There’s always a time when you have something you have something much heavier than you can lift manually. Having a choice between lifting devices, or material handling equipment available is always best. We’re going to show you a few different kinds of material handlers in this segment.

Material Handling Basics

Always keep safe when lifting anything heavy. Material Handlers are your friend when lifting – that has to be how they built the pyramids! These pieces of equipment can vary from a front-end loader with forks to hand carts. We’ll stick with the ones used commonly in garages and households.

Most of these handlers we’ll show today are made for lifting heavy objects – anything from car engines to boxes.

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Handcarts, Trucks & Dollys

Handcarts are material handlers with wheels and a small ledge. The material to be lifted is placed on the ledge (or foot), and the handles are tilted back. The user balances the weight on the wheels then and moves the materials around.

Handcarts are great for boxes of heavy items, like books or magazines. This is simply because greater amounts of boxes can be stacked on the foot of the handcart in higher quantities. Always remember to stack heavier boxes on the bottom of the foot, and when tilting the handcart back, pull the top box back with you. When setting the foot down, be sure to hold the load and gently lower the foot down so the top item doesn’t fly off!

There are a number of different kinds of handcarts, and some are equipped with stairclimber wheels, which help the user move up and down stairs. These handcarts are great for moving, so when it’s time for you to make that big move, be sure that your moving company either supplies one or you get one for yourself. After all, they come in handy whenever you need to pick a large quantity of items up and transport them.

Appliance trucks are usually large handcarts made of Aluminum to offset their size. This Wesco (right) is 59” in height and like other appliance handcarts, comes with a strap to hold large items securely from the front. You will still want to carefully lower the item down even though it's strapped, as if it lands too harshly it can damage the item or scratch it. Hint: use pieces of cardboard between the strap and the appliance to stop scratches or marring.

There are also combination trucks that you can transport standard items and such things as barrels. Filling a 55 gallon drum with fuel or water makes it very heavy, and these combination trucks make it easy. Since we're on the subject, let's look at some material handlers for barrels.

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Drum Handling

Full drums are very heavy, and often take a combination of rolling and shifting the weight to get them anywhere. However, you can make it much easier on yourself by looking at these drum handlers.

Drum cradles like the one to the left are a version of the trucks we looked at before. Some have two small ledges where you place the barrel, then tip back and move. They also serve a dual purpose. When laid down like in the one in the picture, you can also add a spigot to the drum, making obtaining fuel or whatever liquid easier to dispense. Just remember to strap the drum down so it doesn't shift. Also, make sure that the large hole is at the bottom of the drum, and release the top hole for air when getting liquids.

Drum Lifters are another option for moving heavy barrels. There are a variety of them, and depending on your needs, one or the other will fill the gap in moving drums. Some are made to use in conjunction with a crane, others with a forklift. Since we're looking at smaller material handlers, let's look at the type of cranes that are made for smaller garages or shops.

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Gantry Cranes

Made for lifting anything from car engines to large boats, gantry cranes consist of an overhead beam where there's a hoist attached. The hoist can move along the beam, and the entire crane can be moved on wheels. Most, like the Wesco shown to the left have height adjustments, and locking casters so the crane doesn't shift as you lift your object.

These Wesco's don't come with a hoist, so go to ToolKing.com and check out their list of hoists.

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