Pretty much everyone who works on a shop floor knows about dump hoppers. They are those containers sitting around the floor waiting for workers to dispose of scrap and other waste. Occasionally a forklift driver comes along and empties it. That doesn’t sound very romantic, but a self dumping hopper is capable of so much more than just being used as a forklift dumpster. Here are seven reasons why you might just come to love them.
A Wide Variety of Sizes Available
A metal hopper can be as small as 0.5 cubic yard or as large as 5 cubic yards, with load capacities of 2,000 lbs. to 8,000 lbs. They also come in a variety of dimensions.
Sturdy Steel Construction
The hopper section is welded and reinforced 3/16” steel plate. For safety purposes, there are no rough areas due to the smooth rounding of all edges. Optional swivel casters and a handle are available to allow the hopper to be maneuvered in and out of tight places or manually pushed to the location where it is to be dumped. It is painted bright yellow so that it is easy to locate on the shop floor.
Can Be Used for Recycling
The days of just throwing things away are behind us. Today it’s all about recycling. In the workplace, recyclables often need to be separated into categories – paper, corrugated, steel, aluminum, electronics, etc. Recycling should be made as easy as possible for the employees.
Having separate hoppers for each type of recyclable can simplify the recycling effort and make it more efficient and cost effective. Hoppers can be placed where they will see the most activity. For example, corrugated recycling hoppers might be positioned in shipping and receiving, where most of the corrugated waste is likely to be generated.
Movable
Bins, shelves and racks are typical places to stock piece-inventory, but they are useless for bulk items like powders, granules and pellets. Enter the self dumping hopper. Unlike parts that need to be picked in the stockroom, these self dumping bins can be moved to the point of use and dumped (or left) and then refilled and returned to storage. When the hopper is going to be used for a different material, the dumping feature makes cleanup easy.
Safe
Safety is always an important issue for business. Even when safety protocols are followed, the shop floor can be a dangerous place. Self dumping hoppers make the operator’s job as safe as possible. Pull a release lever to dump a load, and the hopper returns to its locked position.
Available Drain Holes
Unless material needs to be wet, water adds unnecessary weight and instability to the hopper. This extra weight can be eliminated by requesting one or more of the optional ¼-inch drain holes. This could be a good feature in commercial laundries, food processing plants and other applications where washing is part of the process or water accumulation is undesirable.
Customizable
We have a wide variety of specialty self dumping hoppers available. For each model, there are differing dimensions, volume and capacity offered. We also have options that allow you to customize your hopper.
We Are Ready To Help
Contact us with your requirements or questions. We at Rourah Material Handling are ready to help.