Bin lifters are an excellent way of avoiding injuries to your back when lifting wheelie bins into the bigger skips. But, with manual, electric and hydraulic versions on the market, which is the best option for you?
Different Types of Bin Lifters
When it comes to high quality manual, electric and hydraulic bin lifters in Australia or wherever you are located, there is a lot to choose from and what you decide upon will depend greatly on your needs, your budget and usage requirements. You’ll also need to consider the brand and size of your bin. Let’s take a look at the different kinds of lifters.
1. Electric Lifters
There are plenty of power sources for electric lifters, which vary between 12V right up to 24V. You can even have solar panels added if you want a stand-alone lifter that can be powered by the sunshine.
There are even pneumatic air powered lifers, which are usually favoured amongst industries where there’s a risk of explosion and where electrical operation isn’t an option.
Electric lifters are similar to forklifts in that the power source drives a hydraulic pump which in turn forces oil into the ram. There’s just enough power used to raise a bin and gravity helps it lower back down safely.
2. Manual Lifters
There are several different kinds of manual bin lifters, including:
- Winch operated lifters – These lifters use a winch to lift and lower your bin. The wire rope variety lies on top of itself during operation, but it can cause sharp metal spikes, whereas webbed strapping prevents this. Both options have their pros and cons.
- Gas strut – Gas struts offer a great deal of assistance during the overall lifting and tipping process. However, you need to be trained in the use of these models.
- Bottle jack – This is similar to hydraulic versions and uses hydraulic power to raise the cradle of the lifter. You can move the jacks lever up and down which, in turn, pumps hydraulic fluid to the ram. To lower the bin, you then release the valve. A thorough understanding is required to operate this device.
Why Would You Need a Bin Lifter?
You need to consider why and how you plan to use the lifter in order to choose one. Some of the many benefits of owning a bin lifter include:
- Bin tippers are easy enough to attach to forklifts, making handling your material even easier, too. They’re designed to make it possible for just one operator to dump the materials in a skip by pulling a lever or cable.
- The lifters are extremely versatile and often come with latches the lock in place in order to prevent unintentional accidents.
Overall, the type of bin lifter you decide on, be it electric, hydraulic or manual, will depend on what you want to use it for, how often and in what kind of location. Each model offers its own benefits and there is a version out there to suit all budgets.
