what is a scissor lift table?

what is a scissor lift table? Well, you can use it to reach materials or objects at a height or lifting loads and heavy goods. It can help protect your back during the safe movement of bulky or heavy items. With a scissor lift, the entire lifting mechanism is contained beneath the lift platform or table, providing lifting capability with a minimal footprint.

A scissor lifts power comes from hydraulic cylinders. This provides abundant force to raise the load on the platform. The “scissors” are crossing struts with hinge pins in the middle and at the ends. These provide stability for the platform during lifting and lowering process. Shafts between the struts keep the two sets of scissors separated at a fixed distance, preventing sideways collapse. Depending on the lifting height, a single pair of scissors may be used or multiple pairs that are stacked one above the other.

Selecting a Scissor Lift Table

More than anything, hydraulic scissor lifts are selected based on their intended use. This use will determine the capacity and style of the lift, along with the quality level required and any optional features which might be needed.

Before shopping for a scissor lift table, it is important to fully examine and analyze the intended use for it. In this process, a list of minimum specifications should be developed, which will be used in the process of qualifying or eliminating contenders from the selection process.

Some of the characteristics which must be considered include:

Mobility

Decide whether the scissor lift is going to be used in a fixed location, such as to hold up an assembly on a production line, or if it needs to be mobile, such as for maintenance or construction.

Load Capacity

Decide how much weight the stationary scissor lift will need to handle. The limiting factor is usually the size of the hydraulic cylinders. The struts will be designed with a safety factor (to carry more weight than the hydraulics can lift).

Lifting Height

Figure the maximum height to which a load will need to be lifted. Lifts can be used to raise a load to only a portion of this height, without problem.

Folded Height

Figure out how tall the lift is in its folded state. When buying a lift for maintenance, it may need to be able to fit through a doorway. When used as a means of raising workpiece on an assembly line, the folded height must accommodate easy loading of the parts to be worked on.