I imagine most everyone has used a hand truck. They’re
great for moving heavy loads faster and easier than hauling them manually.
But what about unloading that hand truck once you get the load where you want
it? Can your back handle the last couple of boxes at the bottom of the stack?
How are your knees? How’s your upper body strength? Can everyone working in
your operation safely and easily lift the load to shelving or a work
table?
The beauty of the hand truck
Hand trucks can
be found in just about every industrial operation. And they have their place in
those facilities.
The
platform is thin enough to slide it under most things you’d want to load, like
stacks of cartons, boxes, bins and buckets. Gently tilt the entire load back
onto the wheels, and off you go to the desired location for your load. Once you
get there, you slowly tilt the load into the vertical position and slip the
platform out from under the load. Nice and simple.
What if your landing place isn’t on the
floor?
So
you’ve rolled your load near its destination. The stack is ready for final
placement – but it has to be loaded up onto shelving, a workbench, conveyor,
etc. Now you have to bend, lift, turn and place repeatedly until the load has
been taken care of. Oh, my aching back. Over
time, even very strong workers may end hurt their backs due to the strain of
repetitive lifting. In fact, the
strongest and fittest are the most likely to ignore proper and safe lifting
methods. While the hand truck certainly gets the load where you want
it, it doesn’t help with loading it.
There’s a better way when it comes to
loading/unloading
Let’s
go back to where you arrive at the location with your load on the hand truck.
Tilt the load to the vertical, then push a button and the load lifts until the
top box is at the right height. Then simply slide the box off the truck and
into place. Continue pushing that button for each box until you’ve got the
entire stack unloaded. How does your back feel? Even if you have to move the
box some, you aren’t pulling it from floor level to a higher point.
What kind of contraption does that?
it’s a hybrid piece of material handling equipment that works like a hand
truck, but can elevate the load for you. It has some special features the hand
truck doesn’t have. Like a larger platform and battery powered lift connected
to that platform with up to 36″ of vertical travel for loads up to 350 pounds.
Even better, the controls can be used remotely to make it easier to judge the
height you need the lift to raise or lower to for best loading and unloading
positions.
How to know which product you need
Pay
close attention to the applications row in this table.
|
Feature
|
Hand Truck
|
Power lift platform cart
|
|
Load Capacity
|
up to 800 lbs.
|
up to 350 lbs.
|
|
Platform Size
|
7.5″ x 18″
|
16″ x 20″
|
|
Lift Height
|
0″
|
up to 36″
|
|
Wheels
|
10″
|
10″
|
|
Applications
|
Floor level stacking
Light load relocation
Heavy load floor level placement
|
Raised placement
Moderate load relocation
Loading from raised level
Retail shelf stocking
|
Those
are the indicators that can help you know when a hand truck is the best choice
and when you might want to consider the investment into a lift hand truck like
a Power lift platform cart. Hand trucks are great for quick, one-time relocation of
stacked goods or large, heavy single items that will be left on the floor
level. If you’re faced with repeated product placement from to or from raised
levels, then you will be better off choosing a Lift ‘N Buddy because of the
ergonomic advantages and the time saved in being able to raise and lower the
platform level for easier loading and unloading.
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