mini pallet truck

[Jacob]

Want to move my combi machine (360kg) up some scaffold boards in and out of my van and then around the workshop in the future as necessary.
Looking at this on line Mini Pallet Truck (Capacity 500Kg) | Plastor
Is this good enough or would you advise a better option?

 

[Jameshow]

That would do the job....

 

[--Tom--]

When you say up some scaffold boards it depends on the incline. They work well on flat and even terrain. May need some grunt to get up inclines and over lips (e.g. the edge of a scaffold board)
Assume you can rock it up on planks to get the tines under too.

Other option would be an engine hoist but check the dimensions vs your van- I tried to use one to get a p/t out of a transit but the height didn’t work so had to some sketchy work with planks and breeze blocks to get it to a place it could be lifted

 

[TRITON]

 

[Jacob]

View attachment 170836

That'd be handy for pork pies.

 

[Jameshow]

How about this??

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11598408...tixoXeJTeO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[Jacob]

How about this??

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11598408...tixoXeJTeO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I've already made one. Ply not steel, and 2 swivelling castors. It doesn't have the lifting mechanism though.

 

[Blackswanwood]

I am struggling to see how that will work with a scaffold board ramp. A quick google suggests that the maximum incline that it is safe to use a pallet truck on is 8 degrees. Is getting a Luton with a tail lift for a day not as safer option?

 

[Jacob]

I am struggling to see how that will work with a scaffold board ramp. A quick google suggests that the maximum incline that it is safe to use a pallet truck on is 8 degrees. Is getting a Luton with a tail lift for a day not as safer option?

Access problem both ends.
I'll have helpers and ropes, not to mention steel capped boots.

 

[TheUnicorn]

as others have said, the lifting in a pallet truck is purely up and down, involve a hill and you've got all that weight but its harder to control because it can runaway on the wheels. you could maybe wheel it to the van then winch it up the incline, but a weight like that would need to be controlled at all times IMHO

 

[eribaMotters]

As above, the problem is the incline. Some years ago I borrowed the 2.5 ton pallet truck from work to move my newly acquired 400kg Sedgwick planer thicknesser.
Luckily we managed to lift it into my VW Touran, so that was one problem less. Next problem was 180 ft over gravel drive, a couple of double step lifts, across decking, loose gravel and wet grass.
I managed all of this by myself fairly easily with pallets, scaffold boards and a few blocks/bricks, except the incline onto the decking.
What a hoot that was. I tried pushing and pulling but I kept sliding down the ramp. I eventually solved the problem with the assistance of my lovely wife. She grabbed me around the waist from behind, for added ballast, and we managed the ramp. Oh what a memory. We are still happily married, I think.

Colin

 

[Jacob]

As above, the problem is the incline. Some years ago I borrowed the 2.5 ton pallet truck from work to move my newly acquired 400kg Sedgwick planer thicknesser.
Luckily we managed to lift it into my VW Touran, so that was one problem less. Next problem was 180 ft over gravel drive, a couple of double step lifts, across decking, loose gravel and wet grass.
I managed all of this by myself fairly easily with pallets, scaffold boards and a few blocks/bricks, except the incline onto the decking.
What a hoot that was. I tried pushing and pulling but I kept sliding down the ramp. I eventually solved the problem with the assistance of my lovely wife. She grabbed me around the waist from behind, for added ballast, and we managed the ramp. Oh what a memory. We are still happily married, I think.

Colin

That's the way to do it! Will she be available on the 15th?

 

[Lons]

A winch would control it if you have a secure fixing in the van and wedges to stick behind the wheels as you go if you have plenty of help. Strips screwed to the sides of the battens to stop it slipping off and battens secured togetjer with timber under across the width.

We managed a lot heavier than that up a steep incline though not into a van and I had 3 burly helpers.

 

[Blackswanwood]

Seriously, good luck with it Jacob. I passed a bunch of squaddies carrying a piano up Snowdon a few years ago so if all else fails …

 

[Dabop]

A winch would control it if you have a secure fixing in the van and wedges to stick behind the wheels as you go if you have plenty of help. Strips screwed to the sides of the battens to stop it slipping off and battens secured togetjer with timber under across the width.

We managed a lot heavier than that up a steep incline though not into a van and I had 3 burly helpers.

Most pallet jacks can handle quite steep slopes if they have the 'little front wheel' on the tines at the end (not all do)- not the 'lifting wheels' on the tines- some brands have small rollers right at the tip to help 'bump over' the pallets planks... at the 'angle' where the ramp met the ground, it allowed us to 'roll' on that tip roller instead of dragging it on the tine tip...
I helped a mate with my car trailer to move some heavy gear, and yes- used its winch to control the up AND the down at the other end- had to lay a piece of ply over the trailers ramps (two ramps- three wheel sets , hmmm) plus the 'guide rails' on the sides of the ramps were higher than the 'crossbar' between the tines where the jack part is...
Not using the winch would have been bloomin dangerous- we were moving 500kg plus, and palletjacks don't have brakes...
Plus at the top- we had to drag it both on and off, when the tines wheels 'dropped off into space' as the ramp dropped down away, and the winch allowed us to control the 'tipover' as it when from the flat trailer deck to the angled ramps

Still sketchy as though lol

 

[TRITON]

Looking at the original post again, i have extreme reservations that a couple of scaffold boards are going to support 360kg, and if anything moves, 360kg is not the type of weight you can stop from moving should it want to.

The thing you need is a high lift pallet truck, and it would probably be better if you just go and hire one, and looking thats about 75-100 quid for the day.
https://www.speedyservices.com/hire/lifting-handling/71_5700-h-Pallet-Truck-High-Lift-Manual-SWL-1t*Roll to van, lift forks, move machine onto forks, drop back down to ground level, roll to wherever, etc

* im putting in this description of how you would operate one so as you arent daft and think you can roll it along in the elevated position, because there it would then be unbalanced and fall over.

Take note though that pallet trucks are usually used on flat smooth surfaces like concrete, and definitely are not 'offroad' machines.

 

[dephill]

You need to change your van for a vw Razorback:

In case you haven’t seen one before, the whole bed is a lift.

You’d still need the baby pallet shifter though.

 

[okeydokey]

Hi Jacob
Is this worth looking at as two separate tasks with separate solutions?
1. The movement in/out of the van
2. Occasional movement (on the flat) around your workshop.
It might be worth googling for machine movers general movers of things or piano movers to see whats there and for no 2 worry about that once its in workshop situ
I'm sure you've considered all of this but imo worth mentioning anyway
cheers

 

[Jacob]

Hi Jacob
Is this worth looking at as two separate tasks with separate solutions?
1. The movement in/out of the van
2. Occasional movement (on the flat) around your workshop.
It might be worth googling for machine movers general movers of things or piano movers to see whats there and for no 2 worry about that once its in workshop situ
I'm sure you've considered all of this but imo worth mentioning anyway
cheers

Yes you are right. It's not that difficult to move on a flat surface as it has drop down rollers.

 

[Sideways]

* im putting in this description of how you would operate one so as you arent daft and think you can roll it along in the elevated position, because there it would then be unbalanced and fall over.

These high lift pallet trucks are a cracking piece of kit. They are light enough that (certainly with 2 of you) you can handball them in and out of a van so yes you can shift them between your place and the hire shop.

Two points to be aware of.
1. As the forks are raised, two solid steel stabiliser pegs at the handle end move downwards. They touch down when the forks are about 12" up and after that you ain't going anywhere whether you want to or not. More height, the greater part of the load they take. So you can lift a load on the pallet truck but you'll then have to back the van under it and drop on.
2. Be aware of the diagonal braces that run upwards toward the tip of the forks. As you increase height, the scissor action moves the diagonals back away from the fork tip but they are still there. In practice it means that you can't get the full length of the forks overhanging the bed of a van.

These are better at loading a van
https://www.kdmhire.com/product/manual-stacker-truck/But they are so tall and heavy you'd need a luton just to move the stacker truck !
They come into their own when you have really heavy or tall, top heavy machines to lift.
Their forks can be placed below the luton tail lift platform to stabilise and help it with the lift. Most Luton tail lifts are only rated to a half ton, or even just 250kg and there is plenty of machinery that exceeds that. The height and mass of the stacker also provides some reassurance when you are worrying that the lathe or whatever is going to topple off a sagging tail lift.
Throughout this, you need a second, ordinary pallet truck inside the Luton to move pallets around inside it and on and off the tail lift once it's level with the vehicle bed.