Four Post Lift
A four post lift is a mechanical lifting system which relies on 4 posts to lift a piece of equipment or a vehicle to a specified height in order to perform work on a product. A 4-post lift is a versatile piece of material handling equipment that can be used in multiple industries for various purposes.
Many MRO plants include four post lifts in their facilities to easily and ergonomically perform repairs and maintenance on vehicles like forklifts and trucks. For example, they are popular in the commercial auto repair sector but are found in every industry. Four post lifts boast stability and strength for their robust design. Stability means a higher load capacity and safer operation.
Additionally, assembly and manufacturing facilities also employ 4 post lifts extensively in their work cells to precisely position products and equipment during the assembly process.
The 4 post lift can be used in a variety of roles. Perhaps its best-known usage is as a four post car lift. These units are a great option for maintenance and repair work on any vehicle ranging from motorcycles to RVs to tractor-trailers. In this capacity, a four post lift would include a ramp for easy loading and unloading.
Another widespread use of the 4 post lift includes the assembly and manufacturing industries where the lift suspends a piece of equipment, like, for example, an aero engine, as it goes through its assembly processes. In this example, the engine would be moved from work cell to work cell via an automated guided vehicle, and the four post lift would elevate the engine with specialized tooling for the technicians to work on it.
This same example is seen in the power generation manufacturing of diesel engines, where the massive engine is supported by a rotating assembly hanging from the four post lift. In this capacity, technicians can control the rotation to reach any part of the engine for assembly purposes. The energy industry also uses 4 post lifts to assemble turbines vertically.
Four post lifts also include personnel lifts that bring technicians to heights required to meet their tasks. These lifts can be found in nuclear power plants and are built large enough to take on parts and products for change-out processes.
4 post lifts are also used in the insurance industry as moveable ceilings for fire testing and other high-risk scenarios that require a resilient platform for testing insurable materials and test heights for sprinkler systems.
Rail assembly is another industry which uses 4 post lifts extensively in the testing and assembly of railcar bogies – also called wheelsets or trucks. In these facilities, 4 post lifts must be built to stand the rigours of heavy industry and stand up to the stresses of an extreme working environment.
Theatre four post lifts are a staple in the industry to elevate people and props on stage. There can be one or several per stage, usually built to conform to a particular play or musical.
For more on what a Handling Specialty, custom 4 post lift can do for your operation, contact our sales manager.
