Design and Manufacturing of a Motorized Drum Lifter for the Steel Industry

A steel manufacturer had a need to lift, transport and dump 30-gallon drums with a single device. The drum, weighing 800 lbs, had to be rotated (or dumped) in a deliberate and controlled manner so that the materials could be accurately weighed.

Hunter Lift analyzed the requirements of the project. The engineering team custom designed and manufactured the appropriate system using a 3-ton electric cylinder to provide the gripping force on the drum. Both ends of the cylinder are connected to an arm with a rotating shoe. Each shoe has rubber pads to increase the friction coefficient relative to the metal drum and provide secure work holding of the drum. We designed the custom lifting device to be powered with a 1/2 hp motor and right angle reducer driving one gripping shoe. The opposing shoe is free spinning. The custom drum lifter is lowered onto the drum and the shoes are closed around the top third of the drum. We incorporated a current limiter to ensure that the gripping mechanism could not be over tightened. Up to 800 lbs loads can be rotated or dumped using this drum lifter. There are controls to rotate the drum clockwise and dump the contents in one direction. The device is currently in use in PA.