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Hydraulic Drum Rotator with Weigh Scales

Hydraulic drum rotator with integrated vibration unit. A weigh scale system allows the recording of drum weights during decanting.

Customer requirements

Our customer was interested in a fully-powered drum handler to increase manufacturing efficiency in their zone 1 ATEX area. Their process involved the decanting of drums of all types and sizes from 50 to 220 litres. Operators are required to lift and empty drums onto a processing line, this task is difficult, slow and potentially unsafe without the correct equipment.

Key functionality required:


  • lift 20-275kg steel, plastic and cardboard drums;
  • handle drums of 450-840mm in height and 350-500mm diameter;
  • tipping height required 880mm;
  • ability to weigh drums;
  • ATEX compliant unit.


Power clamp head for handling all drum types.
Integrated vibration unit.

Integrated vibration unit

Our customer handles a wide range of materials, some of which don't flow easily. We designed the unit with this in mind and fitted a vibration unit to the head assembly to help displace the material and make it easier to decant. The vibration attachment hooks onto the top lip of the drum and can be controlled via a switch on the rear control panel.

ATEX power-drive control system

Our pneumatic power-drive system enables the unit to be moved simply by controlling a throttle control on the steering tiller; this is ideal when a large number of drums need to be moved over long distances. As the unit is air-powered an airline hose must be connected to the unit at all times to power the pneumatic drive system.

The pneumatic-hydraulic power drive system is controlled via an easy to use stainless steel tiller.
Rubber gripping pads adjust to the contour of different drum sizes.

Powered clamp and rotation

The powered arms offer a faster operation compared with traditional manual drum tippers which are beneficial to those customers with busy time-critical processes. Three levers on the rear panel control the lift, clamp and rotation respectively. The unit was fitted with a safety system to prevent drums from being unclamped at height.

ATEX load cell weighing system

Weigh scales are a great feature to add if you have a requirement for recording or measuring material weights. Our customer required the ability to be able to record and document the weight of material during decanting so we fitted the unit with an ATEX load cell. A large shear-beam load cell (rated at 2000kg) was fitted to ensure that the system was robust. The unit made use of a stainless steel digital load cell indicator box with a hot mate plug. The system has an accuracy of +/- 0.1kg.

We ensure our drum tippers have as much forward-tipping reach as possible.
ATEX Pneumatic-Powered Drum Tipper (Model: STP05-RRH01-LC-Ex)
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Drum Rotators / Tippers

Tipping drums is an essential part of many industrial processes. Our drum rotators provide a safe way to lift and tip various drum types and sizes, and we can customise each rotator to suit your exact needs.

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If you need a custom manual handling solution, we can design and manufacture the right piece of equipment to meet your specific requirements. Talk to us to find out how we can help you.