Straddle Stackers: Sorting Scrap Effectively in Tight Spaces

Nov 10, 2020

Many people think that a forklift is the only option for moving things around on the shop floor, but there is a more space-efficient solution to material movement: the straddle stacker!

Being about one-third of the size of a forklift, the straddle stacker is a great option for shops that are tight on space and want safer options for moving smaller amounts of material, scrap and miscellaneous parts. They are easier to maneuver than a forklift due to their stabilizing outriggers. They cost less than a forklift, and due to the smaller amount of moving parts powered by electricity, they are also less expensive to use and maintain. There is also no unique certification needed to use these units, saving you labor costs. Here is an image of our unit at work in our CNC shop.

At Wisconsin Metal Parts we find that our electric-powered straddle stacker works most effectively in our CNC department. With so many machines and so much scrap to manage in limited amounts of space, an agile unit like the straddle stacker works out for us perfectly. For years we struggled to handle our scrap chips in the tight spaces we have, but found a solution that has reduced cycle time and risk in handling. But the biggest benefit to us was how the straddle stacker helped us save money by allowing us to sort scrap easier.

We use custom-built mini-hoppers under each of our CNC machines to collect scrap. When the time comes and they are full, we can easily wheel them out to their respective barrel. Then we are able to place our mobile chip funnel over the barrel we wish to empty into, and our scrap is sorted properly. This process has allowed us to reclaim more value from our scrap metals by keeping them effectively sorted. Using barrels with the chip funnel has been more profitable than just dumping all of our scrap together into a large hopper. Keeping expensive metals separate from others has saved us a good sum of money over the years. We manufactured the funnel and mini-hopper units for ourselves, and decided to release them as products so more shops could utilize them and find the same success we did!

Questions about our scrap solution? Want to get mini-hoppers or a chip funnel for your shop? Contact us today!