January 29, 2014 : Magnetic Sweepers: Making Construction Cleanup a Breeze

Magnetic Sweepers: Making Construction Cleanup a Breeze

As children, we’re taught early about the necessary evil know as “cleanup”. This dreaded chore follows all known forms of fun and enjoyment, and haunts us as badly as the monster in our closet. As adults, however, we get smarter, and design tools to make the most tedious tasks easier. At AJC Tools, we think we even find ways to make them enjoyable.

Whether it’s a new house being built, an old house having its roof replaced, or your neighbors erecting a taller fence, construction sites are everywhere. Any construction site needs to be kept clean throughout the process, and a final cleanup will be necessary. Leftover nails and screws pose obvious safety concerns, and liabilities. If the construction site is residential, it’s especially imperative to know that there’s no risk of someone getting a nail through his or her foot after you leave the site. That’s just bad for business. Loose screws or nails often find themselves a home in the contractors’ tires, so proper cleanup can prevent costly tire repairs as well.

Back in the good old days, construction crews would form a sort of search and rescue team to clean up debris at the end of a job. The scene looked a lot like law enforcement officers combing an empty field for evidence. This method was somewhat effective, but wasted valuable labor, time, and ultimately money. It also left metal debris that was too small to be seen or picked up manually

One industry in particular that demands proper site cleanup is residential roofing. Roofing requires a lot of nails, and roofers are often in such a hurry that many nails end up falling to the ground. This is especially true for sloping roofs. Many residential roofers now rely on magnetic sweeper tools to make site cleanups a breeze. There are many types of this tool, and here at AJC Tools, we proudly offer fine examples of each.

AJC’s rolling magnetic sweeper features a heavy duty stainless steel box and a quick release handle design, allowing the user to dump nails easily and effectively. The user is able to quickly cover a large area (ours is 30 inches wide) and ensure it will be free of nails and any other metals. Some variations of this tool have a rake attachment designed to pull nails that are embedded in grass and turf. We’ve upgraded our exclusive design with heavier duty stainless steel, stronger wheel brackets, and increased the wheel size to 7”. With a fold-over handle, it still fits neatly in any storage space.

There are also spring loaded, hand held magnetic sweepers that magnetically collect nails on a stainless steel box, which are then released over a dumpster or garbage can. These are not as wide as a rolling sweeper (ours is ten inches wide), but work great for cleaning up spaces where the wide rolling sweeper would be overkill. These tools greatly reduce cleanup time, and remove a much higher amount of metal than manual cleanup.

For even smaller, confined spaces, there are more appropriate magnetic sweepers, such as our mini magnetic sweeper (four inch diameter). This round sweeper tool is great for cleaning out gutters or other hard to reach spots, or even loading up your nail bag. It is practically guaranteed to prevent unneeded backaches and complaining from your crew.

Usually, a contracting company will utilize a variety of these tools, depending on the application. For really big jobs we even have our full line of forklift magnetic sweepers. Ours are extremely solid and perfectly engineered to easily attach to your forklift. Remember, having the appropriate tool for each job is the best way to get the job done quickly and correctly.




   
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