TECHNOLOGY REPORT | PORTABLE CRANES
PORTABLE LIFTING
Portable hoists and gantries are found down mines, in field operations and in repair and manufacturing operations small and large. The range of devices that can be described as ‘portable’ is huge. Julian Champkin reports.
crane – see ‘Konecranes goes exploring’ on the next page – as ‘portable’: it requires a full-sized shipping container to move it, plus another spare empty one to erect it on, but in the context of a full-sized gantry crane that can be set up within hours on a virgin stretch of beach, desert or jungle and then taken away again afterwards when the project is finished, ‘portable’ is indeed an accurate description. At the other extreme ‘portable’ includes
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manual chain hoists small enough and light enough to be carried in the pocket of a work overall. Harrington Kito claim to have the “world’s smallest industrial hoist” in its CX mini hand hoist. It comes in three sizes. The quarter ton-capacity version with 10ft lift would count as the lightest and smallest: it weighs 7lbs (3kg). The one-ton capacity model weighs 17lbs (7.6kg) and the half-ton-capacity model splits the difference at 10lbs (4.5kg). Versions with 20ft of lift are also available. Columbus McKinnon claims its Hurricane Mini 360° on the market with full 360° last four words mean that it does not conflict with Harrington Kito’s claim for the world title. The “full 360° that once you have hung the CM Hurricane Mini from a suitable support, the rotatable chain cover on the hoist lets you pull on the chain from any direction rather than being limited to a straight downwards pull. You
he word ‘portable’, as applied to hoists, can cover quite a lot. At one extreme Konecranes describes its CXT Explorer gantry
can even pull horizontally to lift a load. In a confined space this is clearly an advantage. They may be small, but these two mini-hoists and their competitors are far from being toys; carried down mine passages and in similar hard-to-reach and confined spaces they can be invaluable in saving the operative from strenuous – and potentially back-damaging – hand- lifting when installing or repairing any sort of underground installation. All they need is somewhere to hang them from – an attachment point strong enough to take the load, which in the case of the ° can be up to 0.25 tons or 0.5 tons, since it comes in two versions. The smaller one weighs 2.6kg (which would actually make it lighter than the Harrington Kito CX), the larger one a tad under 4kg. The chain supplied gives a lift of 10ft, 15ft or 20ft (3m, 4.5m or 6m) depending on your application. The longer chains and higher lifts increase the overall weight that you carry with you, of course (and make a bigger bulge in your pocket). Columbus McKinnon suggests the
hoist for service technicians, construction workers, or any low-capacity on-the- job lifts in factories, field construction, agriculture, warehouse and small equipment installation.
GANTRY CRANES Moving up the scale of things, portable gantry cranes are ubiquitous in almost every auto repair shop or small fabrication unit. Here ‘portable’ means ‘push-around’. Typically, a steel or aluminium beam is
www.hoistmagazine.com | December 2022 | 27
P Harrington Kito’s CX Mini – a contender for the world’s smallest hoist
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