1 safety factor is guaranteed by Eclipse!

To switch the magnet off the load must be returned to the floor, the safety catch and lifting eye prevent unintentional unloading of the magnet. The handbrake must be removed by clicking the top button on the handle (much like a car handbrake but you have to hold the button down) the user then has to push the handle back to release the load and let go of the button.

To now perform a lift using the lifting magnet the user should repeat the process without the use of a safety shim.

Drum Lifters & Their Uses

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An astronomical amount of goods are shipped and transported in various types of drum. Steel drums, poly drums, stainless drums and many other types of drum are ideal for robust protection of easily damaged items like tomatoes or provide high security for chemicals and fuels. One thing they all have in common is they are heavy! Too heavy to lift! 

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And there it was; the light bulb moment- the drum lifter was born! But it wasn’t just that simple, there was more than just lifting a drum, there was a requirement for transportation, lifting, stacking and turning. There is pretty much a drum lifter for every application available from Lifting Equipment Store.

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Need to handle multiple drums using a forklift truck for transport over larger distances, faster, unload and load quicker?- no problem take a look at our specialist forklift drum handling attachments. Our range features drum lifters designed to load and unload drums from pallets, hydraulic and manual drum trolleys, stackers, lifters and rotators, all at the most competitive prices on the market! (Find a better price and we will beat it if we can!)


Our abilities also extend to supplying top quality UK made ATEX Spark Resistant, Stainless Steel and various other specialist drum lifters and handling equipment to the Nuclear and Gas industries. Challenge us today!

Toe Jacks & Their Use’s

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Toe Jack’s are hydraulic low entry lifting jacks that are commonly used to lift and lower machinery and other large heavy objects onto machine moving skates. There are several different types of Toe Jack such as rotational, Nickel Plated, Forklift Type, Air Powered (Pneumatic), These can be selected dependant upon the application.

The Steerman Hydraulic Toe Jack- One of the best in the game, UK Made. Up to 10,000kg Capacity (10 Tonnes!!)

The Steerman Hydraulic Toe Jack- One of the best in the game, UK Made. Up to 10,000kg Capacity (10 Tonnes!!)

The standard Toe Jack is operated manually. The user places the jack toe underneath the edge of the object eg. machine, once everything is in place and one has checked it seems safe, begin to pump the detachable handle/lever that creates pressure and pushes a hydraulic ram up which lifts the lower toe. The Jack is supported by its wide base to prevent it tipping forward and dropping a load. (safety first!) It’s pretty simple really it works like a bottle jack underneath the toe, to release and lower the load on to machine moving skates or similar, simply remove the handle from the ‘Up socket’ and place in the ‘down socket’ and begin pumping, easy!

Aside from this all, Steerman Toe Jacks are on special offer at Lifting Equipment Store! It may also be beneficial of you to check out their range of Machine Moving Skates.

It’s Been A While….

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Well, it’s been a while!

Truthfully I have been busy, I have been away abroad also! But I am back and will continue to educate the reader and discuss the latest in Lifting Gear.

Anyway…..Want to save yourself a little on that dreaded carriage? Hit www.LiftingEquipmentStore.com and get FREE SHIPPING over £300! What more could you want? Enjoy it now though because when the rain comes back and we start to feel a little bit cold, its gone! (haha, we’re not that evil really, but it is going, so hurry!)

How To Hire A Cherry Picker

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The human body was not created to reach the highest heights and we struggle every day to grab things that we just cannot reach. This calls for only one thing; a Cherry Picker.

Hiring a Cherry Picker can be a little bit of a concern for those who are not fluent in the Lifting Equipment world, there are a few things you will need to know before contacting a Cherry Picker Hire company such as:

  • The height that you will need to reach- usually measured in Meters
  • Type of Lift (you might be lifting a man, goods or other types of objects)
  • Weight of load to be lifted- measured in KG or Tonnes
  • Type of Cherry Picker (if known, if not known most companies will be able to guide you)
  • Outreach of Cherry Picker (measured from the arm of the Cherry Picker to the fingers of the average person stretching out from the extended boom).
  • Ground conditions- It is unsafe to use a Cherry Picker on unstable or wet/boggy ground without the correct support. You also do not want to use an unsuitable picker on a steep gradient or rough terrain. There are specialist pickers designed for this.

There are various different types of Cherry Picker available for hire such as trailer mounted, elevated working platforms and many more. Cherry Pickers are commonly referred to as; Boom Lifts, Man Lifts, Basket Cranes and Hydra-ladders.

Hire Cherry Pickers to perform tasks beyond your reach!

Hire Cherry Pickers to perform tasks beyond your reach!

Traditionally Cherry Pickers were designed for use in Orchards however you can hire one to reach pretty much anything (within reason as they don’t reach as high as the Empire State Building!!) such as cleaning windows, reaching high cables, picking fruit, exterior painting, reaching high shelves and more.

Can I operate the Cherry Picker myself to save money?

Cherry pickers can be driven by an operator or towed behind a car/van. Larger ones tend to require a driver and an operator to ensure safe and efficient operation.

Most pickers can be driven by the average person holding a full UK driving licence (providing the picker is under 7.5 Tonnes and you got your licence before 1994). It is strongly advised that if you are planning on hiring a Cherry Picker you should attend a short safety course to avoid any risks and misuse that could occur.

For more information regarding Cherry Picker Hire please visit http://www.vertical.ie/

Lifting Equipment Regulation & Inspection

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Lifting Equipment regulations are very tight in all areas, this however is for a very good reason; your safety. The “Lifting Operations And Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER)” Law was brought out in yes, you’ve guessed it: 1998!

“LOLER” as it is commonly referred to places restrictions and requirements upon anyone who operates, owns or controls lifting equipment. This also incorporates the law of PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations) this requires all equipment to be correctly maintained and inspected as required and all processes involving lifting equipment to be planned and carried out by competent persons who are under the supervision.

It is important that all equipment is inspected not only by an inspection body as and when required but also each and every time before use, every piece of lifting equipment should be subject to visual inspection before usage. There are many companies that carry out various types of inspection and testing of your lifting equipment.

The basic level of inspection is simply a visual check to see that there is no physical signs of stress and that the item seems to be safe to use and nothing unusual has taken place with the gear. A more advanced inspection (sometimes required by companies in certain industries) is a full visual and testing check, this is where the item is subject to a controlled test usually performed on a test rig if small enough, if the item is a crane or a large piece of equipment it will require test weights to carry this out.

The Hydraulic Test Rig can be used for smaller items of Lifting Gear. The rig is controlled by hydraulic pressure and this is applied to the item being tested. The pressure is slowly increased to the maximum safe working load of the item. Some items will feature a slipping clutch which can also be tested using the rig.

The Hydraulic Test Rig can be used for smaller items of Lifting Gear. The rig is controlled by hydraulic pressure and this is applied to the item being tested. The pressure is slowly increased to the maximum safe working load of the item. Some items will feature a slipping clutch which can also be tested using the rig.

All Lifting Equipment should be inspected at least annually with no exceptions, at the end of the day if something bad should happen (I hope that it never does) to a member of your team featuring an item of Lifting Gear that was not correctly inspected or maintained this will rest on the person and company responsible  in the eyes of the magistrates. Preventative maintenance saves lives, think before you lift and stay safe!

Electric Chain Hoist Experts

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When it comes to Lifting Equipment the experts are Lifting Equipment Store, but when it comes to more specialist hoisting equipment there is http://www.ElectricChainHoists.co.uk

Featuring electric chain hoists from all high quality leading industrial brands on todays market such as Yale, Stahl, GIS, Lodestar, Lodeguard, Donati, Demag, Tractel and Kito.

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Supplying all types of motorised chain hoists for standard applications and bespoke applications such as specially designed wind turbine hoists and ultra low headroom hoists providing maximum hook path. With capacities up to 45 Tonnes (45,000kg), heights of lift up to 120m Crane Handling are sure to provide a hoist to suit your requirements.

Crane Handling, owners of ElectricChainHoists.co.uk have over 30 years of full experience in the mechanical handling and Lifting Equipment industry, their solutions are designed with simplicity and cost in mind.

For a best price quotation on any of the range of Electric Chain Hoists contact www.electricchainhoists.co.uk