Fundamental Features Of The Genie® Superlift Advantage®

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The Genie SLA Superlift Advantage is a material lift which is operated manually and is specially noted for its compact, portable design that allows the lift to be transported through standard single doorways. The lift comes with a number of components- a winch, base, and load-handling options and it can be loaded very easily in to a pickup truck or similar. The Genie® Superlift Advantage® is designed to lift up to 454 kg of material up to a height of 11ft and 5.5 inches and up to 295 kg of load up to a height of 26 ft. and 5 inches. Recognised for its versatility, the material lift can boost your productivity and add value to your investments.

The Genie® Superlift Advantage® offers an optional a straddle base that can carry wide loads and pass through narrow doorways. It has the capacity to straddle loads that have a width of 31.5-50 inches and to handle pallets that may have a maximum width of 48 inches. The presence of flat forks facilitates ground-level loading. The standard base comprises of a welded steel base that provides additional support and guarantees steady performance.

You do not need to use any tools to set up the lift and you can transport the lift to the operational state easily within a few seconds. You can move it through standard doorways in a vertical position without having to remove the load or tilt back the lift. It features a rear transport wheel assembly that facilitates movement on irregular surfaces. You can fold the legs and remove the attachments to store the lift in a convenient manner. Additionally, the lift comes equipped with a hold-down bar that secures the mast assembly during the transportation process and its roller wheels promote smooth movement in a stowed position.

What is more appealing is that the Genie® Superlift Advantage® comes with interchangeable attachments, which allow you to make necessary adjustments to handle a wide variety of loads. The design accommodates a number of fork options including standard forks, flat forks, adjustable forks, and fork extensions, allowing you to adjust the load capacity as per your requirements. You can use the Boom option to convert your lift into a mobile, vertical crane and the Pipe Cradle option to facilitate easy lifting of odd-shaped items. The lift comes with a patented telescoping mast system that is noted for its strength and rigidity. Additionally, the lift features a patented locking system in its captive stabilizer, which provides additional lateral support to lift heavy loads. The standard one-speed winch comes with a silent ratchet system and if you choose to upgrade to a two-speed winch, you can easily switch between gears to lift different loads without having to remove or re-attach the handles.

In a nutshell, the versatility of the Genie® Superlift Advantage® allows you to choose the base, winch speed, mast height, and load handling attachments so that you can easily configure your material lift to address your specific needs.

Kito Electric Hoists- The best quality on the market?

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Kito ER2 Electric Chain HoistIf you work closely with lifting equipment and hoists you maybe aware of the Kito brand, having become more established in the UK market over the last few years Kito are well respected on a global scale for producing some of the most robust and technologically advanced hoists with favoured Japanese engineering.

The construction of Kito’s ER2 series of hoists is impeccable, offering as standard their aluminium die cast body designed with both strength and stability in mind while also remaining lightweight and tough, many hoist makers out there now are using plastic covers which will certainly not standup to the work that the Kito ER2 can. The Nickel-plated load chain offers an alternative to the traditional Zinc-plated version that many alternative brands offer, ideal for demanding environments.

A huge feature of the Kito ER2 is the thermal motor protection device which prevents the operator from using the hoist beyond its capability and burning out the motor (a common occurrence with poorly trained operators) A sensor in the hoist cuts the power to the motor in any case of overheating, when activated with a load suspended the load will remain securely braked in place while the motor cools down, once cool the operator can begin using the hoist again and safely lower or raise the load suspended, this feature can save you from having to replace the most expensive component in the hoist, a huge investment as standard!

Not only does the hoist protect the operator from burning out the motor (and having their boss to answer to when he has a broken hoist motor) but also protects the user from overloading the hoist, the Kito ER2 features a unique friction clutch developed by Kito as an overload protection which cuts the transmission power from the motor in the case of overload.

A feature that few other hoists offer (especially as standard) is Kito’s CH meter with integrated inverter which neatly displays the number of operation hours the hoist has encountered, ideal when it comes to servicing and especially in the case of warranty claims, this also helps control inspection and maintenance intervals and shows the true usage of the hoist. Standard upper and lower limit switches protect the operator from human error when controlling the hoist, limits can be set to prevent the hook from travelling too high or too low, these limits are extremely precise.

Pop-Up Whyte & Mackay Whiskey Bar in a Port-Side Crane!

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Whyte & Mackay Pop-up Whiskey Bar Inside 107 Year Old Crane!

Legendary whiskey makers Whyte & Mackay open a sky-high bar situated 150 feet up inside a Tower/Jib Crane located in Glasgow to commemorate their 170th anniversary! -Sounds good to me!!

The luxury ‘pop-up’ bar is no modesty with its unique setting and fascinating intricate engineered structure which by the way is 107 years old!! The bar is thoughtfully positioned in what used to be the wheelhouse of this incredible machine. Named “The Lions Clide” taken from its traditional Scottish heritage boasts incredible views of the River Clyde and surrounding areas of Glasgow- you really can see for miles!

Sadly you wont get chance to visit again as this was only open from the 2-6th of June (yes really I should have given a heads up!!) This exclusive bar can comfortably accommodate up to 8 drinkers at a time next to the brick walls and roaring log fire- cosy!!

The main reason for the whole event is that Whyte & Mackay was founded on the Glasgow Docks in 1844 by James Whyte and Charles Mackay.

Summer Roofing And Height Safety

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Summer is here and there is no better time than now to fix up that old broken roof that has been leaking all winter.

Roofing Height Safety KitMany factors should be considered when re-roofing ones home from the size of the tile to your personal safety at such a height. The tile should match your current roof as best as you can, roofing tiles start from as little as 25p each so unless you have a mansion (and there for I doubt you will be doing this yourself) no expense should be spared in the quality to ensure a tight sealed roof that will last for years to come.

Further from the quality and design of your roofing tiles one should take a serious consideration as to the type of safety equipment used at height such as harness kits and fall arrest equipment to ensure that there is absolutely no risk of fatal injury by fall, obviously there are certain steps that cannot be undertaken to prevent that small graze to your arm should you slip, however at least you’ll not break anything or worse risk death.

One should choose a suitable harness that supports and protects you to an adequate standard, this does not mean you need to go out and purchase a fully blown riggers harness for £200 or so, a simple two point safety harness will provide you with a two point connection with safety shoulder straps and a couple ‘D’ rings to enable you to connect yourself up to a rope, lanyard, fall arrest block or webbing strap to secure yourself and prevent a fall. There are a number of ‘off the shelf’ roofers height safety packages available online, perform a simple web search and you’ll find the kit you need, look to pay around £150 for a full kit, consider it an insurance premium that will never let you down, £150 to save a life certainly outweighs the heartbreak of your family and friends if something happened.

Chain Hoists and Rigging Motors EVERYWHERE!

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This past weekend we visited the O2 arena in London, needless to say it was heaving! Not only with people but also with rigging motors and electric chain hoists, literally everywhere, holding up signs, screens, trussing, lighting, speakers to name but a few!

This really goes to show that there is no lack in the market for requirement as there are hundreds of these mega arenas all around the country such as football clubs and even airports, this is great for the market and the industries economy as I am confident it is on the rise, all of my contacts across the market tell me nothing but positive things with steady growth. As it has it I was contacted by a university doing a survey on the market, it was very in depth and lasted around 40 minutes, every kind of question was asked and my opinion was noted, at the end the lady provided me with feedback on what other people had been saying, it was very positive and a steady growth year on year until 2020 was predicted which is nothing but good news for everyone in sales and hire of rigging gear.

I was amazed at the site of all these hoists and the technical rigging that goes in to these systems, the guys that set them up are very talented and deserve much credit, hats off!

Offshore Rigging- Whats it really like?

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Offshore Rigging can be a really exciting but also challenging job, however with some rewarding prospects such as high salaries with long holiday periods (but also intense working periods). Although living in the middle of the ocean on a windy oil rig is not the most beautiful of places one can still live with plenty of luxury, accommodation is thought to be somewhat as good as that of a five star hotel, bar the room service and beach! If you get seasickness- this ones not for you!

Offshore RiggingMany offshore riggers only pursue their career for a short period of time, this is most likely because they have either earnt enough money to be comfortable and enjoy life or they felt enough was enough and its time to do something else. Often I see ex riggers becoming rigging equipment salespersons or persons who are involved less directly and not actually out on the rigs miles out at sea away from their families and friends for extended periods.

The excitement of playing what is practically real life Meccano does look like something that would make any boy in to a man, that satisfaction you get from Meccano times by a million as you play it on a huge scale, that right there is every young boys dream! We’ll never grow up…

I don’t think I will ever get to experience life on deck Offshore simply because I love my home comforts too much- however I would take the opportunity for the weekend to be an Offshore Rigger and live life on the edge, I think it would be rather thrilling, what do you think??

Container Handling Solutions

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I get asked about container lifting solutions every day and which one is most suitable- to be honest it really depends on the application (Yes durrrr I know your lifting containers) but it does depend on how you wish to do it and what equipment and budget you have in mind.

For sure you can lift containers using a crane but its about what is between the container and crane that really matters to avoid damage to the load or improper rigging technique. Containers should be carefully lifted without tilting or tipping the load, this helps when also laying them down on the deck of a ship.

Types of container lifting solutions on todays market are:

  • Full container lifting frames- these are frames that are the same size as the container if you were looking down on it, these usually feature container lugs on all 4 lifting points which connect with the container a lock in to place at the command from the operator (or even automatically on more advanced equipment). By far the most common solution and there is only really need for one lifting frame per crane/hoist. Mostly used in dockside transport where the sides of containers cannot be accessed once they are stacked on a boat, creating the need for a ‘picking’ technique.
  • Container Lifting Lugs and Chain Slings- Very commonly used in small ports or in applications where the person rigging the crane can easily access the locking points for the lugs. There are two types of lugs, side lifting and top lifting- side lifting can only be used if there is clear access to the bottom sides of the containers where as top lifting lugs can be used in applications like loading and unloading from vessels alike the frame- lots cheaper however there is more work involved in attaching and removing the lugs before and after transport.
  • Mobile container handlers which look similar to a large forklift with a long reach container frame are often the choice for large ports where containers have to be transported on land to areas where cranes cannot reach. These tractor like machines are very powerful and can lift up to 45000kg which covers most container loads. 

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Lifting Gear Safety

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It is important to always consider safety when using lifting equipment, when performing a heavy lift one should always perform a risk assessment before actually making a lift. Should you not be familiar with this your local rigging company should be able to assist you and advise you accordingly, obviously this can come at a price.

When working at height weather on a large rig or when using lifting gear one should always use height safety equipment to ensure total fall protection, there are lots and lots of companies out there that you can search for on the internet or even locally that offer everything you need in terms of Lifting Gear Safety.

Bottle Jacks for Lifting And Pushing

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High Quality and Industrial Bottle Jacks.

High Quality and Industrial Bottle Jacks.

Many people ask me what Bottle Jacks can be used for there for I decided to write this article to do some explaining.

Bottle Jacks allow controlled raising and lowering of loads up to 50 Tonnes. Made up of a hydraulic cylinder that is raised when pressure is built in the chamber by the operator using the hand pump to increase this which in turn raises the hydraulic ram within the cylinder. This ram lifts or pushes the load (depending upon how one is using the equipment) steadily in to position.

To lower the load most Bottle Jacks allow the user the turn the handle which releases pressure from the cylinder which retracts the ram and lowers the load slowly in a controlled manor. This type of Jack should always be used on a flat level surface and not on uneven ground and the user should always find the correct jacking points of a load before initiating a lift.

Electric Chain Hoists- Latest Offers on the UK Market

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Electric Chain Hoists are rather expensive items and when it comes to purchasing one you want to be sure that you have the lowest price without compromising quality. Many of the top brands import their hoists from the far east; well established, Yale offer German manufactured Electric Chain Hoists at new super competitive prices!

Cranes-UK are distributors of the Yale CPV and CPE models which are both very robust and manufactured to perform to the optimum. As a brand- need I say anymore? The CPV range features upper and lower limit switches and overload protection as standard and can be fitted with a lug, hook or trolley of your choice. Usually in 400v 3phase both models can be requested in alternative voltages. Up to 20% can be saved right now on all CPV models.

Contact the sales team who will be happy to assist with your requirements.