Title: Drum Handling Equipment & Supplies Word Count: 568 Summary: Oil drums are one of the most useful storage systems available within the industrial environment, and have countless uses. From being used to safely store volatile liquids such as oil and solvents through to being utilized as a waste bin, drums offer plenty of space, and can be reused endlessly provided that they are kept in the best possible condition. In order to efficiently move oil drums around your facility, having the correct drum handling equipment available is esse... Keywords: material handling equipment, drum handling equipment & supplies Article Body: Oil drums are one of the most useful storage systems available within the industrial environment, and have countless uses. From being used to safely store volatile liquids such as oil and solvents through to being utilized as a waste bin, drums offer plenty of space, and can be reused endlessly provided that they are kept in the best possible condition. In order to efficiently move oil drums around your facility, having the correct drum handling equipment available is essential. Full drums can be extremely heavy, and in order to maximize the safety of all employees when moving and handling drums, precautions need to be taken, and the proper equipment used. The piece of drum handling equipment that most people are familiar with is the humble drum trolley. These simple carts provide a means to move even the heaviest drum around the workplace conveniently and safely. With their steady base, and widely spread wheels coupled with a shape that cradles the oil drum shape and holds it in place to avoid tipping, drum trolleys make moving drums much safer and simpler for both the individual charged with moving it, and also the people around them. One of the drawbacks with using oil drums for storage is ensuring that they take up as little space as possible. Thanks to their high strength, coupled with the fact that they will support the weight of other drums on top of them without becoming misshapen, the best way of keeping your workplace tidy is by stacking drums one on top of another. The weight and size of the drums means that this cannot be achieved by hand, so a specialist piece of drum handling equipment: a drum stacker is required. These devices work as a crane to lift one drum on top of the other. They are designed to be completely stable in use, and feature a hydraulic system that allows them to lift up to 800 pounds comfortably. Getting liquids out of an oil drum requires special equipment – after all, you can't just pick up a standard 55 gallon drum and pour! A tap and pump is needed, and these are simple to set up and use. They fit into the existing aperture in the top of the barrel, and can be cleaned and used for different materials as required. Eventually, even the most resilient objects come to the end of their useful life, and standard oil drums are no different. Eventually, the knocks and scrapes, the falls, and constant containment of hazardous materials means that the drum is no longer usable, and needs to be disposed of. It is at this time that the most valuable property of the drums becomes their biggest drawback. The size of the drums means that they are difficult to dispose of unless you have the right piece of drum handling equipment. A hydraulic drum crusher will apply up to 38,000 pounds of crushing force onto a drum, squashing it almost completely flat, and massively reducing the amount of space required to store the waste. The range of jobs that drums come in handy for means that there are numerous pieces of drum handling equipment available in order to make work easier and more comfortable. From lifting equipment through to disposal, and from opening through to sealing the drums, you will find that some companies offer everything that you need to get the job done right every single time.