More than half of people who use a manual chain hoist expect to be still using one of some description in more than 20 years from now.

That’s according to an online survey carried out on LinkedIn by Hoist Magazine in partnership with LGH, a UK-based lifting equipment rental company, to gauge readers’ opinions on the future of the manual chain hoist.

The survey set out to find if there is a place for this relatively unchanged product in a constantly evolving market, or whether the time is near for it to ‘hang up’ its hat.

When asked whether they still expected to be still using manual chain hoists across a range of time periods, 16% said that they expected they would be within the next five years, around one in five (19%) extended to that to a decade, 7% said they would be operating a manual chain hoist within the next 20 years, while the majority, 55%, believed they would still be operating them in over 20 years’ time. A small percentage used an alternative to a manual chain hoist.

Respondents to the survey made a number of comments, including the following:

“There will always be a need for hand chain blocks [manual chain hoists]… blocks have become a throw-away item because they are cheap compared to labour and spares.”
“There is always going to be the need for manual chain hoists, especially for lifting and pulling in confined spaces.”
“Manual chain hoists give you a direct feel of how much strain is on the hoist. Experienced users can feel how the lift is going, if the lift is still fixed down or trapped. Hydraulic/electric/pneumatic hoists just pull and pull and overloads just make everything complicated and heavy to rig.”
“Sites may not have power. Also, manual hoists can be used everywhere when required and are practical and don’t break down. “
“Areas without power will need them.”
“There will always be a need for manual hoisting as a relatively cheap alternative to more expensive means of lifting.”
“Some jobs will just always need them.”
The views back up the opinions expressed by industry experts in a Hoist article that looks at the future of manual chain hoists.

Survey reveals long-term demand for manual chain hoists