Industrial lift tables are often installed as permanent pieces of material handling equipment. When a lift will remain at the same workstation, a fixed installation makes sense. But manufacturing facilities, warehouses and assembly areas do not always stay the same. Production lines change, workstations are reorganized, and equipment may need to be repositioned as processes evolve.
This raises a common question: Can you move a hydraulic lift table?
The answer depends on how the lift table is configured.
A fixed lift table is intended to remain in its designated operating location. Portable configurations, however, provide a means of manually relocating the lift table when required.
It is important to understand that portable does not necessarily mean easy to push.
Industrial lift tables can be substantial pieces of equipment, and their weight increases as capacity and platform size increase. The weight of the equipment itself, combined with the weight of the material being handled, can make manual movement impractical. Depending on the application, a toe bar, forklift or other suitable means may be required to reposition the equipment.
Pentalift’s portable lift table options are designed around manual mobility rather than motorized travel. The appropriate configuration therefore depends not only on whether the lift needs to be relocated, but also on the equipment’s weight, intended load, frequency of movement and how the equipment will actually be moved.
The goal of portability is not necessarily to make a lift table easy to push around a facility. Instead, it provides a practical means of repositioning the equipment when the application requires greater workspace flexibility.
What Does “Portable” Mean for a Lift Table?
The term portable can mean different things depending on the equipment and application. For an industrial lift table, portability should not automatically be interpreted as meaning that the equipment is lightweight or can be easily pushed from one location to another.
Instead, portability refers to the lift table having provisions that allow it to be relocated from its normal operating position.
This is particularly important with industrial lift tables because the equipment itself can be heavy. A lift table designed to handle several thousand pounds may have substantial structural components, scissor assemblies and hydraulic equipment. Its own weight must be considered before determining how practical it will be to move.
The intended method of movement should therefore be considered as part of the lift table selection process. Depending on the configuration and weight, a lift may be manually repositioned using its mobility provisions, while heavier equipment may require assistance from a toe bar, forklift or another suitable means.
In other words:
Portability describes the ability to relocate the lift table. It does not necessarily describe how easy the lift table is to move.
Portable Does Not Necessarily Mean Easy to Push
One of the most important considerations when specifying a portable lift table is the actual effort required to move it.
A lift table’s capacity refers to the load it is designed to handle. It does not represent the weight of the equipment itself. A higher-capacity lift table can be a substantial piece of machinery even before material is placed on the platform.
When the weight of the lift table and the load are considered together, manually pushing the equipment may not be practical.
For example, a smaller portable lift used for relatively light material may be reasonably easy to reposition manually. A larger, higher-capacity lift may require considerably more effort and may need a toe bar, forklift or other suitable method to assist with relocation.
Floor conditions can also affect how easily equipment can be moved. Floor surface, transitions, slopes and obstructions should all be considered when determining whether manual movement is practical.
For this reason, the word “portable” should never be used as the only consideration when evaluating lift table mobility. The equipment’s weight, load, dimensions, frequency of movement and intended method of relocation should all be reviewed.
Can you Move a Hydraulic Lift Table While It Is Loaded?
Whether a lift table can be moved while loaded depends on the specific configuration.
Pentalift’s Semi-Portable option is intended for relocating the lift table when it is unloaded and fully lowered. It should not be moved while carrying a load.
This distinction is important because semi-portability is intended to provide workspace flexibility rather than turn the lift table into material transportation equipment.
Portable configurations may have different operating capabilities. The application should therefore be reviewed to determine whether the requirement is simply to occasionally reposition an unloaded lift or whether the equipment must actually move material from one location to another.
If loads need to be regularly transported between workstations, a lift table designed specifically for that purpose may be more appropriate than a standard Portable configuration. Remember, portable does not necessarily mean easy to push.
When Does a Portable Lift Table make Sense?
Portability can be particularly useful when the same equipment needs to serve changing work areas.
Consider a facility with several production stations that do not require a lift table at every location simultaneously. Rather than permanently installing a dedicated lift at each workstation, a portable or semi-portable configuration may allow equipment to be repositioned as production requirements change.
Portability can also be useful when:
- Production layouts are periodically changed.
- Workstations are shared between different processes.
- Equipment needs to be temporarily repositioned.
- Access around or beneath a workstation is required for cleaning.
- A lift table needs to be moved out of the way during maintenance or facility changes.
The frequency of movement is an important consideration. A lift that is moved once every few months has very different mobility requirements from equipment that is repositioned several times a day.
Choosing the Right Lift Table Configuration
Before choosing between a fixed, semi-portable or portable hydraulic lift tables, consider more than capacity and platform dimensions.
Ask:
- Will the lift remain at one workstation throughout its service life?
- How frequently will it need to be relocated?
- Will it be moved unloaded or while carrying a load?
- How much does the lift table itself weigh?
- What is the maximum load being handled?
- How will the lift actually be moved?
- Are the floor conditions suitable for manual movement?
- Will a toe bar, forklift or other assistance be required due to the overall weight?
- Is the load evenly distributed across the platform?
- Is the equipment intended to reposition itself, or is the real requirement to transport material?
These questions help distinguish between a lift table that simply needs occasional repositioning and equipment that requires a more mobile material handling solution.
Pentalift offers fixed, semi-portable and portable lift table configurations for different material handling requirements. The appropriate configuration depends on the application, load, equipment size, frequency of movement and intended method of relocation.
For applications where occasional relocation is valuable, a semi-portable or portable configuration can add workspace flexibility without requiring the lift table to function as dedicated transport equipment.
The right solution is not necessarily the lift table that is easiest to push. It is the configuration that provides the appropriate level of mobility for the application while accounting for the actual weight and operating requirements of the equipment.