Manual Chain Hoists, commonly known as 'Chain Pulleys' and 'Chain Blocks' provide a lightweight manually operated industrial hoisting solution and are often utilised in factories, warehouses and remote areas where power is not accessible. Manual Chain Pulleys are great for precision lifting and can be supplied with an array of specification options to suit a wide variety of specialist applications and the harshest environments from clean rooms to offshore wind farms.

What You Need To Know About Manual Chain Hoists

In order to purchase your first manual chain hoist or chain pulley, you'll need to know a few small pieces of information (unless your application is off-standard) such as the following:

• Capacity: this is the maximum weight that the hoist can lift, for example, if you need to lift 1.25t you'll need our 1.5t capacity chain block
• Height of Lift: choose a custom lifting height of any of our blocks, standard heights begin at 10ft
• Suspension Type: normally Chain Pulleys are supplied along with a top hook for suspending, however, some applications demand a girder trolley or beam clamp for stationary or active horizontal traverse along a girder beam. We supply the full range of accompanying suspension types as well as those with integrated suspensions such as the Yale ITP Integral Trolley Hoist that features many benefits such as an additional closed height saving compared to separate components
• Chain Bag- do you really need one? That answer isn't always yes. But a lot of the time it is. As you operate a chain block by pulling on the hand chain, this then raises or lowers the load hook. As the load hook raises the chain travels into the block, around the sprocket and out the other side, this then dangles down and can hit the load or even the operator and therefore we always recommend the solution to this problem- a chain bag. Chain bags clip to the underside of the hoist body and store all that excess load chain as it leaves the hoist, they also make storage of chain block much easier and neater.

Special Applications and Unique Designs

LES go beyond supplying just standardised hoists from great manufacturers, we supply a range of unique (and in some cases patented) designs from industry leading manufacturers to meet the demanding requirements of some special applications such as:

Offshore (Including ROV): harsh and corrosive environments and constant exposure to salt requires a robust anti-corrosion design and in some cases stainless steel chains to avoid unnecessary repairs and replacements, standard manual chain hoists simply cannot survive in these conditions.

Theatre and Entertainment : dark and discreet calls for totally blacked out chain hoists including black load chains, hand chains and hooks. In entertainment applications, chain bags are almost essential.

Food and Cleanroom: if industrial equipment is to be used around food and in 'clean-room' environments then precautions must be taken. Food-safe lubrication, stainless steel components and special finishes ensure the cleanest and safest hoists for use in food production and pharmaceutical environments.

ATEX/Spark-Resistant : in applications where the environment is potentially explosive if exposed to sparks it is important to protect against absolutely any and all risks of ignition, this includes manually operated chain hoists. Bronze load hooks, stainless chains and many other spark-resistant/ATEX modifications are made to meet the required standard.