Key Takeaways
- Self-dumping hoppers are a simple solution to a complicated problem: material management. Dumping hoppers use a simple, smart design to allow gravity to do most of the work. They don’t contain motors or hydraulic parts, which makes them not only easier to use, but easy to maintain too.
- Material handling accounts for many worksite accidents. The main reason? Workers often lift bulky and unstable objects by themselves. Self-dumping hoppers are a streamlined method of preventing virtually all of these accidents.
- Self-dumping hoppers save time and money by reducing the effort you put into waste handling. You don’t have to hire extra people, and your workers can feel safer knowing they’ll spend less time focused on the work, and not moving the work around.
- While self-dumping hoppers are extremely versatile in application, they aren’t always stackable, take up more space in your shop, and the high initial cost (compared to some trash bins) means they truly are an investment.
Steel Hoppers: The Go-To in Dumping Hoppers For a Reason
Simple solutions are often best. This is very much the case with steel hoppers. These large metal bins are used for material handling tasks and heavy-duty applications. They attach to a forklift and, after they’re in place, an operator pulls a lever and gravity does the trick!
Steel self-dumping hoppers make your life easier — as well as your team’s. They don’t require hydraulics or motors, nor people with the knowledge to operate them. Just move, pull the lever, and it dumps itself!
Our steel hoppers are painted to protect them from rust. As long as that paint is in good shape, your dump hoppers can last decades!
We also make aluminum and stainless steel hoppers, great for specific applications like in the pharmaceutical industry.
In industrial settings, steel hoppers are often referred to as ‘industrial hoppers’ due to their durability and ease of cleaning, making them a preferred choice for material handling.
The point is that simple as they are, self-dumping hoppers are incredibly useful.
Why Use a Steel Self Dumping Hopper?
Steel is the go-to choice, painted with a durable non-chip finish to prevent corrosion over time. We can even do your brand colors, or specific graphics! Steel is perfect because it balances material cost (aluminum and other specialty metals are more expensive) with durability.
Increase Your Efficiency
By eliminating the need for manual handling of material waste, you reduce the time employees spend away from their work.
If you have many waste-producing workstations, self-dumping hoppers are a simple solution to manage trash in and around the shop, as you can move all youyr waste once and save time and effort.
This ultimately means saving your business money.
Improved Safety
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, waste management accounts for hundreds of thousands of workplace injuries in the US. This is mainly because of the manual handling — mostly lifting and carrying — of bulky objects.
Self-dumping hoppers eliminate this hazard. The forklift does all the work, and then gravity finishes the job. Creekside Manufacturing’s self-dumping hoppers come with two safety-focused features that make them special.
First, their reliable pull-rope system through which an operator can release the latch on their steel hopper from their seat. Then, we have a bump-release mechanism that pretty much automates the release system entirely. Simply “bump” against a dumpster and the hopper will tilt in that direction and unload by itself, automatically returning to an upright and locked position for safety and ease of reloading.
Self-dumping hoppers are hands-down the simplest and quickest way to prevent workplace injuries and accidents – one of the most common sources of bodily injury (and liability) on the job.
Enhanced Output and Profitability
Less time spent on material handling means more time spent productively.
Self-dumping hoppers don’t need specialized operators or machines. They require no additional expenses apart from the initial cost of the hopper itself.
Keep your team in place doing the work they do well – crafting.
Customizable and Durable
We build dump hoppers to all kinds of specifications. Our hoppers are also stackable and don’t need to rest on pallets.
The versatility and practicality of our dump hopper designs are unmatched, including use in severe industrial applications and the option to add accessories like lids and casters, making them suitable for a wide range of uses.
Our self-dumping hoppers are built with completely welded seams, too, meaning you can even transport liquids in the right containers. The skid underneath the hoppers is built with thick, welded steel to withstand just about anything.
Painted with high-quality enamel paint to prevent rust, your dump hopper will last for years. We don’t use powder coating (often done by competitors to reduce costs), which almost always ends up chipping away and allowing moisture beneath the paint.
Versatility
While we’ve mostly talked about using a portable steel hopper as a waste management solution, the truth is that they’re just as useful for storing and moving bulk materials. Their high weight capacity and lifting lugs make them ideal for construction sites, manufacturing plants, and other material handling industries.
Our specialty hoppers can be made with additional features for more heavy-duty usage or specific settings: like fork truck entry tubes, optional casters, in a low profile hopper, and more. While heavy-duty dump hoppers aren’t as common, dump hoppers are so useful that there’s a design for every industry. From open-end dump hoppers to low-profile hoppers and quick-attach designs, steel dump hoppers have a place in pretty much any industry that MOVES STUFF.
Self-Dumping Hopper Downsides?
There are a few important things to consider before buying a self-dumping hopper. Let’s take a look.
Initial cost
While self-dumping hoppers lower your waste management costs and improve productivity in the long term, they are more expensive upfront than other solutions.
How quickly you’ll make back your investment depends on how much waste you have to manage and how much more efficient a self-dumping hopper will make your product lines.
Creekside Manufacturing‘s self-dumping hoppers start at $985. Our smaller hoppers can carry 4,000lbs, while the biggest can do well over 6,000lbs.
Maintenance requirements
While self-dumping hoppers don’t have motors or any other parts that need special maintenance, there are some things to keep in mind.
Inspect your trash hoppers regularly, clean anything that could prevent the latch from working, and lubricate your swing-arm and latch regularly. As the years pass, check for rust more than anything else, though if paint is maintained this is generally not an issue.
Space considerations
Our larger self-dumping hoppers need some space, at almost 9 feet wide and 6 feet tall.
So before buying a dumping hopper, you should assess where in your facility can fit and store one!
Steel Hopper Applications Are Endless!
Self-dumping hoppers are so versatile you can find a use for them in pretty much any industry.
On a construction site, they are indispensable for handling heavy debris. They not only increase worker safety but also make general logistics much easier.
The same in manufacturing plants, where they help streamline the disposal of even the most annoying of waste. Anything from metal scraps to plastic millings and even simple paper trash and packaging materials can go into one of our self-dumping hoppers.
Wood shops, machine shops, recycling centers – our dumping hoppers will make your life easier.
Get A Steel Dump Hopper Quote Today
Whether you need a special customized hopper or simply want to ask one of our technicians some questions, contact us by phone or email today!
