Gorbel G-Force Lightens Cylinder Lifting

As business grew for hydraulic cylinder manufacturer Best Metal Products, so did the size of their product. “We were regularly making cylinders that were topping out at around 600 pounds,” said Matt Malfroid, quality & training superviser for Best Metal Products. “Now we expanded our product offering to include cylinders that are 8 to 10 feet long, and they weigh more than 1,000 pounds.”

With cylinders that nearly doubled in size, multiple people were lifting them by hand. This caused back injuries and strained shoulders to become commonplace.

To overcome this, Best Metal Products purchased a 1,320-pound capacity Gorbel G-Force Q model with Float Mode and a high-capacity magnet to grip parts. The G-Force was installed onto an existing Gorbel work station crane with a 2,000-pound capacity aluminum bridge.

Management was very pleased with how quickly workers adapted to the G-Force. The employees were also very happy with the unit, which now allows any operator the ability to lift even the heaviest cylinder.  “Control is the big thing,” said one operator. “Once I lock onto the part with the magnet, I can lift it, rotate it or put it in float mode to position it onto the clamp exactly where it needs to be.”