SAFETY Part 2 of 5 - What do Lifting Injuries Cost?

Posted by Contributing Editor on Mon, Jul 15, 2013

The U.S. Department of Labor quotes an average of $29,000.00

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Tags: powered dolly, ergonomic strategy, hand truck, powermate, safety moving system, safety moving systems

SAFETY Part 1 of 5 - Independent Ergonomic Report on PowerMate®

Posted by Contributing Editor on Mon, Jul 08, 2013

The PowerMate® Ergonomic Advantage (Excerpts from the Stuart Report):                                                                                                           

“Industry estimates suggest that 75%, or more, of workplace injuries are back related. The medical bills and loss time from work costs U.S. industries $20 billion annually. Investing in ways to mitigate these costs and reduce absenteeism is more than an ideal, it’s an economic necessity!

The world’s leading manufacturers recognize the economic benefits to be realized in sustaining a healthy workforce and therefore commit substantial resources into ergonomics. Consequently, the emphasis on ergonomics has become a paramount concern for every company worldwide.

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Tags: powered dolly, ergonomic strategy, hand truck, powermate, safety moving system, safety moving systems

Making A/C Season Easier for Everyone

Posted by Contributing Editor on Wed, Jun 26, 2013

Summer is here, which means barbeques, beach days, and homes being made comfortable by air conditioning. At this time of year, there will be many people doing switch outs on both commercial and residential HVAC systems, water heaters, and more. Whether for commercial or residential needs, the right tools are available for the job.

AC Units                               

One of the best products to use for air conditioning units is the LE-1, which moves loads up to 700 lbs (also ideal for water heaters and smaller package boilers). Its unique design includes a moving toe plate and zero weight on the hand grips, for minimal effort. It comes with hand-operated wheel brakes and a dual drive screw design, allowing for loads to be raised and placed onto surfaces.  The design of this model also allows for installation of wall or pedestal mounted AC units. Finally, it has an option of a rough terrain cart, which allows for easy installation over longer, more taxing distances.

Water Heaters

The biggest challenge when switching out water heaters is not getting the new one in, but actually taking the old one out. For residential systems, our L-1 model, which a rated capacity up to 650 lbs, is the ideal choice. For commercial systems, the M-2B steel, heavy duty stair climber has a rated capacity up to 1,500 lbs and features eight inches of extra height, accommodating taller loads. This makes it perfect not only for water heaters, but also for boilers, generators, compressors, motors, and more.

If you’re regularly moving large loads, our line of value-added accessories can make a big difference, and attachments can easily be placed on the equipment and customized for your load. Rough terrain carts and big wheel attachments—easily added to the stair climber—effortlessly traverse uneven ground, sand, gravel, and rain. They also come off as easily as they go on, allowing for the user to remove them before entering a home, keeping floors clean and making for happy homeowners.
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Tags: powered hand trucks for moving applications, moving tools for hvac systems, powermate, powered hand trucks, moving tools

Playing It Safe with PowerMate

Posted by Contributing Editor on Tue, Apr 02, 2013

It seems that everyone’s talking about safety these days, and recent events in the news – from gun violence to the struggling economy – have a lot of people concerned and playing it safe in their homes and businesses. More and more people are storing their valuables and guns in heavy-duty safes. If you’re in the moving or locksmith industries, or if you’re retailing safes, you know how heavy these safes can be to move and deliver!

That’s where PowerMate can help you do your job: Our stair-climbing hand trucks can help you efficiently and safely move security safes and other heavy loads, including:

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Tags: safety hand truck, PowerMate M1, PowerMate M2B, powermate, stair climbing hand trucks, safety moving system

Our PowerMate LE-1 Stair Climbing Hand Truck is Heating Up…

Posted by Contributing Editor on Thu, Jan 31, 2013

What’s a hot commodity this time of year? PowerMate’s very own LE-1 Stair Climbing Hand Truck. As this is the time of year when wood and gas stoves, gas fireplaces, and alternative stoves are more commonly moved and installed, our LE-1 finds a good niche. From March 13th through March 16th, we’ll be exhibiting our PowerMate LE-1 Stair Climbing Hand Truck at the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Expo 2013 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The PowerMate LE-1 is very popular with gas fitters and anyone doing wood, pellet or gas stove installations because it’s ideally suited for moving wood stoves.

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Tags: powermate blog, hand truck, safety hand truck, stair climbing hand truck, powermate, safety moving system, HVAC moving solutions, safety moving systems, motorized stair climbers

Customizing your PowerMate Experience!

Posted by Contributing Editor on Tue, Dec 18, 2012

It seems that almost on a daily basis we get requests for specialized solutions from individual customers. These requests vary, depending on the industry. Some of these requests are dictated by government requirements, and other customization requests are simply personal preferences. Either way, we are happy to help any way we can!

At PowerMate, we’re 100% ready-to-go when it comes to providing customized products and solutions to our customers. Depending on how and where they’re using PowerMate, our customers sometimes have very specific needs: Maybe it’s a requirement for specialized training, or a special accessory, or maybe it’s the need to protect and secure their PowerMate. New applications are always arising, and we are ready to meet whatever custom needs you may have. Whether it involves product development or machine modifications, we will analyze your application and create the proper customized solution.

Sometimes the results from these partnerships end up benefiting all of our customers. For example, one of our customers required a storage and charging station for their PowerMate product, in order to protect it when it wasn’t in use and monitor its use. From this custom request and experience, we created the PowerMate Docking Station. It’s a locker/cabinet, designed with wired mesh, and it includes a door with a lock. A clipboard hangs on the outside of the PowerMate Docking Station and this clipboard can hold the maintenance history and a log of the machine’s use, as well as various accessories. It’s ideal for companies who use their PowerMate as a shared resource.

Do you have any special requests or requirements that we can help you with? Let us know! At all times, we have the capabilities in place and we’re ready to go that extra step to help you get exactly what you need from your PowerMate experience.

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Tags: power hand truck, material handling, powermate, safety moving system, stair climber

PowerMate® Brand Gets a (New) Lift with an Addition to the LiftGate Product Line

Posted by Contributing Editor on Wed, Dec 05, 2012

At the BuyMax Clockwork trade show in Nashville in late October, we introduced a prototype for a new PowerMate® LiftGate. At first glance, the new, yet-to-be-named LiftGate model looks similar to the LG3 and LG6 models, and its design is based on the same premise: It’s small, compact, and it will be available at an affordable, lower price point.

What’s different about this new LiftGate is that it can tolerate environmental elements, and it can be installed on the outside of a vehicle. There are other differences, too, which make this new LiftGate a standout solution offering PowerMate® customers more abilities and options.

Those at the trade show said they appreciate the opportunity to install this new LiftGate in pickup trucks and trailers, rather than inside enclosed vans. They were also calling the new LiftGate a “switchblade” solution because of the way it operates. The new LiftGate is ideal for moving and hoisting motors, drain-cleaning equipment, spools of wire, residential generators and more.

Originally designed for boat lifts, the new LiftGate offers a cable-type of application and operates in more of a crane environment rather than a swing-gate environment. With the cable-type of application, it offers the ability to go beyond 40 inches in lifting and hoisting. But, like the LG3 and LG6, the new LiftGate can handle up to 500 pounds – and it can save you from a lot of muscle strain and back pain!

We’ll be posting more information about the newest addition to the PowerMate® LiftGate family here on our blog and on our website. But, if you have any questions now, please call us at 1-800-697-6283 and we’ll be happy to tell you more details!

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Tags: LiftGate, powermate, powered lifting equipment

New PowerMate Manuals: For your Stair Climber Hand Truck Needs

Posted by Contributing Editor on Mon, Oct 22, 2012

How can we make our products easier to use and our services more accessible for our clients? Customers and potential customers alike have often posed questions on how our equipment works, how to properly maintain the equipment, and how to get copies of the product manuals. These frequent inquiries resulted in us thinking about how we could further make our company—and our products—more customer friendly. What was the result? Electronic product manuals, available on our website, which are continuously updated, so that our customers have the most current and accurate product information.

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Tags: Product Information, power hand truck, stair climbing hand truck, powermate, powered lifting equipment, safety moving systems, motorized stair climbers

PowerMate Lifting the Spirits of BuyMax Members in the Desert!

Posted by Lee Jeavons on Sun, Oct 07, 2012

As a first time vendor partner demonstrating our PowerMate® stair climbing hand trucks and interior tail gate lifts (LiftGates), we had the opportunity to meet with some old friends and made dozens of new ones in the desert. The Members interest in the PowerMate dolly was so great that neither Brad Budgell nor I had a chance to eat and were still doing lifting demonstrations and answering questions long after show hours! Thanks to all the BuyMax Members for your keen interest in PowerMate. We look forward to working with you and your companies for many years to come!

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Tags: lifting dolly, Announcements, powermate, powered lifting equipment

PowerMate climbs another milestone - 30 years L P International Inc.

Posted by Lee Jeavons on Sun, Sep 16, 2012

September 16, 2012 marks the 30th anniversary date for the manufacturing entity producing stairclimbing and lifting solutions.  L P International Inc’s name was chosen to reflect the global nature of the clientele to which the product was sold. Today, with distribution in certain markets worldwide and strong sales cross-border the name continues to be appropriate. Though original designs of PowerMate stairclimbers dated from late 1976 and were originally manufactured in small town of Burford,Ontario, and then later moved into manufacturing facilities in Brantford,Ontario.

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Tags: Announcements, powermate, powered lifting equipment