News

Since it was first designed in 1905 the 55-gallon steel has become an essential tool of industry.  Every year tens of millions of new drums are produced for use in the manufacturing and shipping of products from a wide range of industries including chemicals, paint, fuel, food, pharmaceuticals, and hazardous waste.  New empty steel drums arrive to manufacturers in trailers stacked two or three high ready to be unloaded.  Despite the potential for injuries, unloading these drums has historically been done manually as there has not been a safe and efficient method for unloading empty drums.  Many of our customers have requested a better solution for unloading double and triple stacked empty steel drums to eliminate the injuries associated with completing this essential task.  Due to your previous interest in our Empty Drum Stacker we wanted to reach out to share some exciting news.

We are pleased to announce the newest addition to our trusted line of Eagle-Grip drum handling attachments as the safest and most efficient solution for this job; our Empty Drum Handling Attachment – Model EG4MDC2-F.  Unlike our other attachments which handle full drums by clamping the chime of the drum, this new line of attachments uses electrically activated magnets to magnetically grip, lift and release the drums.   You can check out the unit in action here: Eagle-Grip® Magnetic Empty Drum Handling Attachment.

These magnets have been programmed to use a key fob to allow the lift truck operator to remotely activate and deactivate the magnets.  A series of LED lights positioned at the top of the DC cabinet lets the operator know when the magnets are energized or de-energized allowing them to safely and confidently grip and release the drums as needed. Each drum is held by two independent magnets inside of stainless-steel housings which articulate to aid the operator in positioning the magnets against the empty drum.  The stainless housings are supported by springs which act as shock absorbers allowing the housings to flex down should the operator contact the drum too hard.  This reduces potential damage to the drum while the lower third of the drum is supported by a composite belt.

The magnets are powered by two large 210 amp hour AGM batteries providing enough power to unload several trailers of triple stacked drums between charges.  The DC cabinet also houses an on-board 120-volt automatic battery charger, DC converter, master disconnect switch and battery discharge indicator.  An OSHA provided safety chain is provided to secure the attachment to forklift.  The forklift used in this video has a three-stage mast with full free lift and does not have a load back rest.  This may be required to prevent the operator from contacting the roof of the trailer when using this attachment to unload drums that have been triple stacked. The model shown in this video can handle one or two drums at a time. We offer a 30-day trial toward purchase program which allows the customer to evaluate the attachment before making the final purchase.

Please Contact Us to learn more about this exciting new product.