If your company uses materials that come in drums you may find that you will need to mix the contents before use. This can be a difficult and hazardous task if you don’t have the right equipment to do the job safely and efficiently. This is where drum tumblers and drum rollers are invaluable in making the job easier, but which type of unit is right for your needs?
Drum Tumblers: How They Work
A drum tumbler provides a very vigorous mix of drum contents by agitating the container and forcing the contents from one end of it to the other. By turning the drum on its end the contents can more thoroughly mix; even contents such as thick liquids, coarse pellets, wet grains or powders. The two methods of mixing are either end-over-end or corner-over-corner, depending on the type of drum tumbler chosen. These are fairly large machines and are therefore stationary; the drums need to come to the tumbler for mixing.
Tilt-To-Load Drum Tumblers
The Morse Tilt To Load Drum Tumbler allows you to load a 55-gallon drum upright at floor level, secure the drum in the holder, and then use one handle to lift the drum and a second handle to control drum rotation. Drum rotation speed is variable from 5 to 20 RPM (50Hz models have 20% reduction in drum RPM).
This unit can be used with steel, plastic or fiber drums of various sizes (29” to 37” tall by 18” to 23.5” diameter).
Capacity is 800 pounds for a full drum or 400 pounds for a half full drum. Half full capacity is for a bottom heavy, unbalanced or shifting load, which is harder to tilt than a full drum.
Options available on these models include an explosion-proof motor or air motor for hazardous areas and a guard enclosure kit with safety interlock.
End-Over-End Drum Tumblers
The Morse End-Over-End Drum Tumbler rotates a 55-gallon steel drum to provide a vigorous mix. This tumbler is ideal for very viscous substances, wet grains, dry powders or course granules.
The drum rotation speed is 13 RPM, and variable speed models are available that adjust from 3 to 20RPM.
Capacity is 800 pounds for a full drum or 400 pounds for a half full drum. The unit weight is 621 pounds.
Options for this unit include factory installed load cranes (one or two), a clamp screw kit to hold a 55 gallon plastic drum and a guard enclosure kit with safety interlock.
Drum Rollers: How they Work
If you were to lay a drum on its side and roll it along the ground you would get a similar mixing action to the one provided by a drum roller. However, a drum roller allows you to do this more safely by holding the drum in place and turning it on rollers.
Some models include easy load features such as the Hydra-Lift Drum Roller, which allows you to insert the drum in the upright position at floor level and then use the hydraulic system to lift the drum into place rather than using a more hazardous manual method of loading the drum.
In general, drum rollers are more lightweight than drum tumblers and even include portable units that allow you to mix the drum contents at the point of use.
Hydra-Lift Drum Roller
The Morse Hydra-Lift is a stationary drum roller that tilts for you. The roller will tilt upright so that a drum can be easily loaded onto the rollers cradle in an upright position at floor level.
You can then use the built in hydraulics to tilt the drum and roller table into rolling position, roll the drum at 5 to 20 RPM until the contents are mixed as desired and then return the drum to the upright position to unload.
The unit will rotate a steel drum of 6” to 26” in diameter with a maximum length of 40”. Capacity for this unit is 1000 pounds for drums with liquid loads and 400 pounds for drums with dry loads.
This unit includes optional extra wheels to support the flexible side walls of a plastic drum and end stops to prevent plastic drums from traveling lengthways.
Portable Drum Roller
Morse also makes a portable drum roller that incorporates a rocker mechanism to allow the drum roller to lift the drum into place.
Simply tilt the drum roller into an upright position, place the drum on the roller, then rock the drum roller into the horizontal position for rolling.
This allows you to mix important ingredients back into suspension and eliminate worker exposure.
The unit can handle drums of 6” to 28” diameter and up to 40” long.
Capacity is 500 pounds for liquid loads and 400 pounds for dry load (at 10 RPM). The dry load capacity is 300 pounds at 20 RPM and 250 pounds at 30 RPM.
Also available is the optional equipment to roll a plastic drum or a separate attachment to roll a 5 gallon pail.
Excellent Customer Service When You Need Drum Mixing Equipment
At Douglas Equipment we have been in the material handling equipment business for almost 60 years and our dedicated service team knows the answers to any questions you may have when it comes to drum tumblers and drum rollers. Contact us today for expert advice on choosing the equipment that meets your needs.
