400kg Hydraulic Crucible Lifter for Foundries – Battery Powered, 1500mm Lift Height

This battery hydraulic crucible lifter is built for metal melting shops that move heavy, red-hot crucibles several times per shift. It replaces two-person hand carrying with a single operator, a foot pedal and a 1,500 mm hydraulic lift. The unit handles 400 kg per trip and accepts either 25 or 50 standard 50 g / 65 g crucibles, so it works equally well for small gold melting rooms and larger foundry casting floors.

In most melting shops the bottleneck is not the furnace — it is the two metres between the bench, the furnace mouth and the cooling rack. Hand carrying at that distance brings three recurring costs:

• Burn risk: crucibles leave the furnace at 1,100 °C – 1,200 °C and radiate heat for several minutes; gloves alone do not cover the operator's arms and face.
• Spillage loss: an uneven step tips the crucible and molten charge is lost, together with the assay sample or the casting batch.
• Labour dependency: only the strongest two operators can carry a full batch, so production stops when they are off shift.

Each design choice below answers one of the problems above, and each is backed by verifiable machine data.

A sealed hydraulic cylinder and precision piston rod, driven by a 700 W DC12V pump, lift a full 50-crucible batch to 1,500 mm — high enough to clear the charging mouth of most induction and resistance melting furnaces. Fine hydraulic adjustment lets the operator align the fork with the furnace opening instead of dropping the load into position.

Polyurethane casters carry the load without generating sparks and without scuffing coated or epoxy floors, which matters in precious metal rooms where floor sweepings are part of the recovery process. A foot brake locks the machine in any position, so it can be parked at the furnace mouth while the crucibles are pushed in.

The frame is chrome-plated steel tube, built as a detachable assembly. Any worn part — caster, piston rod, battery, foot pedal — can be replaced on site without scrapping the machine or returning it to the factory. A maintenance-free DC12V 60 Ah battery with charge indicator and automatic charger removes trailing cables from the working area.

• Gold and silver melting rooms: charging induction melting furnaces and transferring molten crucibles to the pour station or cooling rack.
• Foundries and die casting shops: moving crucibles between holding furnaces and casting stations without a second operator.
• Precious metal refineries: batch transfer between fluxing bench, fusion furnace and cupellation area.
• Heat treatment and salt bath lines: lifting heavy crucibles and baskets to bath level with controlled lowering.
• Fire assay laboratories: loading 25 or 50 crucible batches into fusion furnaces and withdrawing them after the fusion cycle.

• Two standard models cover 25 and 50 crucible batches; fork length can be adjusted to match existing furnace openings.
• Fork surface treatment specified for hot contact, so crucibles do not slide during lifting or braking.
• Body panels, colours and voltage configuration can be produced to customer requirements.
• The unit combines with mixing machines, flux dispensing units, fusion and cupellation furnaces to form a complete sample preparation and melting line.

How many crucibles can be moved in one trip?
25 or 50 crucibles, depending on the fork size and model selected.

Can one operator use it alone?
Yes. Lifting, travelling and steering are all done from the handle with a foot pedal for the lift, so no second person is needed.

Is it safe close to a hot melting furnace?
The battery drive and handle keep the operator at a working distance from the furnace mouth, and the foot brake holds the machine in place while crucibles are pushed in or withdrawn.

Does the machine need a power cable?
No. It runs on a maintenance-free DC12V 60 Ah battery with an automatic charger and charge indicator.

Which crucible sizes are supported?
Standard 50 g and 65 g fire assay and melting crucibles. Contact us if you use another size or a non-standard furnace opening.