The task of rolling drums can be a dangerous process if undertaken manually. It is a process that’s much safer if handled automatically. So it’s of benefit to purchase an automated drum roller.
Importance of Properly Mixing Drum Contents
It’s necessary to roll drums in order to mix their contents. During transportation, it’s unlikely that the contents of a drum will be of a consistency that is satisfactory. The drums contents will settle during transportation, or will have been agitated in such a way that the consistency of the contents is not what is desired.
Also, if you are a major production facility, then you will likely have a large number of drums in storage. During storage, the contents of your drums will separate – that is almost a guarantee. The heavier elements of the contents will sink to the bottom of the drum, and the lighter elements will rise to the top. The longer that your drum is in storage, the greater this separation will be. If not properly ‘mixed’ the contents of your drum will be useless.
Not only is a rolling drum device a safer way to mix the contents of a drum, it’s also the most efficient. It takes a great deal of effort and time to manually mix the contents of a drum. Don’t forget the majority of drums are of the 55-gallon variety. That’s not the type of drum you can pick up and give a quick shake!
Drum Rollers – Alternatives to Manual Drum Mixing
Instead of relying on manual intervention, you can place your drum on a drum roller, set the process in motion, and then come back when the process has completed. Not only will the contents of your drum be perfectly mixed, your employees will be free to do something else while the process is completed.
Here at Douglas Equipment, a wholesale material-handling manufacturing distributor, the most efficient drum roller we stock is the 1-5154 model series made by Morse. The manufacturers at Morse are the USA’s specialists in drum-handling equipment, and have been since 1923. They manufacture all types of drum-handling equipment, including trucks, mobile handlers, forklift attachments and of course, drum rollers!
Morse 1-5154 Stationary Drum Roller
The 1-5154 is a single, stationary drum roller. It will save you money, time and labor. It blends ingredients to the desired consistency inside the sealed drum, hence eliminating the need for the transfer of material to other vessels. This process helps save time in clean-up and the transfer process itself.
With this model of drum roller, you can rotate your drum at any speed from 1-30 revolutions per minute. High-speed drum rolling is desirable for initial mixing, and lower speeds for when prolonged agitation is necessary. As the 1-5154 has a variable range of speeds, it is extremely versatile in the range of drums and contained materials that can be used with it.
A Drum Roller’s Capacity
The drum roller has a maximum load capacity (liquid) of 1,000 lb. (or 455 kg), or (solid) 400 lb. (183 kg). It’s important to remember that the nature of a dry load means that greater stress is placed on the drum roller. Solid loads tend to ‘shift’, rather than flow like a liquid load. For this reason, when it comes to dry loads, a 400 lb. load should never be agitated at speeds greater than 10RPM, a 300 lb. load at a speed greater than 20RPM, and a 250 lb. load at a speed greater than 30 RPM.
Need a Drum with Slower Speed?
Morse also offers a less expensive fixed speed drum roller. This rotates drums at a fixed speed of 20 RPM, which is suitable for most liquids, like paint. This type of drum roller has the same maximum capacity when it comes to liquids as the variable speed drum roller, but a maximum capacity of 300RPM when it comes to solids.
Although designed for the standard 55-gallon capacity drum, the 1-5154 can handle a range of drums in various dimensions. Drums from only six inches in diameter to 28 inches can be used on this device, and up to 45 in. length.
The Motor
The drum roller is driven by a powerful half horsepower motor connected to four six-inch neoprene drive wheels. The drum is then placed on these drive wheels and four idler wheels in order to provide rotation. The motor is a 3-phase, 230/250V, 60Hz inverter duty motor. Also available are air motors and explosion-proof motors. Note that your drum roller will need to be installed by a qualified electrician, and that it will be shipped (unless requested otherwise) without controls, cords and plugs.
If you do purchase a 1-5154 drum roller, then you’ll be impressed by its usefulness and versatility. In fact, if your production process features a lot of drum handling, then the more drum rollers you have at your disposal, the better. When it comes to buying drum rollers, then it’s much better to buy a number of machines at the same time, as opposed to buying models on an ‘as needed’ basis. You may consider the ‘buying in bulk’ tactic as something that’s associated with smaller item purchases, but the same applies for large purchases like drum rollers. Buying in bulk reduces logistical and transportation costs for your supplier, which means they will both save money and generate guaranteed income. To this end, your supplier should be willing to pass on at least some of these bulk buying savings on to you, reducing your initial outlay.
Reach out to Douglas Equipment for More Information
At Douglas Equipment, we’re very proud that we’re able to supply drum-rolling equipment from Morse. We are equally proud that we’ve been able to establish on-going relationships with the people we supply. For more information on how we can benefit your business both in the short and long term, contact today.
Give us a call at 1-800-451-0030 or use our online contact form, available here.
