Hand trucks are commonly used to move and handle materials in the workplace. Also known as dollies, they feature an L-shaped frame with handles on the top and wheels on the bottom. After placing a load on the bottom of the frame, you can move the hand truck by lifting and rolling it. While all hand trucks are used for material handling, though, they are available in several types, including stair-climbing.
Overview of Stair-Climbing Hand Trucks
A stair-climbing hand truck is a type of material handling device that’s designed to climb up and down stairs. Like all hand trucks, they feature an L-shaped frame with a set of handles and wheels. Stair-climbing hand trucks, however, feature a unique wheel configuration that allows them to easily roll up or down stairs.
Stair-Climbing Hand Trucks vs Traditional Hand Trucks
The main difference between stair-climbing hand trucks and traditional hand trucks lies in their wheels. Traditional hand trucks typically have two wheels on the bottom. When using a traditional hand truck, you can lift up on the handles so that you can roll it forward or backward. Stair-climbing hand trucks are distinguished from traditional hand trucks by their unique wheel configuration. Rather than two wheels, they feature six wheel on the bottom.
The wheel configuration used for stair-climbing hand trucks is known tri-star. When inspecting the bottom of a stair-climbing hand truck, you’ll notice two sets of three wheels. Each set uses a tri-star configuration. With tri-star wheels, stair-climbing hand trucks can climb up and down stairs more easily than their traditional counterparts.
Benefits of Stair-Climbing Hand Trucks
With a stair-climbing truck, you can traverse stairs while moving loads. The tri-star wheels will press against the side of the stairs so that the hand truck rolls up down. Traditional hand trucks require more work. You’ll have to lift them while carefully moving them up or down the stairs.
Stair-climbing hand trucks can even protect loads from damage. If you use a traditional hand truck, you may struggle to stabilize the load when climbing up or down stairs. And if the load is unstable, it may fall off the hand truck, resulting in damage. You can protect loads from damage such as this by using a stair-climbing hand truck.
Many stair-climbing hand trucks feature a larger lip than traditional hand trucks. The lip is the bottom part of the L-shaped frame where you place the load. With a larger lip, stair-climbing hand trucks support larger loads.