barrel lifting

[Wandering Buddhist]

Another question, this one for those who know something about lifting barrels:

I will have need this year to receive and ship barrels.  I do not have anyidea what type of equipment to buy or where to find it.  I have Googled but there are so many choices out there it is a bit confusing, and I am not sure which gadgets/machines/contraptions are specifically made (if any) for barrels filled with our type of liquid gold.

So... for getting barrels on and off the back of my truck, what would I need to buy?  I hope you all have some good ideas since I am at a loss.

Thanks.

PS I may have a beam in my garage that will support the weight of a barrel.  I will have it checked, but it appears that it was used by the previous owner to lift engines out of vehicles.  I suspect that would hold a barrel of honey, at least enough to get it out of the back of a truck.

[Jerrymac]

Once upon a time I had a job where once a week we had to unload a truck load of 55 gal barrels of oil. These were usually double stacked. We would lay the drums on the top layer on thier side and roll them off the top onto old tires. Then since the back of the trailer was higher than the dock we used another tire to roll them onto. Then roll them to where we wanted them and stand them up. Usually two guys would lay them down and stand them up but we had one guy that would stand it up with one hand. Then ofcourse we would back up to the dock and load them onto other vehicles for delivery.

There are dollies or hand trucks made for moving barrels and there are devices made to aid in standing them up and laying them down.

[Jerrymac]

Look at this;

http://www.ramflat.com/morseprd.html

[TREBOR]

a sixty gallon drum weighs about 720lbs(12lbs per gallon honey) thats a lot of weight for a cross beam :shock: , but as far as getting it on and off your truck. take a look here!
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&productId=377278&R=377278

or here!
 http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&productId=7179&R=7179
or just do a search for a pick up truck crane at your favorate tool store online!!!!!!!!
and don't forget truck straps and lashings

I plan on five gallon buckets this year, my reasoning is, if I sell it in bigger lots then I have to sell it for less :(
If something were to go bad then it may be only ten gallons, not fifty!

[Jack Parr]

If money is no factor the website offered by Jmac shows a neat drum handler # 3 that would probably do the trick.

Short of that a 1000 # lifting capacity, come-a-long attached to your garage beam is probably the most economical way to lift a drum up enough to back under or drive away from. If you need to roll the drum around, upright that little four wheel dolly featured on the website would be ideal for that. In all cases polling weight carring contraptions roll better with large wide wheels, at least eight " diameter if you can afford one, particularly if your rolling surface is not too smooth. Nothing more frustrating than trying to roll a heavy object on a rough surface using a small wheel dolly.

I am supposing that you are wanting to use drums for honey shipping?
If so, they will of course be without an attached top or cover. You drop those and they will deform. If you squeeze them  incorrectly they can also deform.  Those drums have to remain in shape for the seperate cover to fit correctly and seal.

Your garage beam can easily and cheaply be re-inforced to support the weight of a drum of honey.

Drums are standard 55 gallons and are known as " 55 gallon drums " by the drummers. :P  There are exceptions.

In summation all of my above is really rudimentry knowledge but since you are seeking advice mine is from experiences I have had. Besides I ain't got much to do today.

Hope this helps.

[Ruben]

Double loop a tow strap around the drums and get a cherry picker from an auto supply place for about $200 and hook the tow strap hooks to the cherry picker and it will lift drums up into the back of a pick up. We do that where I work and that is about the cheapest way, if you want to spend more money you can get the proper set up from Northern Tools & Equipment or Grangers, places like that.

[randydrivesabus]

http://www.theonlinecatalog.com/abalmaterialhandling/store/item.asp?DEPARTMENT_ID=31&ITEM_ID=1595

if you got money

[stilllearning]

Here are a couple of sources for safe handeling equipment.
the lifts are rather expensive the dollies not to bad but both
are safe
http://www.tommygate.com/
http://www.globalindustrial.com/gcs/product/productInfo.web?infoParam.itemKey=30048765

the lifts will fit most any type of truck