As standard, dock lifts are provided with a hand-held, 2-button (Up/Down) pendant on a 10’ cable.
There are many optional dock lift controls to select from; the most popular being a hand-held, Up/Down push button control on a 20’ coiled cable. This cable is 4’ long in the retracted position and extends up to 20’ in length. This provides a significant walking range for the dock attendant to operate the dock lift with the minimum amount of cable on the floor when the controls are not in use.
Platform-Mounted Controls
Another popular control option is installing the push button on a fixed post that is located on the dock lift platform. This allows the dock attendant to operate the dock lift right from the platform and ride up and down the platform with the load.
There are many variations of this basic platform-installed design available:
- The push button station can be fixed to the post.
- The push button can be fixed to the post with a keyed lockout, restricting usage.
- The push button can be attached to the post with a quick disconnect plug, allowing the controls to be removed and stored in a secured location.
The last two options restrict the operation of the dock lift to authorized personnel only.
Dual Wall-Mount Controls
Dock lifts that are used to move product between two floor levels are often equipped with dual wall-mount controls:
- One set of wall-mount controls is installed at the upper level.
- A second set of wall-mount controls is installed at the lower level.
Dual wall-mount controls permit the attendant to operate or call the lift table from either the top level or the bottom level.
All dock lifts supplied with dual controls have an additional safety feature: both control stations are automatically equipped with an emergency E-Stop button. During operation, should the attendant notice anything unusual about the cycling dock lift, the platform movement can be stopped quickly from either level by activating the EStop button.