Tag Archives: Custom Drum Handling Equipment

Finding the Right Drum Dispensing Options for Your Application

The proper equipment makes drum dispensing and dumping easier and safer. This is true across a wide range of applications, but how do you find the right drum handler and dispenser? Here are some things to know.

Drum Handling Variables

Drum handling equipment includes drum lifters and dispensers. They are beneficial in various industries, with different designs being suitable for different industrial and commercial applications. From food processing to ball bearings, small parts, pharmaceuticals, paint, and coatings, there are many uses.

Given the diversity of work environments, it is important to use the right drum handling equipment for the situation at hand, whether it be dispensing or mixing contents from or in drums. There are many variables for drum dispensing, such as ergonomics, space utilization, and throughput.

Consider the type of material you’ll be working with (liquid or solid?). Also consider any special requirements for the material – is it flammable or explosive? Could it corrode certain types of metal? How much room is there around the warehouse for drum handling equipment? Will people be required to operate the equipment by hand, or do you have an automated process?

This is why we craft custom handling equipment for drums and barrels to meet each of our client’s needs.

Unique Drum Dumping Equipment Applications

Liftomatic Material Handling has product modifications to suit different dumping capabilities. We recognize that no two clients are identical and this is true of drum dumping applications; thus, we customize our handling solutions to each customer.

Drum Dumper

Tip-Mate 800 Drum Dumper

The newest addition to our product line is the Tip-Mate™ 800 drum dumper, which features a push-button activated clamping system to dump 55-gallon drums weighing up to 800 pounds using a forklift truck. Unlike many other dumpers, the Tip-Mate™ 800 does not require foot pumps, hand cranks, or any other manual activity to activate it, other than pressing the button, which makes for an easier process.

Other types of drum dumping equipment we manufacture include Below Hook Drum Dumpers, which are meant for steel, plastic, and fiber drums weighing up to 1,000 pounds each, Forklift Mounted Drum Dumpers, and portable models. Our experts are happy to help you determine which one is best for your organization’s needs.

Contact Us

Do you want to learn more about specific drum dumping applications? Call us at 1-800-837-6540, so we can review your material handling needs. We specialize in building material handling equipment, specifically for drums and barrels.

Our Guide to Choosing Drum Handling Equipment – Part 1 Now on IEN

Liftomatic model 2-FTA

Selecting the Right Drum Handling Equipment

Liftomatic has a long history of contributing helpful information to Industrial Equipment News (IEN). We recently published a new whitepaper which provides helpful guidelines for selecting the correct drum handling equipment for your desired applications. You can find the full whitepaper on IEN, titled Essential Guide to Choosing Drum Handling Equipment. Here, we’ve provided a quick breakdown of the information that was so thoroughly addressed by our Application Specialist, Keith Carmody.

  1. Assess your goals and challenges – For example, if your goal is to prevent drum damage, consider using padded equipment. If you want to improve throughput and inventory turns, you may benefit from a drum handler that can pick up multiple drums at time. The first step is figuring out the areas that need improvement, and then looking into which products can best help you meet those goals.
  2. Consider your operators – Not every person on your team will be able to effectively use each piece of equipment. Take an inventory of your staff, look at each person’s strengths and weaknesses, and then assign the equipment based on those factors. Also take into account hours worked, since lack of sleep combined with heavy equipment can have disastrous consequences.
  3. Reassess your operations – Just as each person may be best suited to a different task, the same goes for equipment. Maybe you’ve been using the same products for the last decade, but have since changed other parts of your processing chain. This is a good time to review new products and see if any of them will be a better match for your needs. Occasionally, custom drum handling equipment is needed to address all requirements.
  4. Consider materials being handled – 55-gallon drums can contain a number of different products, but one of the most well-known examples is oil. This material is highly flammable and explosive, and many other products have similarly hazardous characteristics. Always make sure operators are aware of which materials are being transported and what safety precautions are necessary. Some items will require specialized drum handling equipment to ensure safety.
  5. Review the safety of your entire facility – Having trained workers and the correct equipment is your first line of defense against workplace accidents. Make sure the facility itself is also in line with safety recommendations. This means having proper signage in all necessary areas, looking out for blind spots on the warehouse floor, and providing regular maintenance on all equipment.

Hopefully the above information has been helpful in choosing the right drum handling equipment and ensuring the safety of your facility. The original whitepaper can be found at IEN for reference. In addition, this is the first in a 2-part series on selecting drum handling equipment. Stay on the look-out for our complementary second feature!