2500# Capacity Lift Gate?
- Thread starter jjoerger
- Start date
tknight
Veteran Expediter
Mine is a Macon 2500 with the tapered tail much better than the standard tail end with the 45degree angle end nightmare works fine if there is no dock an they have no forklift they don't deserve freight of anything heavy in my opinion 2500 works for me on another note I have a standard pallet jack as well anyone want to trade for a skinny one the full siE sux on liftgates by yourself it's dangerous!
Tk
Tk
i HAVE A 4500 # GATE. yes it's more stable with 2 cylinders. ask yourself this-do you realy want to work that hard? pushing 4000 lbs around is not fun. I had a 2500# on first truck-wish I had it back-why? because I am older now, I don't want to bust my butt resteling the freight . and as for pallet jack-i want a skinny-short fork one too. my liftgate cost 9 grand-go with the 2500-save your back
zorry
Veteran Expediter
Pallet is generally 40x48. The bigger the platform the better. You'd be surprised how small a 60" platform is as you are trying to manuver a pallet,a p j, and an ow driver.
If your going to go with a gate I wouldn't get too thrifty. Too small and you can hurt yourself.
My first gate was small and I had 8 pallets @ 900# each.
Imagine falling off the gate and maybe having frt come with you !
Tape off a gate size on your floor. Now load pallets to your imaginery back door. Pull pallets off onto imaginery gate. The first two will be the hardest. If your body hits the wall then you may have been off the gate.
You can have a 3500# gate and that doesn't mean you have to handle 3500# pieces. I look carefully at average piece wt when picking gate loads.
Still can get 6 pcs/5400 lbs and pu 5 @ 200#/1@4400#
If your going to go with a gate I wouldn't get too thrifty. Too small and you can hurt yourself.
My first gate was small and I had 8 pallets @ 900# each.
Imagine falling off the gate and maybe having frt come with you !
Tape off a gate size on your floor. Now load pallets to your imaginery back door. Pull pallets off onto imaginery gate. The first two will be the hardest. If your body hits the wall then you may have been off the gate.
You can have a 3500# gate and that doesn't mean you have to handle 3500# pieces. I look carefully at average piece wt when picking gate loads.
Still can get 6 pcs/5400 lbs and pu 5 @ 200#/1@4400#
zorry
Veteran Expediter
Another thing to look for is a constant level gate. A cheesy gate will tilt at the lower end of the ride and wheeled cases or tanks will want to take off on you.
Alum platform will be much easier on your back. Being a muscle bound rancher, this may not be an issue.
Alum also won't require semi-annual scraping and painting.
Alum platform will be much easier on your back. Being a muscle bound rancher, this may not be an issue.
Alum also won't require semi-annual scraping and painting.
We were thinking about getting a second pallet jack to go with the gate. We have a standard wide blade and were thinking of getting a narrow short blade. That way we could have one on the ground and one in the truck and just load or unload straight in without having to worry about getting the jack and pallet onto the platform.
You want your lift gate platform to be at least big enough to handle a 48x48 pallet. You would then wheel the pallet out of the truck onto the lift gate (or off the ground onto the lift gate), remove the pallet jack and park it along side of the pallet for the trip up or down. Or simply wheel the pallet onto the liftgate and turn it so the jack and skid both fit. Two pallet jacks are not needed. Even restaurant supply delivery people who use pallet jacks and lift gates all day long carry only one pallet jack.
A bigger platform is better. Ours is 86" wide and 63" deep. That's big enough to put two pallets side by side while leaving the pallet jack under one of the pallets for the ride up or down. Bigger is better and safer. The more room you have to work on the platform, the easier it is to maneuver the pallet jack and freight. We've driven trucks with bigger platforms than what we have now and would not want to go smaller than 86x63.
Capacity of 2,500 lbs. is the minimum. Most of the skids or pieces of equipment we move around are 2,000 lbs. or less. But if you want to put two 2k skids or a heavy piece of equipment on the gate, you need capacity of 4,000 or greater. Ours is 4,500 and we have never needed more.
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zorry
Veteran Expediter
I like the two pallet jack idea only if weight and space are not a problem. If I can stay empty long enough I plan on picking up an adjustable pallet jack.
You can have the forks narrow or wide and only have to deal with one jack.
My coe had a ramp off a sandfoot of the dollies. If loaded fully I could straddle the dollie legs,crank them up,and pad lock the pj outside under the vehicle.
It's always better to have it accessible when loaded.
You can have the forks narrow or wide and only have to deal with one jack.
My coe had a ramp off a sandfoot of the dollies. If loaded fully I could straddle the dollie legs,crank them up,and pad lock the pj outside under the vehicle.
It's always better to have it accessible when loaded.
Get the largest platform you can find. Better to have room to spare than to fall off the side or back. Also, the best gates have flaps that flip up near the back edge so you can't roll the jack off the back end even if it gets away from you a little bit. That feature more than anything else is most important in my opinion. YMMV.
We decided to go with a new Anthony 2500 pound capacity and a 50 x 80 inch platform.
It will be installed by Mickey Truck Bodies in Ocala, FL when we come home for the 4th of July holiday.
The price was only $4100 installed, ($1100 more than a used one) and comes with a 2 year warranty.
It will be installed by Mickey Truck Bodies in Ocala, FL when we come home for the 4th of July holiday.
The price was only $4100 installed, ($1100 more than a used one) and comes with a 2 year warranty.
Agreed. Cart stops are an essential lift gate feature, especially in expedite where high-value and sometimes top-heavy items are often on the liftgate. Our remote control is not wireless but that too is essential. It enables the operator to be close to the freight when the lift gate is being used, instead of being wherever the up/down control is.
If you are ordering new, and cart stops are available, spend the money and get the cart stops. One of the things that make them so good is that they can be operated with your foot.
Example: You are wheeling a tall, heavy computer server onto the lift gate. When the gate is fully lowered, the leading edge meets the ground and the gate slopes slightly upward. You push the server onto the gate and while holding it place use your foot to deploy the cart stop. Once it is flipped up, you let the server coast back against the stop. The lift gate will level off soon after it starts to rise.
A built-in cart stop will be much easier, quicker and safer to use than a load bar that would have to be put in position after the server is on the gate.