Mobile lift tables or stationary lifts - Which is better?
Mobile lift tables, owing to their flexibility and the fact that you can move them where you want them, are being increasingly used in many assembly and repair operations, printing or assembly industries, pallet breakdowns in distribution and various other material handling areas. They are the best option when you need to lift and move something and if you need to frequently reconfigure work areas.
Considering all the above facts, the question arises that when should you choose stationary lift table over mobile or vice versa?
The first consideration is the collapsed height because it must match a conveyor line or other handling equipment. Portable lift tables trade that low collapsed height for portability. The collapsed height factor is so important that many lift manufacturers have specific, low-profile lift table lines that get down to 1.9″ just to ensure they can meet the demand for very low profiles.
Another factor to be considered is stability. Mobile lift tables are somewhat less stable than stationary ones and so you need to be particularly careful to center the load on the scissor lift because here off-center loads will be less stable than they are on fixed-position lifts.
Cost is another factor as mobile lifts are more expensive than equivalent stationary lifts. This increased cost owes to the fact that they must be better-built and more carefully engineered. Parts of the structure must be load-bearing and the casters and wheels must be correctly specified.
Again, relocating stationary lifts in case of a line reconfiguration is relatively easy to disconnect and reinstall. Also stationary lifts, in general, have higher capacities and a larger range of sizes, power options, and available accessories.
In spite of all the above factors, mobile lifts are better than stationary lifts where they are used correctly and where they meet the specific needs of the organization. Stationary lifts are better in terms of cost and capacity but they cannot be moved like the mobile lifts.
Subscribe to the comments for this post