Our Hot Rod Hand Trucks Basics information and video will show you how to use the HRHT efficiently and with out injury. Be sure to comment or send us your questions after you’ve read the article and watched the video. We welcome your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.
The Best Tool for the Job
As stated before, the absolute best way to lift a water heater (residential, storage-tank type) is with the Hot Rod Hand Truck. And although there are several different techniques for plumbers and water heater installers, anyone who has used one will tell you the HRHT & Strap Kit is hands down, the best available custom water heater dolly available on the market today and it pays for itself after very few jobs.
Practice Makes Perfect
As with any new tool practice makes perfect and we do recommend practicing using it. Our custom-designed hand truck was designed to eliminate the potential for injury to your back and knees by properly leveraging the tank. Now obviously it’s not the only way to lift or move water heaters as many plumbers and installers have manually lifted them for years but why do things the old fashioned way when you don’t have to? We are confident that once you’ve tried the HRHT, you will never go back to doing it the old way again.
To see the HRHT & Strap Kit in action, please be sure to watch our HRHT Basics video below:
HRHT Basics
The HRHT comes with everything except a winch. As you will see, the operator has no problem lowering an old water heater off a platform with the friction brake. However, they must provide the way to raise the new tank in order to strap it to the hand truck. Anything between 16” and 20” high that can support the weight of the new tank while connecting to the hand truck is sufficient. The rear bumper of a work vehicle is sometimes perfect. A water heater stand from the store is typically 16” or higher. The platform that the existing water heater’s on can be used, too.
Watch as a 50 gallon Bradford White atmospheric-vent water heater is taken down from the stand that it’s on, and then replaced with another like it. It’s a little over six minutes long and can be viewed in sections, depending on which part of the method you want to look at.
Lowering The Old Water Heater
- :08 rear view, pulling the old tank off
- :55 side view, pulling the old tank off, lowering to the ground
- 1:03 top views of the friction brake on the hand truck
Putting The New Tank Up
- 1:55 the buckle goes through the loop
- 2:05 sample process, new tank already sitting high
- 2:41 top view of the connection to the hook on the hand truck
- 3:57 the complete process, new tank sitting on the ground
