Handling Equipment
HERMEQ supplies handling equipment for moving materials across construction sites, warehouses and loading docks, from boxed deliveries to pipe, sheet and palletised loads. The range is built for regular site use, with welded steel frames, epoxy or powder-coated finishes and a choice of puncture-proof or pneumatic tyres for concrete floors and rough ground.
It covers sack trucks, stairclimbers, site material trolleys, hand and electric pallet trucks and crane and forklift lifting cages, with ratings up to 3 tonnes. The equipment is manufactured in the UK with in-house steel processing and held as permanent UK stock.
Sack trucks, site trolleys and pallet trucks
Sack trucks and sack barrows
Sack truck, sack barrow and hand truck are three names for the same thing: a two-wheel frame with a toe plate, tilted back to move boxes, crates, bags and appliances. The standard sack trucks come with fixed or folding toes, and the Trader Truck is a welded, more modern pattern for warehouse and site work. A splay back sack truck has a wide curved back that cradles bulky loads, and a loop handle sack truck gives a continuous grip for control from any angle on ramps and in tight turns.
Stairclimbing sack trucks
A star-wheel cluster on each side lets these trucks climb and descend steps under load, one step at a time. The stairclimbing sack truck is the heavier-duty choice, with locking star wheels on its heavy duty models. The folding stair climber truck is a lighter pattern for maintenance teams and contractors who carry it from job to job.
Platform, pallet and bundle trolleys
The platform trolley is a raised, steerable deck for heavy items loaded by hand. The folding pallet trolley moves pallets, bundles and tonne bags on swivel castors and keeps them off the ground, and the bundle trolley has a mesh base for large volumes of loose materials and site equipment.
Pipe, beam and sheet material trolleys
Long and flat materials each have a dedicated carrier in the range. The pipe trolley stores and moves pipe and ductwork under a cover that shields sharp ends, and the pipe cart takes long lengths of pipe and steel section on large solid wheels. For pipe in bulk, the mobile pipe rack is a storage rack that also moves. A beam cart carries a single steel beam, and the plasterboard and sheet material trolley moves plasterboard, timber and metal sheet around a building on swivel wheels.
Cable spool, transformer and drum carts
The cable spool cart carries several cable drums and pays out cable through anti-tangle bars, with lockable storage for hand tools. The transformer trolley lets one person move a site transformer on rubber protection pads. The electric drum cart carries 205 litre plastic and steel drums over slopes, grass and gravel.
Tilt trucks
A tilt truck is a wheeled steel tub for rubble and waste that tips forward to empty and has crane lifting eyes, so it also works as a crane tub. Choose one where waste is collected by hand on each floor. Larger volumes emptied by forklift belong in tipping skips.
Hand and electric pallet trucks
Pallet trucks, also called pallet jacks or pump trucks, lift a pallet clear of the floor on hydraulic forks so it can be pulled to where it is needed. The range runs from manual hand pallet trucks through low profile, long fork, weighing and high lift scissor models to electric and semi-electric trucks, all covered in full on the pallet trucks page.
Forklift and crane lifting cages
Lifting cages carry goods, tools and equipment between levels by crane or forklift. The forklift and crane lifting cage is a sheet steel crate with full-width doors and steel deadbolts that also stores equipment securely on site. The goods carrying cage has crane lifting lugs and forklift pockets, with ramp versions for wheeling loads in, and the IBC lifting cage houses an IBC for lifting by its corner eyes. Lifting gear for the lift itself is in lifting and lashing accessories.
Sack truck or platform trolley
A two-wheel sack truck moves upright loads that stack and balance on the toe plate. The operator tilts the frame back and carries part of the weight through the handles, which suits tight corridors, lorry tail lifts and loading docks, where a narrow frame turns in little space. A four-wheel platform trolley carries the load flat on its deck, so none of the weight falls on the operator, and it takes heavier, longer or less stable loads that would shift or topple when tilted. Where both kinds of load turn up on the same job, the 3 in 1 sack truck covers both in one frame, working upright as a sack truck, inclined on its support wheels for longer items, or lowered flat as a four-wheel platform truck.
Site handling equipment for fit-out and upper floors
Building sites and fit-out
On site, the material decides the equipment, along with the distance between the delivery point and the work face. Sheet, pipe and beam trolleys let dryliners, carpenters and pipe fitters take a full load from the compound to the floor where it is fitted, so materials are not carried by hand piece by piece.
Multi-storey buildings and refurbishment
Loads reach upper floors in one of two ways, and the site decides which. In an occupied building, or one with no working lift, stairclimbing sack trucks take boxed goods up the stairs one load at a time. Where a crane or telehandler is on site, a tilt truck, lifting cage or goods carrying cage goes up the outside of the building in a single lift and lands at a loading platform on the floor where it is needed.
Load capacity, tyres and storage
Load capacity
Start from the heaviest single load the equipment will carry and choose the class above it, because a rating is a ceiling for normal use. Across the range, sack trucks and stairclimbers carry boxed and bagged goods, four-wheel site trolleys take the heavier loose and long materials, pallet trucks carry pallets up to 2500kg, and goods carrying cages are rated to 3 tonnes for loads lifted by crane or forklift.
Solid or pneumatic tyres
Solid and puncture-proof rubber tyres roll easily on warehouse floors and concrete and cannot go flat on sites littered with screws and rebar offcuts. Pneumatic tyres absorb shock over rough ground, gravel and kerbs and give fragile loads a smoother ride, and they need their pressures kept up. Several sack trucks come with either, so match the tyre to the surface the truck spends most of its time on.
Folding, stacking and storage
The pipe trolley, bundle trolley and mobile pipe rack fold down and stack, the folding pallet trolley folds to a narrow footprint, tilt trucks stack on one another, and the folding version of the stair climber truck folds flat for a van.
Finish for damp and outdoor use
Most of the range is steel finished in epoxy or powder coating, which suits warehouses, covered sites and general outdoor work. For washdown and hygienic areas, stainless steel versions of the standard sack truck and a stainless steel pallet truck resist corrosion, and a hot dip galvanised pallet truck suits damp yards and wet environments. HERMEQ powder coats in-house.
Popular Categories
Tipping Skips
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Forklift Attachments
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Lifting Equipment
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Frequently Asked Questions
What do SWL, WLL and UDL mean on a load rating?
Working load limit (WLL) is the maximum load the manufacturer rates the equipment to carry or lift in normal use. Safe working load (SWL) is the older term for the same limit, although a competent person can set an SWL lower for a particular job. UDL means uniformly distributed load: the rating assumes the weight is spread evenly across the deck or floor, so a load concentrated at one point or one end should be kept well below the figure.
Can a sack truck move a pallet?
A sack truck is built for loads that sit on its toe plate, and a pallet needs forks or a flat deck beneath it. A hand pallet truck lifts and moves pallets on smooth floors, and the folding pallet trolley carries them around a site. Pallet trucks with long or low profile forks cover non-standard and low pallets.
Will site trolleys fit through doorways and goods lifts?
Measure the narrowest point on the route, usually an internal door, a corridor turn or the goods lift car, and compare it with the overall width on the product page, leaving room for hands on the handles. The folding pallet trolley and the sheet material trolley are built to pass through doorways and round corners on swivel wheels.
Which handling equipment is battery powered?
Most of the range is manual: sack trucks, stairclimbers, site trolleys, cages and hand pallet trucks are pushed, pulled or pumped by hand. The battery powered equipment is the electric drum cart and the electric, semi-electric, electric UDL and electric scissor lift pallet trucks. The semi-electric pallet truck can also be worked manually when its battery runs low.
What is mechanical handling equipment?
Mechanical handling equipment, often shortened to MHE, is the trade term for equipment that moves, lifts or stores goods and materials, from sack trucks and trolleys to pallet trucks and lifting cages. Manual handling equipment is the part of that group worked by hand, and it takes the lifting and carrying off the operator.