Choosing a Hoist is Easy but Selecting the Right One is Tricky

Choosing a Hoist is Easy but Selecting the Right One is Tricky
7 min read

A hoist is a gadget used to raise or lower a load using a drum or lift wheel that a rope or chain is wrapped around. Additionally, it can be manually controlled, electrically, or pneumatically powered, and hoist objects using chain, fiber, or wire rope. The hoists and trollies are integral to the warehouses and industries, so choose carefully.

Choose the best Distributor - Gold Key Equipment

Similarly, hoists, trollies, and other material handling equipment are available from Gold Key Equipment at reasonable prices so that you can place your order at our website.

Additionally, our mechanical products help operators pick and drop big goods quickly. We create hoists and trollies, and other equipment with cutting-edge technologies and safety features.

For the past 50 years, we have produced and supplied industrial, warehouse, and other devices, such as electric chain hoists, non-sparking chain hoists, and manipulator-style control electric chains, and high-speed electric chains. There are manual, electric, and pneumatic operating alternatives for overhead lifting solutions.

Types of Hoists

Hoists are not just used in industrial environments but can be used wherever that lifting and transporting a load is necessary. So, an expert distributor assists you in buying perfect hoists and trollies.

The most popular hoists include electric chain hoists, wire rope hoists, manual hoists, and pneumatic hoists. They are used for lifting goods, storing stock, and moving construction materials.

Now, let's have a deep look at the particular types of hoists -

Manual Hoists

Manual hoists are ratchet (lever-actuated) or hand-chain-operated lifting machines, often known as chain fall. Likewise, the hand chain, which controls the rising and lowering motion, and the load chain, which supports the load, is the two chains that make up a manual lifting hoist.

However, manual hoists often possess the following features in comparison to the majority of motorized hoists and trollies:

  • Lower initial expenditures
  • Portable and easier to move
  • Non-sparkling chain hoists are less prone to vulnerability
  • Lifting more oversized loads is more labor-intensive.
  • Longer lifting time than powered models
  • Typically more prone to damage over time than powered models

Powered Hoists

Powered hoists are one of the several categories of overhead lifting equipment solutions you can find. They are available in three primary forms: electric, air/pneumatic, and hydraulic.

When compared to the majority of manual hoisting tools, Powered hoists and trollies often have the following qualities in comparison to the majority of manual hoisting equipment:

  • Increased lifting speeds with electric chain hoists
  • The higher range of lifting capacities
  • Operated by a pendant or controller
  • When used frequently, electric models are vulnerable to overheating
  • In situations when sparking is a worry, air/pneumatic models are helpful

Subsequently, buying or specifying electric chain hoists to raise oversized things close to machinery and workers requires careful thought. Moreover, this blog will highlight a few essential aspects you should consider before making decisions.

Choosing the Integral Capacity

The rated capacity should be, at most, the rated capacity of the pad eye, monorail system, or other overhead structure from which the manual hand chain hoist will be hanging. Still, it should be at least as high as the weight of the enormous load to be lifted.

Making a Suspension-Type Decision

Chain hoists can be installed on a trolley using a top hook, mounting lug, or suspended in a fixed location. Trolleys can be rigid or articulating.

Trolley traverse can be power, hand-geared, or plain (push type) material handling equipment. Examples of common chain hoist suspension styles are listed below as overhead lifting solutions -

Selecting the Lift, Reach, and Headroom

These three factors should be clustered together because of their interconnections. The load hook's maximum travel distance between its fully raised and fully lowered positions is known as the length of lift.

Reach is equal to the difference in elevation between the hook saddle in its lowest position and the hoist suspension point (pad eye or trolley beam running surface). The space between the hoist suspension point and the fully raised hook saddle is known as headroom.

Recognizing the Type of Operation Required for Your Application

The power source that propels the hoisting motion is referred to as the operation type. Pneumatic (air) power, electric, and manual operation are available. Therefore, the task should be pre-planned when choosing motorized hoists and trollies.

Which of these types is appropriate for a particular application will depend on factors such as initial cost, utility accessibility, job cycle, required lifting speed, operating environment, and more.

Finding the Required Duty Class

The Hoist Manufacturer's Institute (HMI) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) have created and published hoist standards, including hoist duty ratings.

It comprises the average and maximum loads lifted, the frequency at which the maximum weight is hoisted, the number of lifts completed per hour throughout a specific work time, and the average distance the load is moved. Various operators can increase and decrease the number of stops and starts during an hour.

How to Choose Your Lifting Speed

Before making a decision, one should carefully analyze the wide range of hoist lifting speeds. In general, longer lifts or shorter lift applications that require a large number of lifting/lowering cycles to be completed in a brief amount of time are preferred to higher lifting speeds.

Assessing the Requirements for Particular Environments

Chain hoists that are in use regularly are made for "typical working circumstances." Similarly, Hoists with special modifications or optional features intended for those locations: temperature extremes, unprotected outdoor areas, salt-laden marine environments, corrosive atmospheres, classified hazardous areas, clean rooms, and wash-down areas, among others.

The Control Type You Should Choose for Your Electric Hoist

Most electric chain hoist controllers do not operate at the full line voltage supplied to the hoist motors to decrease the risk of serious harm from electric shock.

Instead, they scale down the control voltage to 120 or 24 volts using transformers. Most hoists in the US have controls that operate on 120 volts. Hoists can be fitted with a wide range of control mechanisms.

Single-speed or dual-speed contactor controls are the most typical. A unique motor with two-speed windings is also necessary for two-speed contactor control.

Choosing a Power Source

However, some electric hoists are made to run on single-phase, 120 or 230-volt power. Before attempting to order or specify an electric hoist, it is essential to confirm the available power source.

Brief

All in all, these factors can help you when you buy a manual or powered hoist and trollies for your industry. Similarly, the sales team of Gold Key Equipment allows you to choose the correct hoist for your business while purchasing from our web store.

To know more about hoists and trollies, you can read our blog post “How an Electric Chain Hoist Can Make Overhead Lifting Easy?” on the website.

 

In case you have found a mistake in the text, please send a message to the author by selecting the mistake and pressing Ctrl-Enter.
Gold Key Equipment 2
Gold Key Equipment offers solutions for every industry as we aim to provide the best material handling devices designed to make your work environment safe and e...
Comments (0)

    No comments yet

You must be logged in to comment.

Sign In / Sign Up