Heavy lifting can be dangerous requiring the usage of correct lifting materials to transport large cargo and ensure safety at the workplace. With the market flooded with high-quality lifting equipment to suit all needs, a little time and effort to select the correct equipment will make a lot of difference.
The most common lifting materials used for making cargo handling easier are:
· Pallet Truck
A pallet truck is a piece of equipment with wheels designed to lift a pallet just off of the ground, to make it moveable from one place to another. It is also known as a pallet jack or pallet pump. It is mostly used to move pallets and palletised loads. It is one of the most common devices used in warehouses, storerooms, and retail locations to move around the stock. A variety of pallet trucks like manual pallet trucks, electric pallet trucks, scissor pallet trucks, paper-roll pallet trucks, weigh-scale pallet trucks, and many more are available for a wide variety of applications.
· Forklift Truck
The forklift truck is used to move pallets, heavy goods, and materials over short distances. They are named due to the fork-like prongs used to lift the cargo. Forklifts are used in warehouses, factories, industrial units, and construction sites. The choice of electric forklift truck depends on the weight of the goods and the type of application. Forklifts are available in various design types like low lift trucks, stackers, counterbalanced forklifts, sideloaders, and many more.
· Lifting Hoists and Overhead Cranes
An overhead crane is made of parallel beams with a travelling bridge crossing the gap along with the lifting hoist that helps to support, lift and move the load along the bridge. A hoist is a device used for lifting and lowering loads while a crane is a device used for moving loads in different directions. Overhead cranes have high lifting capacities for load movement. An overhead crane’s hoist lifts and lowers a load using a drum or lift-wheel to which a chain or wire rope is wrapped around. Lifting hoists and overhead cranes are used in warehouses and factories.
· Belt Conveyors
The belt conveyor system comprises two or more pulleys with a closed loop of carrying medium which is the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt rotates around them creating a pull effect for the cargo it is carrying along the belt. Belt conveyors are the most commonly used powered conveyors as they are versatile and the least expensive. As conveyor systems can be customised depending on the variation of weight, length, and items they can carry, they are used in most industries to manage the transportation of heavy loads. They can be installed almost anywhere and are labour cost-saving while making it much safer than using a forklift or other machines to move materials.
Thus, depending on the needs and requirements of your business, you have a variety of lifting materials to choose from.
