Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Lifting Equipment Blog!

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Yes- this is majorly late but here it is…MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

May 2014 be a positive year for all of our readers and regular commenters, we appreciate all of our support throughout the year of 2013, it was a remarkable year for all of us.

This year will see further posts in to the latest and greatest Lifting Equipment Blog featuring Do’s and Don’t’s of the Lifting world, cranes for sale, safety precautions and advice, the latest legislation and much more.

We hope that you enjoy our content and we are welcoming guest bloggers for 2014! Please contact our webmaster for more information.

-Have a great one!

Lifting Equipment Blog

Using Shackles To connect Components

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Lifting Shackles are designed for connecting and securing components together for use in a lifting, pulling or tensioning application. Each shackle is rated to a particular safe working load (maximum capacity) this should never be exceeded.

To connect a component using a lifting shackle firstly you will need to open the jaws of the shackle by removing the screw collar pin, the screw collar pin may also in some cases be protected by a safety pin and safety bolt, most of the time it is a simple case of turning the screw collar pin anti clockwise and it is released. Should this not be the case then remove the safety clip, unscrew the safety nut then remove the screw collar pin.

The second stage is to connect the components together and secure them by replacing the screw collar pin and if applicable; safety nut and clip. A Lifting Shackle is supposed to be used in a straight pull however they are rated to be used up to 90 degrees however one should be aware that when side pulling with a Lifting Shackle the safe working load is reduced by 50%. The screw collar pin should also never be mounted in a way that it could be unscrewed unintentionally.

It usually goes without saying but one should also never use a damaged or worn shackle as this could risk a serious injury and always use fully certified CE Lifting Shackles.

Toe Jacks For Low Entry Lifting

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Lifting industrial objects up to 10 Tonnes is always going to be far too much for any human to lift without the aid of a Lifting Jacks of some kind, unless the person concerned is a ‘Super Human’ like that guy on TV who can swim under the sea for an abnormal extended period of time.

Lifting Jacks are idea for lifting heavy machinery or other bulky objects that are beyond our strength, some items may have a particularly low entry point where the gap for a Lifting Jack is minimal, maybe only a few centimetres, this job calls for a Lifting Jack designed particularly for low entry; the Toe Jack.

Industrial Toe Jack

Industrial Toe Jack

The Toe Jack is operated in a very similar way as the bottle jack and many other designs, the toe is placed under the load, the jack is then raised by pumping hydraulic pressure in to the Jack’s cylinder, which just like a Bottle Jack, raises the toe and lifts the load. The Toe Jack can then be lowered safely by turning the pump handle which gently releases the pressure in the Toe Jack and lowers the load into place.

Toe Jacks are usually used in combination with Machine Skates or Pallet Trucks to lift and shift bulky, heavy items.

How Do Machine Skates Work?

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Machine Skates or sometimes referred to as Load Moving Skates are very easy to operate, they work by distributing the weight of the load up to 100 Tonnes over the surface of the skate, underneath the skates surface there are specially engineered castors or ball bearings that allow the skate to move and with some models, turn.

Most people use Toe Jacks or a Roller Crow Bar to lift the load or machine enough to slide a skate into place. Once the skate is in place the Jack or Crow Bar is lowered in order to release the load on to the skate for ease of transport.

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Most loads require three skates, two rear skates that connect via a bar to ensure they remain in line with each other and one front steerable skate which includes special steerable wheels to enable the load to travel around corners and be more manoeuvrable.

Machine Skates are used in a variety of other load moving applications such as for loading containers, machine movers can also move pallets and pallet boxes that are too heavy for standard pallet trucks!

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.

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!

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

Lifting Equipment Safety Procedures

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Safety is always the highest priority when executing a heavy lift. Without correct risk assessment surrounding people maybe at high risk to a heavy load accidentally dropping on their head!

Generally speaking lifting equipment should be inspected every 6-12 months (different products require different inspection intervals) by a qualified lifting inspection officer/company. Gear should also be inspected for wear and tear or damage deeper than the surface, this should be done by the user before each lift.

Most companies that use lifting equipment these days have a system for storing test certificates or certificates of conformity. These are required for each item of lifting equipment by law. It shows that the item has been tested or inspected to the relevant standards with any noted defects listed. In the event of an accident this will become a valuable document, without one you run big risks. Each item of lifting gear will feature a serial number that will tie in with the certificate, copies are also usually held by manufacturers and can be traced using the serial number.

Lifting Equipment inspection has become a growing topic in todays market as health and safety laws are tightened and risk is reduced companies are treating inspection and maintenance very seriously in order to secure the safety of their employees.

For more information on Lifting Equipment and inspection please visit Lifting Equipment Store.

CM Lodestar Training Course

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Hello lifting and rigging world.

You may or may not follow this blog, some of it will make sense to you, other bits may confuse you and you may ask why i write some of the things i do. Don’t worry, its nothing special.

Anyway, recently i was invited to attend the CM Lodestar industrial training course up at the Columbus McKinnon headquarters in Prenton, UK. The course was based on giving a hands on approach to people such as myself who sell these hoists all day long but have not had a more hands on experience than the basic operation of the hoist.

Columbus McKinnon Logo

The course was an excellent opportunity for me to gain an extended product knowledge with the added benefit of having a hands on experience and the ability to fault find and help customers troubleshoot should they experience any difficulty with their hoists. The course offered the full package from a theory exercise and examination to stripping down the hoist, making adjustments to the brake and re-assembling and testing of the units.

Lodestar Logo

All in all a great crash course for anyone in the lifting or rigging game looking to extend their product knowledge and technical ability with the CM Lodestar Hoist and at the end of the course i was presented with a certificate of completion, ideal to add to the growing list on my resume and a great selection of CMCO promotional goodies! -Thank you Columbus McKinnon.

Electric Chain Hoists and Stage Rigging

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Safety should never ever be compromised when it comes to lifting, but when it comes to lifting in areas where the load is positioned over members of the public’s heads then safety is a majorly high priority. Lifting regulations state that hoists must be rated to perform lifts above people to ensure the loads could not fall and cause the un-thinkable. These hoists maybe far from cheap but what really are you getting for your money? Probably not a Imagelot more than a few modifications to the slipping clutch etc. and re-assurance to the mind, this can be in some peoples eyes a waste of money, but without using the correct hoist you are breaking the law and if the load/ hoist lands on someones head then the responsibility lands on yours, and this is never something you want to deal with.

The Verlinde Stagemaker inverted (upside down) hoists where the motor is hooked to the load and the hoist climbs the load chain in order to reach its highest point, this hoist is said to be a great piece of kit and it can be controlled in a number of ways such as direct control or low voltage control using external control units or via low voltage pendant controls sometimes referred to as a pickle.

All in all if you are operating loads over heads of people then the correct equipment should be used, you should never take the risk of using equipment that is not rated for the purpose of application. To find out more on electric chain hoists visit Lifting Equipment Store.