There are a plethora of trucks and equipment that the refuse industry calls upon in order to serve it’s purpose. The hook lift trash truck is one such machine. Not unlike the cable hoist roll off truck, the primary function of a hook lift truck is to pick up and deliver waste containers of assorted sizes.
Though the job description of the cable and hook lift truck are the same, the hooklift truck goes about it’s business a little differently. The roll off waste container has a pull-hook at the base of the box, conversely, the hook lift bin has a pull-hook located at the top of the pull end of the container. The hooklift pull hook is typically set at one of three industry standard heights 32″/54″/63″. The hoist-hook on a hook lift truck will normally be designed for one, two, or all three of these hook heights.
The hook lift hoist design is a hollow steel tubular boom (like a crane boom, only shorter). It has a jib that slides in and out, that is usually energized by hydraulic power. The hooklift hoist, commonly, has two hydraulic rams (cylinders) that allow for the maneuvering of the boom. When the hooklift hoist hook jib is telescoped all the way in, the hook lift hoist may be raised, and will fold over toward the rear of the truck, allowing the hook to extend out beyond the frame, and connect with a hooklift container. When the hook jib is telescoped all the way out (toward the cab of the truck), the entire hoist and hook will raise and tilt to the rear of the vehicle. This allows the hooklift truck to act as a dumptruck.
At the rear end of the the hoist frame is a roller assembly, with two to four rollers (or cams), depending on the size, and manufacturer of the hoist. These rollers allow the the hooklift container to roll freely across the tail of the hoist frame, avoiding damaged to the frame and container, as it is being lifted onto the truck.
Another predominate feature of the hooklift truck, is that it gives the operator the ability to load, and off-load containers without ever leaving the cab of the truck. It also offers some versatility in that it’s operator can load a container from varied angles with ease, and little or no damage to asphalt or other bases that a hooklift container may be placed on.
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