WH SCOTT
Roll & Reel Handling Devices
Floor-based and hoist-mounted roll lifters that lift, turn and position rolls up to 2,000kg under full control — engineered around your load, your machine and your floor.
Mechanical Roll & Reel Handling
WH Scott supplies bespoke roll and reel handling devices designed to improve safety and control Rolls are awkward loads. They are heavy, they roll, and they usually have to be turned and then presented to a machine spindle at exactly the right height. WH Scott designs and supplies bespoke roll and reel handling devices that do that work mechanically, for rolls and similar loads up to 2,000kg.
Two formats cover most applications. Floor-based lifters are portable units that lift, lower, transport, rotate and position rolls across the shop floor, with manual or battery-powered operation. Hoist-based lifters connect to a hoist or overhead gantry crane and turn rolls between the horizontal and the vertical, with manual or electric assist.
Both are built around your rolls rather than around a catalogue. Supplied in partnership with Schlumpf, each device is specified for a defined roll size, core, weight and handling method — so machines are loaded faster, with less product damage and far less lifting by hand.
Key Features
Engineered for your roll
Every lifter is designed and built around a defined roll size, core, weight and handling method.
Capacity up to 2,000kg
For lifting, moving and turning rolls, reels and similar loads throughout that range.
Floor-based or hoist-mounted
Portable units for shop-floor handling, or below-the-hook lifters for a hoist or overhead gantry crane.
Manual, battery or powered assist
Manual and battery-powered floor lifters; manual or electric assist on hoist-based units, with manual or electronic controls.
Horizontal-to-vertical turning
Hoist-based lifters turn rolls and materials between horizontal and vertical for machine loading, stacking and despatch.
Core or outside-diameter engagement
Mandrels and booms take the roll by its core; clamps, troughs and forks take it by the outside diameter.
Attachments & Handling Options
The attachment does the work, and it is chosen from the roll and the task — starting with whether the roll is picked up by its core or by its outside diameter.
Attachment options include:
- Fork sets
- Platforms
- Roller decks
- Power tongs
- Clamps
- Expanding mandrels
- Articulating arms
Internal handling options include:
- Fixed boom
- Roller boom
- Powered pusher boom
- Expanding mandrel boom
- Spreader bars
- Booms with hooks
- Shaft cradles
Handling functions can be specified with manual or electronic controls to suit the operator, the cycle time and the environment.
Lifting Solutions
Part of a complete lifting range
This is one of the complete lifting solutions delivered by WH Scott across the UK and Ireland — from radio remotes, hoists and crane components to fully bespoke crane systems. Explore the full range to find the right fit for your operation.
Specifying the Right Roll Lifter
Selection comes down to the load and the space it moves through. To quote accurately we need to know:
- Roll weight, diameter, width and core size — including the full range you need to cover
- Where the roll is picked up and set down, and at what height
- Whether the roll is taken by the core or by the outside diameter
- Any turning or rotation required, and in which plane
- Headroom, aisle widths, floor condition and access at the machine
- Duty cycle, operator access and any environmental constraints
Where the answer is a hoist-based lifter, we can supply the equipment it works from as well — crane and hoist components for hoists, crane kits and light crane systems, or a complete overhead gantry crane where there is nothing overhead to hang it on.
Where Roll & Reel Lifters Are Used
Roll and reel lifters earn their place wherever rolls are loaded on and off machine spindles, moved between processes, or turned for storage and despatch — paper, tissue and board, print and converting, flexible packaging and film, labels and narrow web, textiles and nonwovens, cable and wire reels, and composite materials. They are equally used to move rolls to and from pallets, carts and racking on the factory floor. See how we work with manufacturing clients across the UK and Ireland.
Roll & Reel Lifter Compliance and Examination
A roll lifter is lifting equipment. In the UK, LOLER 1998 requires thorough examination by a competent person at least every 12 months for lifting equipment and at least every 6 months for lifting accessories, or to the periods set in a written scheme of examination (HSE guidance). In the Republic of Ireland the duty sits in Regulation 52 of S.I. No. 299 of 2007, where examination periods are set by equipment class in Schedule 1 rather than by a single flat interval (HSA guidance). New devices are supplied with the appropriate CE or UKCA marking, declaration of conformity and operating instructions, and hoist-mounted attachments are designed to the applicable requirements of BS EN 13155 (I.S. EN 13155 in Ireland) for non-fixed load lifting attachments where they fall within its scope.
Mechanising the task also supports your manual handling duties: the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 in Great Britain and Regulation 69 of S.I. No. 299 of 2007 in Ireland both require employers to avoid hazardous manual handling where it is reasonably practicable to do so, and to use mechanical aids where it is not. Once a device is installed, our inspectors can add it to an existing programme — thorough examination under LOLER in the UK, or lifting equipment inspection in Ireland to S.I. 299.
Get in Touch
Tell Us About Your Project
Whether you need a single piece of equipment or a fully engineered lifting system, our specialists can help. Tell us your load, environment and compliance requirements — we’ll do the rest.