This a regular question AAL get asked ?what is the best hoist for children?? as the challenge a lot of children suffer is weight gain.  Depending on the level of disability, this can greatly affect the child?s ability and weight management.

We ask the customer the following questions:

  1. Do you want single handed care ability?
  2. What do you want the hoist for?
  3. How big is the vehicle the hoist will be travelling in?
  4. How easily can it be assembled and dissembled?
  5. How regularly are you going to be using the hoist?
  6. What type of sling are you using?
The MD of AAL LTD, Stephen Pritchard is a full-time wheelchair user.  Stephen?s tested many portable hoists on the market. 

Firstly, let?s run through the answers, to our 7 questions.

  1. The Molift Smart 150 can be used by one person to lift a child from bed to chair, chair to bed and floor to chair.  Whether, the child has fallen or simply wants to play on the floor, this hoist is easy to use, and will protect the parent or carer from potential back injury.
  2. The Molift Smart 150 does not come with a case or travel bag.  If your using it purely within the house, there is no need for either.  The Molift Soft Bag is excellent for travelling and especially on cruise ships, as it keeps the hoist discreet.  However, if you decide to travel by air, you will need the hard travel case, as baggage handlers will simply throw it in, and anything else on top of the hoist without thought.
  3. We have had the Molift Smart 150 in the back of a mini.  The hoist separates very easily without tools, if you wish to place the system either side of the wheelchair user travelling in the back.  Base weights 10Kg, Colum 24Kg without battery and 25Kg with battery.  
  4. The hoist can be assembled within 2 minutes, and dissembled within 3 minutes.  It takes 5 minutes to place in a soft bag and approx. 5 minutes to place in the Molift hard case.
  5. The reason we ask is the battery needs to be left on charge.  If you leave the battery off charge for long periods of time, it will fail.
  6. The Molift Smart 150 uses a hook spreader bar, hence you will need loop slings.  Molift recommend using the RGO Slings as they have been tested.

Why the Molift Smart 150?

When deciding what is the best portable hoist for you child or children, it?s certainly important to ensure you get a hoist that works, is reliable and cost effective.

Your purchasing a lifestyle, it?s not a sexy one but it?s critical when the time comes to use it.  We certainly encourage parents, guardians and support staff to invest in an aid, sooner rather than later.  We know parents feel its quicker to grab the child and lift manually as it saves time.  However, you are putting your back in danger!  If you injure yourself for any period of time, you?ll be distressed at not being able to help your child.  So why take the risk?

Take a breath, Setup the hoist, lift safely and carry on with the day.

What about reliability?

The hoist last years and we have a complete spare part shop available.  The rules are simple:

  1. Ensure the hoist is serviced annually by an accredited engineer
  2. Charge battery throughout the year, don?t leave off charge for more than 2 weeks
  3. Don?t drop the hoist when dissembling and ensure you lock the mast in before lifting.
  4. If the hoist won?t work, Ensure the safety Stop RED button is not pressed in!