Hydraulic Lift Tables- The Mechanics

If you are thinking of purchasing a hydraulic lift table, it’s always nice to have a little background on some of the mechanical features of the product you’re buying. So, let’s take a look at the hydraulic cylinders. These beasts are actuation devices that use hydraulic fluid and pressure to produce force. Sometimes this force is enough to lift thousands and thousands of pounds. Pretty good for just some fluid and pressure, right? Well, actually the process of hydraulics is a bit more complicated than that. Some important features of hydraulic cylinders include stroke maximum operating pressure, which almost directly translates into the lift capacity of your hydraulic lift table and maximum working power of the hydraulic cylinder, the cylinder type (tie-rod, ram, and welded), and the bore and rod diameter. All of these combined give the hydraulic cylinder, and the lift table, its operating power. As you can see, hydraulics are a marvel when it comes to technology, are they are perfect for operating lift tables.

About Hydraulic Lift Tables

Hydraulic Lift tables are meant to supplement heavy lifting, loading, positioning of work material, and providing ergonomic access for material and personnel. Many hydraulic lift tables are in a scissor shape, meaning that the support bars or legs are in a criss-cross fasion, and the table lifts by mechanical power. In this way, scissor lifts are quite popular as well, but many of them do not have the hydraulic power and rely only on mechanical power to raise the table lift. Some important aspects of hydraulic lift tables include the lift capacity (how much weight the hydraulic lift table can hold), the vertical lift (how high the lift extends), and platform width and length (this is important when considering how much material or people the lift needs to hold). Hydraulic lift tables often come with a number of common features, which include wheels for mobility, hand rails for safety reasons, tilt, rotating, and counterbalancing to further increase the efficiency and ease of loading, unloading, and positioning of work material.

Pricing of Hydraulic Lift Tables

Pricing of hydraulic lift tables vary with the lift capacity of the piece and the brand name. However most prices stay within a relative range. If you are getting an hydraulic lift table with a capacity of less than 700 lbs., you can expect to pay $120-400. If you get into the 1000 lb range, you can expect to pay anywhere from $700 to $1300. Venture into the 1000 lb to 3000 lb range, and you'll pay a considerable heavier price (no pun intended, well okay, maybe), in the range of $1400-2500, maybe a bit more. Get heavier duty lifts with capacities of 4000-8000 lbs., and you'll be paying industrial size prices. Anywhere from $2400-6000 is not uncommon. If you really want to go all out and buy heavy duty lifts for industial use with capacities of over 10000 lbs, 25000 lbs, or more, than you're looking to pay $16,000-40,000. Granted, these are for large companies, but it's still very expensive. These price ranges are fairly in the norm. However, you may be able to find sales and better prices on certain hydraulic lift tables. For example, I just came across a lift table with a 2500 lb. capacity for only $500. So, there are good deals out there, you just have to do a little searching.

Some Hydraulic Lift Table Companies

If you're looking to purchase a hydraulic lift able, then you better know what companies are out there and what they offer. Prices among these sites stay fairly consistent. Feel free to check any of them out if you want to.

• Advanced Lifts- This online company provides a host of mechanical equipment, including hydraulic lift tables. They carry products that have a lift capacity below 1000 lbs. or as high as over 12000 lbs. Their wide selection assures that you'll find what you need. They also carry many other industrial and mechanical equipment that you may also be looking for as well.
• Northern Tool- These guys offer a plethora of hydraulic lift tables at a good price. They specialize in offering some of the top name brand makers of hydraulic lift tables. These include Handy, Northern Industrial, Tools, Vestil, and Wesco. Their inventory is slanted towards more smaller scale industries, but they have high capacity hydraulic lifts as well.
• LK Goodwin Co.- This company also provides a great selection of hydraulic lift tables, with products ranging from individual use hydraulic lifts to big time industial high capacity lifts. Great place to find your hydraulic lift.
  

Uses of Hydraulic Lift Tables

Hydraulic lift tables have many uses. First and foremost they are used to lift either people or materials into position for working or being used in the construction of a particular work piece. A hydraulic lift table is often used in automotive garages, construction sites, manufacturing, cable and telephone companies, and many other commerical and private industries (such as painting houses). Depending upon the application of a hydraulic lift table, the lift capacity (how many pounds the lift is able to withstand without breaking down) can be relatively small or very large. Small personal hydraulic lift tables can have a lift capacity of only around 500-800 lbs. Large industial scale lifts can have a capacity of 12000 lbs or more. When using hydraulic lift tables for heavy loading, they are very useful for positioning work material safely, transporting workers and personnel to designated platforms, and loading and unloading goods, large pallets, and construction materials. Also, different types of hydraulic lifts are used for different applications. Some of these lifts include but are not restrained to table lifts, personnel lifts, pallet lifts, and fork lifts.

Why Get an Hydraulic Lift Table?

Hydraulic lift table are one of the greatest inventions for those who work in the shop, warehouses, manufacturing plants, and many other places that require a fair amount of heavy lifting. So, what are some advantages of purchasing an hydraulic lift table? Well, for one thing, it saves your back from unnecessary pain and permanent damage. Lifting heavy objects daily for extended periods of time can and will hurt your back, which in turn can eventually lead to back surgery or a substantial cutback in work, which again hurts your wallet. An hydraulic lift table is the perfect way to combat these unnecessary evils and aid in heavy lifting. Also, hydraulic lift tables facilitate heavy work loads. You can get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time. This will increase efficiency of the workforce, company, or yourself. Increased efficiency, more time, and being able to get more work done will increase the profits of any organization, or else just make your life that much easier.