Manhole Lifters & Keys

The 1.5 ton hydraulic manhole seal breaker is simple, lightweight and designed so that the stuck cover will not end up causing back injuries.

Simply set the frame so that the bottle jack sits on the outer rim of the manhole with the other end on the cover. Then select the correct key size and attach it to the threaded tip holder. Place the key in position and have the threaded part of the bar come up through the frame. Put the wingnut on the frame plate and tighten the wingnut until the key is locked in place. Now pump the bottle jack and the cover will lift breaking the seal. Now normal manhole keys can be used to lift the cover.

The set comes with 8 screw in tips and weighs in at just 7kgs.

The Ash Safety Hydraulic Cover Lifter comes supplied with an assortment of manhole keys so you should be able to attach to any cover. The steel frame breaks down into 7 major components for easy transportation an offers a SWL of 800kgs. Having 3 large nylon wheels makes movement of your cover easy once lifted when pulled using the hand towing handle, so eliminates personal lifting issues.

For best results use the breaker bar to mechanically break the seal first. This is done by placing the manhole keys through the breaker bar and then screwing down on the bolt ensuring it is over the outer edge of the cover. This will produce several tons of force to breaker the cover seal. Now site the cover lifter over the breaker bar lifting points, ensuring the wheels of the cover lifter are outside the cover area. Engage the lifting hooks on the front bar of the cover lifter into the lifting eyes of the breaker bar. Now pump the hydraulic jack on the cover lifter, so long as the seal has been broken the cover lifter will now simply lift the cover and it can be moved to a suitable place so work can commence.

Danger: These units are often used only with the cover lifter and no breaker bar. Whilst this can be done it can also create a violent reaction. This is because the hydraulics are now being used to try and break the seal by pulling it upwards. This can result, when the cover seal breaks, in the cover springing upwards. The use of the breaker bar first, stops these issues and will ensure your unit lasts longer.

All hire fleet cover lifters are supplied with the breaker bar. On units for sale the breaker bar is a separate cost option.

The Ash Safety Swing Cover Lifter is perfect when you only need to lift a cover and simply move it away from the open manhole.

The spreader bar takes the manhole keys through it, these are then tightened up forming a lock from the bar to the cover. When this is locked in place you can then easily create pressure by winding the foot and wheel ends so they break the seal and force the cover up.

Once the cover is high enough to clear the ground it is then rotated by simply moving the wheel end. The pad at the other end remains static so the cover will arc around the static point so that the cover is moved easily allowing access to the open manhole.

The Universal Cover Lifter uses all of the best ideas from the EZI-Lift Manhole Lifter. It uses the same bar to release the cover but has a wheeled frame making moving the cover much easier when on hard surfaces.

The Universal Cover Lifter uses Didsbury’s bar in conjunction with the lockable manhole keys and a large diameter bolt which is wound down to exert up to 4 tons of safe thrust to break the seal. This will free covers that have tarmac or concrete over the seal. There are also a range of different sized keys available so we can lift any cover you have. The BT version uses a ratchet and strop to lift the cover so that any sized operative can move the cover with ease.

The Companion Manhole Lifter is simplicity at its very best, comprised of only 4 parts it is easy to use and will lift any manhole cover you can find. We’ve tried and we have not been able to find one so far that it will not.

The Companion lifter uses Didsbury’s bar in conjunction with the lockable manhole keys and a large diameter bolt which is wound down to exert up to 4 tons of safe thrust to break the seal. This will free covers that have tarmac or concrete over the seal, there are also a range of different sized keys available so we can lift any cover you have.

The standard model with rigid handles is normally used in pairs where the keyholes are offset from the centreline (Elkington Gatic Covers). The lifter fits directly into the cover with no need for an adaptor bar or keys.

The Gatic Cover Lifter is designed to firstly split the seal of the cover and then be used as a set of four to lift the cover in conjunction with a machine.

If however they are to be used for manual lifts then they are simply used to break the cover seal and then the Ezi-Lift Standard set is used to pull the cover back.

The long handled multi tip manhole key pack is designed so that you will always be able to lift your manhole cover no matter what the fitting.

The pack comes with 2 locking mechanism handles that can accept any of the cover key tips, screw threads or stocpcock keys. The tips are easily fitted by simply pulling back the knurled part of the fast fit mechanism and then inserting the tip so that face lines up with the internal cut out. The knurled part then springs back and locks the tip in place.

Each tip is rated for a 250kg lift with a safety factor of 4.

A range of manhole and hydrant keys.

If you do not see what you are looking for please give us a call as we are stockists for almost all major manufacturers.