BELOW-THE-HOOK | FEATURE
The Yale DBT300 grips the drum on each side…
device is designed for the load. We can go through such devices by the category of load that they are designed to lift. Take, for example, the ubiquitous
210-litre (55-gallon US) steel drum. There are probably millions of them in workplaces across the world, and when filled – with oil, powder or liquid of almost any kind – they are too heavy for one man to lift easily. Nor do they have convenient lugs or holes or lifting points by which to attach them to a hoist and its hook. What they do have is a convenient rim around the top, which suitably shaped devices can grip. UK manufacturer Camlok, part of Columbus McKinnon, makes no fewer than three different designs that do exactly that (Yale, another Columbus McKinnon brand, makes one too).
First, in order of simplicity, is its DC500 Drum Clamp. It is basically an upside-down J-shaped lug that clips over the steel rim. A shackle connects it to a chain and your hook. A hinged tongue at the bottom locks the device into place when it bears the weight of the drum. One clamp is sufficient to lift an empty or sealed drum, which will hang from it in a tilted attitude. If your drum is open and full you will want it to hang level, in which case you will need two
clamps per drum, fixed at opposite ends of its diameter and connected by a length of chain; your hook lifts the midpoint of the chain and all goes up safely, horizontally, and, we trust, without spilling. The working load limit is 500kg. Camlok’s DCV500 vertical lift drum clamp attaches to just one point on the rim, but the lift point is at the end of an arm that reaches over the diameter of the drum at its central point, meaning that the centre of gravity of the drum is always directly below the lifting point, so the drum hangs vertically, whether it is full or empty. The DBT300 drum grab, under the Yale brand name, which is also part of Columbus McKinnon, is hand operated – pulling a lever moves arms that grasp the drum circumference and incorporates a tipping device. It is designed for the transportation, lifting, placing down, turning over and emptying of barrels. Morse in the US are specialists not just in
below-the hook devices but specifically in below-the-hook devices for lifting drums. It has an 86-series, which supports the drum from underneath (with a side brace as
…while this device from Morse holds it horizontally.
www.hoistmagazine.com | April 2025 | 29
well for stability); an 86-SS in stainless steel for harsh environments or caustic loads in the drum; an 86-S-2D for lifting two drums at once; and models with two lifting points, and with three lifting points, with added fork pockets. On its 86 series models the
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