Forty years on, the DH hoist gains a smaller size, new motors and eight environment packages
Demag has extended its DH hoist series with a fourth and smaller size, reworked the drive options and packaged the accessories for defined operating environments. The range was shown in its current form at LogiMAT 2025.
An old series, still working
The DH first appeared in 1985 and has stayed in the Demag programme alongside the KBK crane construction kit ever since. It is aimed at what Demag calls Special and Heavy Mission duty: applications where the hoist has to lift and position accurately in conditions that would see off a standard unit. Hook paths run to 104 metres, and the mounting options are deliberately varied.
The reference applications Demag cites are not conventional overhead crane work. They include electroplating lines, horizontal movements in architecture where multi-tonne roof structures are drawn into position, and belt tensioning winches running over several kilometres in underground mines.
DH 400 fills the bottom of the range
The new size 400 covers load capacities from one tonne upwards, sitting below the existing DH 600, 1000 and 2000. Like its larger siblings it is available as a compact foot-mounted hoist, as a standard-headroom monorail hoist, in curved design, as a short trolley with optimised hook path, and as a double-rail crab.
Drives and monitoring
Demag has kept the conical-rotor motors built at its Uslar plant, offered either as pole-changing units with mechanical creep lifting or as infinitely variable drives. Standard equipment now includes temperature monitoring and a DGS 4 limit switch with four switching points, integrated into the electrical housing and driven directly from the drum.
For speed-controlled hoists Demag offers the ZBA cylindrical-rotor motor, also built in Germany. It can be run in closed loop with encoder feedback, and carries a separately controllable brake with release control and brake adjustment monitoring, plus the option of an integrated pulse generator. Combined with inverter control, this gives variable hoisting speeds across all four sizes.
Eight packages, sixteen features
The relaunch also introduces packaged option sets for defined conditions — high humidity, arctic or tropical climates, and corrosive atmospheres such as those in electroplating plants. Demag has assembled eight packages in which hoist, motor and coating are matched to the application profile through sixteen performance features.
More is due: Demag says an improved hoisting gear will double the DWP of the largest DH 2000, taking the series to FEM M8 (5m) at 20 t and M4 (1Am) in the upper capacity range, up to 100 t.
Source: Demag — Photos: Demag
Crane facts
- Series: Demag DH hoist unit, introduced 1985
- Sizes: DH 400, 600, 1000, 2000
- New size: DH 400, from 1 t
- Hook path: up to 104 m
- Designs: foot-mounted, standard-headroom monorail, curved, short trolley, double-rail crab
Drives
- Conical-rotor motors, built at Demag’s Uslar plant
- ZBA cylindrical-rotor motor for speed-controlled versions
- DGS 4 limit switch, four switching points
- Eight equipment packages, 16 performance features
- Planned: DH 2000 to FEM M8 (5m) at 20 t