How to Choose an Air Hoist from J.D. Neuhaus

Intro

– If you’re evaluating pneumatic hoists for your facility, you probably have some questions. What are the right specs for my application? What capacity do I actually need? Am I over spec’ing and overspending? Can my air supply even handle this unit? In this video, we’ll walk you through the key factors you need to consider so you can confidently choose the right air hoist for your facility.

J.D. Neuhaus Mini vs PROFI Series

My name is Ben. This is The Lifting & Rigging Channel, and today I am joined by Ben Mullins from J.D. Neuhaus. So if someone’s decided that an air hoist is right for them, what are some of the factors that they need to consider to decide what model is the right air hoist for them?

– Sure. We only have two series of hoists. So the mini series and our PROFI series. The mini series is only four capacities. It’s an 1/8 ton, a 1/4 ton, a 1/2 ton, and a 1 ton. So if you need anything beyond a capacity of a 1 ton, you’re automatically going to be in the PROFI series. PROFI series starts at 1/4 ton and caps out at about 100 tons. So capacity will drive that more than anything else as we mentioned.

What to Consider When Choosing an Air Hoist?

How high up do you need to go? So that’ll determine the length of chain, which will ultimately determine the size of the chain container. If it’s an environmental classification, if it’s something that needs to be say spark resistant over explosion proof, then you would need to automatically go to the PROFI because aluminum, which is what the mini is made of, is not a spark resistant material, so it’s not compliant. If something is spark resistant, it by definition will already be explosion proof. But if it’s explosion proof, it does not necessarily mean that something is spark resistant.

– What about headroom or anything like that? Do they need to consider that?

– Headroom is absolutely a consideration. Headroom like matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed, It can only be redistributed. So if you know that you’re potentially facing an issue where we might run out of room, we’ve got less than what is typically standard, we would certainly need to know about that ahead of time because we would probably steer you towards an actual low headroom specialty hoist.

What Makes an Air Hoist Food Grade?

– What about food grade? If someone needs a food grade hoist?

– Sure. So the food, we actually make a, what we call our Mini FG. So everything that the Mini’s available in, 1/8 ton, 1/4 ton, 1/2 ton, and 1 ton is available in what would be considered a food grade version. So what that means is it’s paint free and because this is an aluminum body, there’s no threat of corrosion. So no paint, no corrosion, no rust, no contaminants could potentially get into your food product. This chain bucket that you see here on the mini food grade is actually made from a stainless steel chain mail because it’s stainless NSF approved. It can’t collect bacteria or corrosion. Stainless steel chain, stainless steel lifting components. So what that means is the, the top hook, the load hook, the load sleeve or what would be considered a bottom block as well as the chain itself will all be stainless steel.

Air Supply Considerations for Air Hoists

– So do different hoists have different air supply requirements?

– All of our hoists have the exact same PSI requirements, whether you’re talking about an 1/8 ton or 100 tons and that’s going to be 85 PSI. Now, clearly the number that’s going to scale up and down depending on your capacity is going to be CFM. So

– What is CFM?

– CFM is not just the pressure of the air, it’s how much air is actually being delivered. The larger the capacity of the hoist, the more air is going to be required. So it’s important that customers understand that too when they’re talking about diameter of hose, that’s going to indicate how big the opening is, which is how much air can flow through that hose and, and feed whatever hoist that you’re using. OD or outer diameter is not nearly as important as inner diameter. Outer diameter just tells you how big around the circumference of the hose. Inner diameter tells you how much room is on the inside for air to fit.

Maintenance Considerations for Air Hoists

– Do the different hoists also have different maintenance requirements or are they all basically the same?

– They’re all basically the same and will all be dictated by, again, the amount of usage.

Control Options for J.D. Neuhaus Air Hoists

– So what else do you need to consider when shopping for an air hoist? Whether it’s mounting systems, control systems.

– What kind of control style do you like? You know, we have multiple styles. You know, you’re seeing what our, our S type pendant here. This is available on the mini and the PROFI series depending on the capacity. Our E series is an, is a solid brass pendant that only offers single speed, but that’s typically okay for the higher capacity because they move at such a slow speed. Variable speed doesn’t really weigh into things. Being solid brass makes it compliant with the spark resistant application, for example.

We have what’s considered what we call our F type, which is more your kind of traditional kind of power cord, it looks like. With your, your up, your down, your left and your right for your trolley. And then we even have additional buttons on that to control your crane system. So if you want to have a, a unit that allows you to do all four of those functions and still moves your crane forward and aft as well, we can certainly do that.

But our PROFI series, which you don’t see here today, also has a manual option. Maybe you don’t want a pendant that’s hanging down. Maybe you just need to operate what we call cord or rope control. And that just basically is achieved by having a valve on the side of the hoist and rope that’s come down just like a pendant link where an operator can just pull up or down on one side of it to operate manually. We see that’s very popular in the rental industry.

Mounting Options for J.D. Neuhaus Air Hoists

From a mounting option, certainly, you know, does it need to go into a trolley? Is that trolley going to need to be motorized? Does it need to be geared? Is it going to be manual? Are you just going to be push pull? Do you have an existing pick point to hang this from if you don’t need a trolley? Do you want it to swivel or do you want it to be static? These are all considerations about what do you want the hoist to actually do when it’s operating. And a lot of that will come naturally because it’ll be dictated by the environment.

At any point, if our customers are experiencing any difficulties or feel like you don’t know the answer to these questions or need little guidance, reach out to Mazzella for the help that you guys can offer because the customers have got enough going on, enough balls in the air at any given time. Please reach out to your local Mazzella distributor if you have any questions at all.

3 Things to Know Before You Inquire About an Air Hoist

– What are three things that they should know when they call so we can help them get the right hoist?

– Know the capacity that you need, know how much lift you want, and know how long you want your control to be. If you have those three components, those three fundamental components, we can kind of go anywhere from there.

Final Thoughts

– Now hopefully you have the information you need to select the perfect pneumatic hoist for your lifting application. But if you need some extra support, don’t worry. Mazzella’s experts can help walk you through your decision. Contact us through the link below. If you found this video useful, informative, entertaining, or you just feel like being friendly, hit that like button so we can get this information out to everyone who needs it. Subscribe so you never miss a video. Remember, safe rigging is smart rigging. My name’s Ben. Stay safe out there.