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Heavy Lifting Equipment |machine moving equipment | air skates | Hovair Systems

Heavy Lifting Equipment | Heavy Machine Moving

In today's material handling industry, loads and machines of varying sizes, shapes and weights are always on the go, usually within company premises from the production shop to loading bays or other locations.

Here is a Caterpillar machine that is about to be loaded on top of air skates. Here is the Caterpillar machine that is now being moved by Hovair Systems heavy lifting equipment.

A Caterpillar Machine in Waiting

Caterpillar Machine on the Move

The big boys such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar, Nissan, Hewlett Packard, Northrop Grumman and other aerospace giants have already discovered one of the easiest and cost-effective ways of lifting and moving their heavy loads. Their heavy lifting equipment of choice is usually air powered heavy lifting equipment from Hovair Systems. Above shows a Caterpillar Heavy Machine being moved to another location.

Air powered (pneumatic) heavy lifting equipment can lift and move virtually any machine of heavy load that is thrown at it. With the capacity to lift and move loads up to 100 tons, Hovair Systems heavy lifting equipment is fast becoming the tool of choice.

When it comes to lifting and moving heavy objects and machines, there is little to compete with modern air skates heavy lifting equipment. Air skates lifting equipment is available in sets of four or six air skate load modules. The only power source needed is compressed air which most industrial locations have in-house to power other tools. Using only compressed air (pneumatic), air skates lifting equipment can produce tremendous lifting power to handle the largest and most awkward heavy objects and machines.

Air Skates - also known as air casters, air cushions and air sleds - can easily outperform any forklift or overhead crane in most indoor locations. With weight capacities starting at 1000 pounds, they can range right up to 100 tons and all points in between.

The versatility of air skates lifting equipment casters allows them to be placed in strategic positions beneath the machines or heavy loads they are moving. This helps to take care of any uneven load distribution properties of the machine.

Air powered lifting equipment is very versatile in as much as its air skates are not required to have a fixed position underneath the machines they are moving. The great benefit to this is that you can move a machine that has differing weight proportions. For instance, one side may weight several tons more than the other side, and with the versatility of the air casters, they can be placed at the correct places beneath a machine to allow support under the machine in the correct places. You can use any number of air skates beneath many locations of the machine you are going to move.

Here is a typical footprint set up of a Hovair Systems heavy lifting equipment system.Below right, is a diagram of a typical four-station machine moving layout. These air skate positions can be altered to suit the weight of the machine they are going to use. Using as many air skate modules as you need, you can place them in different locations beneath the machine to suit the properties of that machine. There is very little that is beyond these tremendous load moving tools.

Air skates are used in series of four or six and assembled into complete air skate machine and lifting equipment via air line hoses, valves, tee-pieces and other hardware. See below, right.

This form of load moving is known as air film technology.

Please see the links below for more information on air bearings, air casters and machine moving equipment.

More About Air Bearings

Air Casters

Air Caster Load Moving Products

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