December 12, 2009
It's no fun spending a small bundle of moolah on what should be one of the best purchases of your life, only to be let down by the reality of an underpowered auto lift or a disreputable automotive equipment company. Here at BendPak, we hate it when we hear about fellow auto-enthusiasts getting burned by a bad deal. That’s why we devised the following checklist to help you avoid an unfavorable fate and get the car lift of your dreams.
BendPak's guide to finding your perfect automotive liftBendPak's guide to finding your perfect automotive lift
But please, keep in mind that this is just a place to start. The first and final step will always be research. Be an informed consumer, not a victim.But please, keep in mind that this is just a place to start. The first and final step will always be research. Be an informed consumer, not a victim.
10. Availability of information Because research is such a large part of your decision-making process, you should be wary of car lift companies that don’t offer you much in the way of product and company information. Reputable car lift companies are proud of their products, features and corporate achievements, so they publicly stand behind them. Generally, they’ll want to get the word out about their products to as many people as possible. If you are attempting to research an automotive lift company and you find yourself on page six of Google with no real useful information, chances are they are hiding something. Some companies will also attempt to force you to call in for more information. More often or not, this is an attempt to sell you based on salesmanship over features. Don’t be caught in the trap. When it’s easy to find the information you are looking for, you can be confident you are on the right track.Because research is such a large part of your decision-making process, you should be wary of car lift companies that don’t offer you much in the way of product and company information. Reputable car lift companies are proud of their products, features and corporate achievements, so they publicly stand behind them. Generally, they’ll want to get the word out about their products to as many people as possible. If you are attempting to research an automotive lift company and you find yourself on page six of Google with no real useful information, chances are they are hiding something. Some companies will also attempt to force you to call in for more information. More often or not, this is an attempt to sell you based on salesmanship over features. Don’t be caught in the trap. When it’s easy to find the information you are looking for, you can be confident you are on the right track.
9. Who REALLY made this lift This one comes straight off the previous tip. There should always be a lift manufacturing company proudly placing their name on a prospective car lift. Unfortunately, many lift “brands” are just labels fabricated by small time warehouse dealers, deceptively supplying these products as their own. The car lifts are actually manufactured offshore in factory sweatshops with little or no regard to worldwide standards. If you find an auto lift that interests you, be sure to search for an informative and detailed manufacturing company website or at least a brochure. Also check to see if there are multiple dealers selling the brand in your country. Some of these shady dealers will bill themselves as “exclusive suppliers,” but the truth of the matter is that if they were pedaling a truly superior product, the manufacturer would attempt to expand their business to incorporate as many dealers as possible. If you can’t find solid, verifiable information relating to the actual manufacturer of any given automotive lift or if only a very limited number of dealers even sell the lift, you are probably best off searching for alternative options.This one comes straight off the previous tip. There should always be a lift manufacturing company proudly placing their name on a prospective car lift. Unfortunately, many lift “brands” are just labels fabricated by small time warehouse dealers, deceptively supplying these products as their own. The car lifts are actually manufactured offshore in factory sweatshops with little or no regard to worldwide standards. If you find an auto lift that interests you, be sure to search for an informative and detailed manufacturing company website or at least a brochure. Also check to see if there are multiple dealers selling the brand in your country. Some of these shady dealers will bill themselves as “exclusive suppliers,” but the truth of the matter is that if they were pedaling a truly superior product, the manufacturer would attempt to expand their business to incorporate as many dealers as possible. If you can’t find solid, verifiable information relating to the actual manufacturer of any given automotive lift or if only a very limited number of dealers even sell the lift, you are probably best off searching for alternative options.
8. Know thy garage Sometimes sheer enthusiasm will overshadow what’s physically feasible. It’s important not to get carried away. Measure, re-measure, and re-re-measure your garage. Car lift alterations are sometimes possible, but they are rare and always costly. Double-check with local installers to find out the minimum space required to work on your new auto lift. Triple-check the physical dimensions of your favored car lift either online or over the phone. If you can, find out if anyone nearby, such as a dealership or a neighbor, already has the automotive lift you’ve got your eye on. Most lift owners are extremely proud of their car lifts and will probably be happy to give you a quick tour. Also, make sure you know where your electricity is, if you need a compressor to operate the locks and if your concrete can handle the bolts, should you be required to secure your auto lift to the floor. Basically, it comes down to really getting acquainted with your garage. One great way to keep track of everything is with a quick-reference notebook containing some of the more important dimensions of your garage, so that you are prepared with your install-site information at all times.Sometimes sheer enthusiasm will overshadow what’s physically feasible. It’s important not to get carried away. Measure, re-measure, and re-re-measure your garage. Car lift alterations are sometimes possible, but they are rare and always costly. Double-check with local installers to find out the minimum space required to work on your new auto lift. Triple-check the physical dimensions of your favored car lift either online or over the phone. If you can, find out if anyone nearby, such as a dealership or a neighbor, already has the automotive lift you’ve got your eye on. Most lift owners are extremely proud of their car lifts and will probably be happy to give you a quick tour. Also, make sure you know where your electricity is, if you need a compressor to operate the locks and if your concrete can handle the bolts, should you be required to secure your auto lift to the floor. Basically, it comes down to really getting acquainted with your garage. One great way to keep track of everything is with a quick-reference notebook containing some of the more important dimensions of your garage, so that you are prepared with your install-site information at all times.
7. Company reputation When you dig deeper than the marketing hype, you’ll quickly discover what others are saying about the company that makes your prospective auto lift. Online garage-themed message boards are often a fantastic resource for unfiltered opinions about your potential car lift purchase. However, it is important to realize that the condemnation or praise will often be more extreme than reality. By all means, use opinions as an additional source of information in your quest for the best car lift, but always be aware that the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. And also be on the lookout for potential shills—salesmen posing as concerned community members to make their products look better than the competition. Request proof in the form of pictures should you have any doubt about bold statements. Also, be sure to consider how long the company has been in business, as that is usually directly tied to their reputation. The longer they’ve been around, the more likely it is that they’ve taken the time to develop positive customer relationships. Established automotive lift companies also have a better chance of being around in the future to honor warranties, replace parts and generally provide solid customer service should the need arise.When you dig deeper than the marketing hype, you’ll quickly discover what others are saying about the company that makes your prospective auto lift. Online garage-themed message boards are often a fantastic resource for unfiltered opinions about your potential car lift purchase. However, it is important to realize that the condemnation or praise will often be more extreme than reality. By all means, use opinions as an additional source of information in your quest for the best car lift, but always be aware that the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. And also be on the lookout for potential shills—salesmen posing as concerned community members to make their products look better than the competition. Request proof in the form of pictures should you have any doubt about bold statements. Also, be sure to consider how long the company has been in business, as that is usually directly tied to their reputation. The longer they’ve been around, the more likely it is that they’ve taken the time to develop positive customer relationships. Established automotive lift companies also have a better chance of being around in the future to honor warranties, replace parts and generally provide solid customer service should the need arise.
6. The right price It might seem obvious, but it bears repeating. Make sure that the value that you are getting out of your car lift matches how much you are going to pay. It doesn’t hurt to shop around for the best deal, as long as you stick to a pre-determined list of essentials that you are unwilling to compromise on. Remember: the best car lift for you will rarely, if ever, be the most expensive car lift or the cheapest car lift. Instead, it will be right where the cost meets the benefit—exactly where it should be. You get what you pay for and maybe a little more if you catch a retailer during a sale.It might seem obvious, but it bears repeating. Make sure that the value that you are getting out of your car lift matches how much you are going to pay. It doesn’t hurt to shop around for the best deal, as long as you stick to a pre-determined list of essentials that you are unwilling to compromise on. Remember: the best car lift for you will rarely, if ever, be the most expensive car lift or the cheapest car lift. Instead, it will be right where the cost meets the benefit—exactly where it should be. You get what you pay for and maybe a little more if you catch a retailer during a sale.
5. The warranty Even the best automotive lift in the world is still just a machine, so it’s susceptible to human-error and unexpected failures (though potential devastatingEven the best automotive lift in the world is still just a machine, so it’s susceptible to human-error and unexpected failures (though potential devastating effects can be greatly minimized with the correct systems in place—more on that below). Honest car lift companies realize this and offer warranties on the frame, the moving parts and the labor at varying levels depending on their pricing structures. Warranties usually come standard with purchase, but can often be extended to cover years or even the entire life of the auto lift in some cases. Take this as a good sign that the car lift manufacturer not only stands behind their product, but is willing to put their money where their collective mouth is. Just don’t forget to research how long an auto lift business has been around to determine if it’s the real deal or all just empty promises.
4. The ALI seal of approval The Automotive Lift Institute’s certification is the only nationally recognized standard for car lifts of all designs. They are a non-partial coalition of engineers, designers, industry experts and professionals who rely on third-party laboratory testing methods to recommend and test industry-class safety measures far above those set by any government or municipal agency. What happens when you purchase a non-approved car lift? We urge you to investigate thoroughly as many business owners quickly find themselves on the short end of a long battle once their local inspectors levy penalties for non-compliance or worse yet, shut down their business entirely. Yes, it can and does happen.The Automotive Lift Institute’s certification is the only nationally recognized standard for car lifts of all designs. They are a non-partial coalition of engineers, designers, industry experts and professionals who rely on third-party laboratory testing methods to recommend and test industry-class safety measures far above those set by any government or municipal agency. What happens when you purchase a non-approved car lift? We urge you to investigate thoroughly as many business owners quickly find themselves on the short end of a long battle once their local inspectors levy penalties for non-compliance or worse yet, shut down their business entirely. Yes, it can and does happen.
Nonetheless,Nonetheless, ALI / ETL certification is a hot-button issue in the automotive lifting industry. It’s no easy feat to join the Automotive Lift Institute, let alone build a car lift that passes certification. Aside from the expenses involved, ALI sets extremely strict UL, ETL and ANSI manufacturing safety standards that must be met in order to qualify for certification. While you're on the hunt for the perfect automotive lift, it's very likely that you'll find a plethora of non-certified lifts out on the market.
ALI standard exists for one reason: to make car lifts as safe as possible for people who aren’t able to eyeball good or bad mechanical workmanship from a mile away. If you happen to be an expert on engineering, tensile strengths and redundant safety systems under load, then you might feel comfortable purchasing an automotive lift that hasn’t been certified. But if you want a safe piece of garage equipment along with peace of mind, your best bet is to go with an ALI / ETL approved car lift. Remember, the largest and most respected auto lift brands in the world are members of the Automotive Lift Institute and submit to ALI testing and retesting for just about every product they develop, so clearly it’s a priority to them. It’s up to you to decide how big of a priority ALI / ETL certification is to you, personally. That’s what will help you ultimately make your decision while you’re trying to decide on which auto lift to purchase.ALI standard exists for one reason: to make car lifts as safe as possible for people who aren’t able to eyeball good or bad mechanical workmanship from a mile away. If you happen to be an expert on engineering, tensile strengths and redundant safety systems under load, then you might feel comfortable purchasing an automotive lift that hasn’t been certified. But if you want a safe piece of garage equipment along with peace of mind, your best bet is to go with an ALI / ETL approved car lift. Remember, the largest and most respected auto lift brands in the world are members of the Automotive Lift Institute and submit to ALI testing and retesting for just about every product they develop, so clearly it’s a priority to them. It’s up to you to decide how big of a priority ALI / ETL certification is to you, personally. That’s what will help you ultimately make your decision while you’re trying to decide on which auto lift to purchase.
Naturally, we recommend that you give a strong preference to ALI / ETL certified car lifts, or at the very least, to a name you’ve got a good reason to trust.Naturally, we recommend that you give a strong preference to ALI / ETL certified car lifts, or at the very least, to a name you’ve got a good reason to trust.
For more information on BendPak’s stand,For more information on BendPak’s stand, read here
3. Customer support This goes hand in hand with reputation. Sure, lots of car lift companies will be sweet as sugar when they are taking your cash, but where are they when something doesn’t exactly go according to plan? Once again, it all goes back to research. By now, you’ve probably narrowed down your selection to a couple of options. Go ahead and read up on what each prospective company offers in the way of customer support, but don’t forget to call into their support number, too. Once you get a hold of someone on the other end, you should be able to gauge fairly quickly their general attitude, if they have a multi-location service network geographically located across all parts of the country, if they are located in the US and their overall knowledgeability about products and services. Quiz them a little bit about their return policy, their warranties, how quickly they can get a repair part to you or have someone come out and look at your equipment should you have a problem. Let’s be honest, in the event that you need to talk to someone, you’re patience is going to be under much more strain then when you do your test call. If you find yourself frustrated during this little exercise, chances are you’re looking at the wrong company.This goes hand in hand with reputation. Sure, lots of car lift companies will be sweet as sugar when they are taking your cash, but where are they when something doesn’t exactly go according to plan? Once again, it all goes back to research. By now, you’ve probably narrowed down your selection to a couple of options. Go ahead and read up on what each prospective company offers in the way of customer support, but don’t forget to call into their support number, too. Once you get a hold of someone on the other end, you should be able to gauge fairly quickly their general attitude, if they have a multi-location service network geographically located across all parts of the country, if they are located in the US and their overall knowledgeability about products and services. Quiz them a little bit about their return policy, their warranties, how quickly they can get a repair part to you or have someone come out and look at your equipment should you have a problem. Let’s be honest, in the event that you need to talk to someone, you’re patience is going to be under much more strain then when you do your test call. If you find yourself frustrated during this little exercise, chances are you’re looking at the wrong company.
2. The features you want If the car lift you buy doesn’t have the features you wanted, what the heck did you get it for in the first place!If the car lift you buy doesn’t have the features you wanted, what the heck did you get it for in the first place!
This requires a little bit of foresight on your part. Not only do you have to determine the heaviest thing you’re likely going to need to lift, but also how closely the vehicle runs to the ground, the physical dimensions of the largest and the smallest vehicle you’re going to lift and whether or not you’re going to want to easily move your car lift around on casters. Your best bet for future-proofing your car lift is to go with a manufacturer who not only has the features you want, but also offers a lot of optional equipment in the event your needs change. Find out if your chosen automotive lift company offers extra tall, extra wide, short, narrow, asymmetrical and clearfloor model versions to better fit your personal automotive lifting needs. Ask if they offer truck and van adapters, telescoping arms, bridge jacks, specialized contact pads, casters and frame extensions. Your lift’s ability to adapt to the new and unexpected will be the key to your satisfaction for years to come.This requires a little bit of foresight on your part. Not only do you have to determine the heaviest thing you’re likely going to need to lift, but also how closely the vehicle runs to the ground, the physical dimensions of the largest and the smallest vehicle you’re going to lift and whether or not you’re going to want to easily move your car lift around on casters. Your best bet for future-proofing your car lift is to go with a manufacturer who not only has the features you want, but also offers a lot of optional equipment in the event your needs change. Find out if your chosen automotive lift company offers extra tall, extra wide, short, narrow, asymmetrical and clearfloor model versions to better fit your personal automotive lifting needs. Ask if they offer truck and van adapters, telescoping arms, bridge jacks, specialized contact pads, casters and frame extensions. Your lift’s ability to adapt to the new and unexpected will be the key to your satisfaction for years to come.
1. Real engineering Finally, do not settle for a piece of rebranded generic junk. Make sure your prospective car lift came from the minds and hands of a dedicated team of engineers who were dead-set on making their auto lift the best it could be. If someone took pride in designing your automotive lift, chances are you’ll take lots of pride in owning it. Also, lifting operation tends to be much smoother when human minds thought more about how you were going to use the lift and less about shoving a product out the door.Finally, do not settle for a piece of rebranded generic junk. Make sure your prospective car lift came from the minds and hands of a dedicated team of engineers who were dead-set on making their auto lift the best it could be. If someone took pride in designing your automotive lift, chances are you’ll take lots of pride in owning it. Also, lifting operation tends to be much smoother when human minds thought more about how you were going to use the lift and less about shoving a product out the door.
Follow these ten guidelines and you’re practically guaranteed to end up with the car lift that’s just right for you. And for some information on how BendPak stacks against the rest, check outFollow these ten guidelines and you’re practically guaranteed to end up with the car lift that’s just right for you. And for some information on how BendPak stacks against the rest, check out A Study In Lift Design
Think we missed something important? What things do you think are critical to consider when buying a lift? Leave a comment with your suggestion and help out your fellow wrencher!Think we missed something important? What things do you think are critical to consider when buying a lift? Leave a comment with your suggestion and help out your fellow wrencher!
If you’re thinking about buying a below-the-hook lifting device, then you’ve probably realized there’s an inefficiency or a possible safety issue with the way you’re currently lifting materials.
“Below-the-hook lifting device” is a general term that can include a variety of engineered lifting beams, spreader beams, c-hooks, lifting tongs, vacuum lifters, or magnet lifters. These custom lifters offer more load control and support than traditional rigging. When used in conjunction with a crane and rigging equipment, a below-the-hook lifter can eliminate the hazard of a load tipping, sliding, or becoming unbalanced—as well as reduce low sling angles and the tendency of slings to crush or bend a load.
In this article, we’ll walk you through seven different things you should know before buying a below-the-hook lifting device. If you’ve never gone through the consultation, quotation, and approval process, you’ll learn more about:
Some products just can’t be bought off of the shelf or picked out of a catalog. Below-the-hook lifters tend to fall into this category. Our Engineering department prides itself on designing and fabricating “Serial Number 001” lifters—meaning a totally customized lifting device that’s never been designed or made by our team before.
The advantage of this is that the device is custom-designed for your specific lifting application. Special consideration is given to the environment it will be used in, the type of load it will be lifting, and how often it will be used.
Some lifting devices, like spreader beams or lifting beams, can be more standardized in their design and there may be an off-the-shelf solution available. However, we often see different factors that can take a standard lifting device and turn it into a custom device, including changes to:
Understand that when you buy a below-the-hook lifter—whether it’s a lifting beam, c-hook, tongs, or something else—you’re most likely going to end up with a customized solution. If you plan to go with the cheapest option and “try to make something work” from a catalog, you may end up with a product that’s under-specified or not designed for your unique environment or lifting application.
When you put some thought into the design and specifications of your lifter upfront, you’ll be able to provide more information during the initial consultation, which will result in a more accurate quote from the manufacturer.
But don’t worry, you don’t need to have an exact idea of what you need! These specifications are mainly considerations and talking points to use during your initial consultation with a salesperson.
This information helps a team of estimators and engineers get some numbers to begin running initial calculations, determine material needs, and start designing a rough concept for your lifting application.
What type of below-the-hook lifting device are you considering? Help the manufacturer understand what exactly the device will be lifting. This will help them hone in on the right type of solution, including:
If this lifting device will be used in a production process, are there multiple workstations throughout your facility where you can utilize more than one? Do you have multiple facilities or locations that could benefit from this type of device?
What is the weight of the load that you’ll be lifting? Below-the-hook lifting devices can be designed to assist with lifting loads as light as 50 lbs. and all the way up to 350 tons or higher! Make sure that you have an understanding of the capacity requirements for your lifting device.
Lifting beams and spreader beams can be designed to be adjustable with variable bail positions and lifting lug positions. They can also be telescopic in design to meet minimum and maximum length requirements.
Lifting tongs can also be designed to accommodate a wide range of product diameters.
Additional resources:By providing the manufacturer with the minimum and maximum sizes of loads you’ll be lifting, they can try to design one solution that can be adjusted to accommodate a variety of load or product sizes.
What is the size of the crane hook that this lifting device will be attaching to? If the engineers know the size of the hook, they can design the bail to be the correct size to accommodate the crane hook. If the hook is large, you may need an over-sized eye or pin in the bail.
If you don’t know the exact size of the hook, it can often be reverse-engineered by providing the manufacturer with the capacity of the hoist, overhead crane, or mobile crane that the lifting device will be attached to.
By the time you get to the approval process, you will want to know the exact size of the crane hook and make sure the proposed bail size in the approval drawings can accommodate it.
Being upfront about your budget will help the manufacturer understand any limitations they may have in regards to material, design, or engineering to complete the project. The manufacturer can let you know pretty quickly if your expectations for the product are realistically in-line with the budget you have available.
From there, you can work together to design and build the best solution within or below your expected project spend.
Be honest with your timeline and it will help the manufacturer get you the best price. The manufacturer may have in-house fabrication capabilities, may outsource fabrication, or may do a little bit of both depending on the project requirements.
When you need a lifting device—and need it now—the manufacturer usually has to push in-house production that was already scheduled, may need to book last-minute time on machinery outside of their facility, and may need to pay overtime to their employees to get the job done on time.
Not to mention, any rush charges incurred from the manufacturer’s material suppliers, service providers, and freight/shipping resources will be passed onto the customer.
When the manufacturer has a hard delivery date, they can be more efficient with the ordering of materials and scheduling of their resources—and ultimately those savings can be passed on to the end-user.
Make sure that the manufacturer is aware of any limitations or outside factors that may influence the design of the lifting device. Below are some application-specific and environmental considerations that a manufacturer will want to know about:
It may seem like you would have covered this already, but you’ll want to go into as much detail as possible about the type of load or material that is being lifted.
For example, you may want to use lifting tongs to lift metal tubes that have a highly-polished finish and you can’t afford for them to get scuffed or marred. The manufacturer would need to add in additional protection so that there isn’t steel-on-steel contact which could scratch or damage the product.
Or, you may be lifting batteries or some other type of product with electrical properties. Many companies will use lifters made from wood or fiberglass since these are non-conductive materials. Any type of hardware used in conjunction with those lifters may need to be bronze-coated—which can be rather expensive.
What type of device is lifting the load? Is it a stationary hoist? An overhead crane? A mobile crane? A forklift? What type of rigging—including the types of slings and hardware—is being used?
What is the capacity of these items and what percent are you currently lifting at capacity? A load that is already approaching capacity, may exceed the rated capacity of the lifting equipment when the weight of a below-the-hook lifting device is added and accounted for.
A lifting device that is used in a traditional manufacturing facility could be very different than a comparable device used in a steel processing facility. Special consideration has to be given to the following environmental factors:
Exposure to heat, chemicals, or moisture may require special grades of steel or aluminum. The manufacturer may want to use an epoxy paint or add a powder coat finish to further protect the lifter from degradation and corrosion.
Is this a low-headroom application? A lifting beam may need to be designed with a special bail to account for lift height or low headroom considerations.
Is there a pit or a hole in the floor that a load will be raised up from or lowered down into? If so, what are the dimensions of that opening? If the engineers are aware of this, they’ll know that there are limitations to how long or how wide they can design a custom lifting device. What type of machinery will be operating near this device? Are there workers, machines, or racking systems nearby that this lifter will need to clear when moving a load up and down a bay?
When the manufacturer is aware of all of this information, there won’t be any surprises when it comes to signing off on the approval drawings. There will naturally be some back and forth between the customer and manufacturer in revising or tweaking the design of a lifter. But, multiple rounds of revisions can add significant costs and delay the production and delivery timeline—both of which can be avoided if you provide as much information to the manufacturer during the consultation / quotation process.
If you can provide the engineers with a sketch with approximate dimensions or an engineering drawing of the product or load, they can quickly get to work on quoting and designing an application-specific solution for you.
Better yet, if you provide the manufacturer with 3D model files, they can load those into the engineering programs they use and “test fit” the support and alignment of your product against a 3D model of their proposed lifting device.
You can even go one step further and provide the manufacturer with an actual sample of the product or load that needs to be lifted. The manufacturer can prototype a solution and test it out on the actual product sample in their facility before they ship it out to you.
You should be aware that tweaks or modifications to the end product are sometimes a natural part of the process. But, if you provide the engineers with a 3D model or product sample you may eliminate those late-stage modifications so your custom lifter is ready to be used as soon as you receive it!
Careful consideration must be given to the service life of a below-the-hook lifting device. That’s why ASME BTH-1 – Design of Below-the-Hook Lifting Devices exists. This standard created by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) provides guidance on the minimum structural and mechanical design and electrical component selection criteria when designing a below-the-hook lifter.
When ASME BTH-1 was introduced in March of 2006, two major additions were added for:
ASME BTH-1 specifies that there are two different options that you could have—either Design Category A or Design Category B. It’s critical to know how the lifter will be used so that the engineers can design the device and components to the appropriate design factor.
The Service Class of a lifter is based on the load cycles that a lifter will see in a 24-hour period. The service class 0-4 designation defines the total life cycles a lifter can see based on the specified fatigue life of the lifter.
You can look at Design Category and Service Class as being similar to the duty cycle of an overhead crane. You’re basically providing the engineers with information on how often the lifting device will be in use and what classification it should fall under. This allows manufacturer to do the following:
Let the manufacturer know how many cycles per day, and how many shifts per day, the device will be in use. The manufacturer may want to add gussets to add strength to certain areas of the device. Or, they may want to add bushings to the bail and lifting lugs to reinforce those areas and protect against wear and tear.
The approval process is one of the most important stages of buying a below-the-hook lifting device.
This is the last chance for you and your team to review the dimensions, specifications, and capabilities of your custom lifting device.
Once the drawings are approved by the customer, the manufacturer is off and running. Material is ordered, and production and fabrication schedules are set.
When you receive the approval drawing from the customer, double-check the following information:
You may want to schedule one final meeting with the manufacturer prior to signing off on the drawings. The manufacturer can walk you through the design and specifications of the proposed solution and answer any final questions you might have.
This can help to eliminate any misunderstandings or miscommunications that could result in added costs or delays to production and delivery.
Physics will always dictate the design parameters and success of a below-the-hook lifting device. A heavy load requires more steel material to design and reinforce a product that can lift it. If you throw in low headroom, or other obstructions or restrictions, it may not be physically possible to design a lifting device that meets all of your project requirements.
A beam may have to have a specific span to meet the capacity and design factor requirements. You may want that beam to be smaller or lighter, but the engineers are locked into calculations and parameters that determine the design factor and the ability to lift a particular load. You may want an adjustable beam to be thinner or more streamlined, but remember that there needs to be a specific amount of material overlap at the minimum and maximum adjustments to maintain a consistent lifting capacity.
Just remember that the numbers don’t lie. It’s important to trust the engineers and the specifications and design parameters they provide. They’re designing your lifter to withstand the rigors and forces being applied to it by the load, as well as designing to ASME BTH-1 requirements. Their goal is to get you a lifting device that is compliant with industry regulations, will withstand your operating environment, and will remain in service for a long time.
We hope this article helped educate you on how to properly plan for the purchase of a below-the-hook lifter. We know how satisfying it can be to receive a high-quality lifting device that satisfies the needs of your application, and also makes your job more efficient and helps to keep your employees safe.
If you remember the following things, it’ll go a long way towards ensuring a smooth consultation, quotation, and approval process.
Always provide the sales rep or manufacturer with as much information as possible:
Trust the process. Know that a reputable manufacturer will design a below-the-hook device that will be designed to ASME BTH-1 design standards, will have a 2:1 or 3:1 design factor, and will meet the service life requirements based on estimated usage.
Take the approval process seriously. Make sure you carefully review the approval drawings for accuracy and ask questions if you’re confused about anything. A quick 20-minute conversation can clear up confusion or misunderstandings, and will help to avoid re-designs or delays that may set production back and add additional expenses to the project.
The numbers don’t lie. Understand that there is a reason that the device was specified the way that it was due to the laws of physics as well as industry design parameters. You can always work with the manufacturer to tweak a design or get creative in an alternative solution, but put faith in their designs and recommendations that they’ve worked towards the best solution for your specific application.
At Mazzella, we treat each lifting challenge the same—whether we’re making a common lift beam for a 150 lbs. load, or a specially-engineered 330-ton electric furnace lifter. We have a fully-staffed Engineering department, project managers, and estimators to help solve your lifting challenges and design the perfect solution for your unique lifting application.
We welcome the opportunity to address your overhead material handling needs. If you’re interested in learning more about how a below-the-hook lifting device can improve the efficiency and safety of your overhead lifts, or want to schedule a consultation, contact us to speak with a Lifting Specialist.
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