# Lifting Glass carboy when full



## Harbrook (Jan 23, 2017)

Definitely a beginner question I'm sure!, and one thats asked in the title itself..
I'm about to rack my first wine in to a glass carboy and don't want to drop it when transferring it to its resting place. I've seen pictures of the carboy lifters people have that clamp on to the neck. Are these designed to use when the carboy is full or only when empty? 
What in your opinion is the best thing to buy for lifting the carboy safely when it is full of lovely wine?


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## dcbrown73 (Jan 23, 2017)

Do not lift a carboy if it has liquid in it with the handles that go around the neck. It can be done successfully, but that is a LOT of stress on the neck of the carboy and they have been known to break doing that! I have a few with handles on them and I only use the handle if they are empty.

I use a Brew hauler and small dollies (dollys?) on all my 6 gallon carboys.


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## Stevelaz (Jan 23, 2017)

You can also put it in a plastic milk crate and lift the crate. They fit very nicely in the crates! Thats the prob with the glass carboys, not only are they heavy when empty, very heavy when full. That why I mostly use the better bottle type carboys!


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## AZMDTed (Jan 23, 2017)

Yes, you can use the clamps that go around the neck when the carboy is full. I'm nervous doing it but I've never had an issue. Side note: If you use One Step or Oxiclean to wash your carboys be sure to rinse them extremely well. The cleaner makes glass slicker than a greased pig.


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## Harbrook (Jan 23, 2017)

I'm in the UK, I've looked everywhere for those brew Hauler straps or equivalent but can't find them anywhere :-(


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## Stressbaby (Jan 23, 2017)

AZMDTed said:


> Yes, you can use the clamps that go around the neck when the carboy is full. I'm nervous doing it but I've never had an issue.



I agree, I use the same handles when full, no issues.


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## vacuumpumpman (Jan 23, 2017)

My question is = why would you want to lift a full carboy anyways ? - LOL 

M<y back can not take it anymore and using the vacuum setup it is soo much faster and no more lifting !


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 23, 2017)

AZMDTed said:


> Yes, you can use the clamps that go around the neck when the carboy is full. I'm nervous doing it but I've never had an issue. Side note: If you use One Step or Oxiclean to wash your carboys be sure to rinse them extremely well. The cleaner makes glass slicker than a greased pig.



You're a brave man. I have visions of that carboy neck snapping right off. I will use them to tilt the carboy, then I get a hand under it and use that, along w/ the handle. I will carry them around by the handle when empty though.


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## BernardSmith (Jan 23, 2017)

If you do have to hoist a carboy I would sit the carboy in a plastic crate.


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## sour_grapes (Jan 24, 2017)

Although it is true that glass is much weaker in tension than in compression, I have blithely toted carboys by the neck (using the lifter that clamps on the neck). Indubitably, if one breaks, I will change form!


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## Putterrr (Jan 24, 2017)

not only does it put stress on the neck, it also puts stress on the handle itself. If you think you have the handle on tight and its not quite tight enough or losens over the decades, it can slip off and then the unthinkable. my friend had this happen with red wine of course. what a mess to clean up. at least he had concrete floors

cheers


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## hounddawg (Jan 24, 2017)

I gotta agree with vacuumpumpma, I have 5 bulging disk t-2 thru t-7 ,, 
T-12 is crushed, had a upper uperepidermail! Right leg below th3 knee amputartes An 1/2 of left foot amputated, just to name some of my
Health problems, l never lift a full ca4boy, I use the all in one vacuumpu p,, give stev3 a hollar. Vacuumpumpman, yuoll nev3r be sorry it aks9 has a bottling affafchment, and you can get it wjth a whose house filter, since 8t works off vacuum kit eleminates exposer to oxygen, plus while ra king under vacuum you are automacticly degassing, it speeds up all the process, makes life much easier and much more enjoyable, 
I bought two of the pumps, one I leave set up for racking and filter8ng and the other one I leave set up for bottling it als8 has a whole house filter on it, 5. Icron filters for reds and 1 micron filters for 2hites, I get my filters from eBay, spunn polypropylene, after eaçghuse you Prince then out in hot water and k-meta then put in a freezer bag an throw in the freezer, make sure to use a magic marker to mark the freezer bag with a 1 or 5 so you know your micron size when you use then next I bogought a box of 16 of each kind 4 years ago I still have over a half a box of each I think I gave about $28 dollars for each box of 16 now four years later I still got better then half of each unopened ,, I do just a little wine a year 50 to 70 gallons a year, you You can jimagne how much body pain that pump has saved me and while your at it give the head space eeleminater a try, if you got a carboy not full you don't have to top up with water or somebody else's store bought wine, using the head space eleminatter you will be making 100% you wine not watered down wine more adding someone else's wine to yourrs once you add store bought wine you might as well give up wine making and just bugy others wines,, but to each their own, but facts are facts,, my wine is my wine I don't need to doctor my wine by using store bought, I'm happy with what I make an so Ade my friends,,
Best of luck to you
Dawg 




QUOTE=vacuumpumpman;636178]My question is = why would you want to lift a full carboy anyways ? - LOL 

M<y back can not take it anymore and using the vacuum setup it is soo much faster and no more lifting ![/QUOTE]


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## Redbird1 (Jan 24, 2017)

I imagine if pumps were free, everyone would be using them and people wouldn't have to ask about an alternative that is nearly $200 cheaper. Failing that, I carry mine around in milk crates. Even though it sounds like people haven't had any issues carrying them by the neck, it seems like such an unnecessary risk to me.


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## StBlGT (Jan 24, 2017)

I only use my handles when the carboy is empty. Otherwise, i use the AIO or once in a while i will use my brew haulers....which are awesome. I am way too nervous about carrying a full carboy with the handle.


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## bkisel (Jan 24, 2017)

You think its an issue now? Just wait until your into your seventies and need to carry your 6 gallon carboys from the upstairs brewing area to the basement bulk aging and bottling area.


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## Putterrr (Jan 24, 2017)

get a longer racking hose

cheers


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## Floandgary (Jan 24, 2017)

Glass integrity aside, the neck handle provides room for only one hand. Unless you've been working out (a lot!), it's doubtful that you'd be able to carefully lift a loaded (lets say 6 gallon) carboy to table height with one arm. AIO or similar, Hauler straps, or milk crates would provide the most stable means of lifting product in a carboy.


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## Stevelaz (Jan 24, 2017)

bkisel said:


> You think its an issue now? Just wait until your into your seventies and need to carry your 6 gallon carboys from the upstairs brewing area to the basement bulk aging and bottling area.



Is that Larry David? Pretty pretty pretty good!


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## JamesGrape (Feb 15, 2018)

I know this an old thread, but what about an engine hoist if you have the room? Here is an example that is foldable with plenty of lift. Put your chest freezer on blocks and roll right underneath. This example is pricey, but I’m sure there are others.

https://www.autozone.com/engine-and...-crane-includes-8-ton-capacity-ram/902288_0_0


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## cgallamo (Feb 15, 2018)

tilt and support with the opposite hand. Never had an issue lifting 3 and 5 gal carboys with the handle. I have a 6.5 I'm a little more careful with.


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## JamesGrape (Feb 15, 2018)

I have a neck handle on my 6.5. I use it to tilt the carboy and get a hand under as you say. But getting the carboy in and out of the chest freezer is an effort worth a weight lifter yell. I think the pump is a great idea. But my first rack would have had me swabbing out my chest freezer due to operator error.


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## Ajmassa (Feb 15, 2018)

I don’t carry em full by the handle. But I do lift. Aside from neck tension i’d like to point out another issue. 
— I swap them often since I only have a couple handles. Sometimes I don’t have a screwdriver within arms reach and just hand tighten the wingnut. 
I had just windex’d the outsides and that sucker slipped right out the handle at waist high. A full 5 gal carboy! Fortunately I use rubber mats for this exact scenerio and only lost some wine. But This only hadto happen once for me to never cut corners while in a rush again.


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## vacuumpumpman (Feb 15, 2018)

JamesGrape said:


> I know this an old thread, but what about an engine hoist if you have the room? Here is an example that is foldable with plenty of lift. Put your chest freezer on blocks and roll right underneath. This example is pricey, but I’m sure there are others.
> 
> https://www.autozone.com/engine-and...-crane-includes-8-ton-capacity-ram/902288_0_0




For that price you could purchase almost 2 Allinonewinepumps !

I like to set the empty carboy in the freezer and transfer into using the allinone and I do the same to remove it also- I know they are heavy and they are even more slippery when taking them out ( depending on temp and humidity level s) and transferring them.


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## sour_grapes (Feb 15, 2018)

Ajmassa5983 said:


> I don’t carry em full by the handle. But I do lift. Aside from neck tension i’d like to point out another issue.
> — I swap them often since I only have a couple handles. Sometimes I don’t have a screwdriver within arms reach and just hand tighten the wingnut.
> I had just windex’d the outsides and that sucker slipped right out the handle at waist high. A full 5 gal carboy! Fortunately I use rubber mats for this exact scenerio and only lost some wine. But This only hadto happen once for me to never cut corners while in a rush again.



Dude, buy some more handles! Actually, this is true: I just went down and put the spare carboy handle I have (bought one too many) and put it into the box of wine I have set aside to send to you.


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## FTC Wines (Feb 16, 2018)

Well besides handles for Empty carboys, I have the carboys on rolling carts and a vacuum pump to transfer the wine. There fore I don't need to lift a full carboy ever. Roy ps don't ask about breaking a carboy & losing 5gals of wine!! (The reason for above)


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## JamesGrape (Feb 16, 2018)

Ok. I’m sold on the pump program 

Then I need to get full carboys from my wine-making outbuilding across the grass yard and into the house where we have a 54-degree wine room for storage. I’ll guess for that i’ll use a two-wheel hand truck with foam pipe wrap on the uprights, and a strap to hold the carboy onto the truck. Luckily no steps involved here, just the normal doorway transitions.


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## CDrew (Feb 16, 2018)

I thought it was just me! 250 pounds Primativo no problem!


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## JamesGrape (Feb 16, 2018)

Nice CDrew!


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## Donatelo (Feb 16, 2018)

Something I haven't seen talked about here is; " Why put it in a 6 gallon carboy when two 3-gallons will do."
easier to lift and if you decide to do something different, you can do it to half and let the other half continue .

Just my two cents.


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## JamesGrape (Feb 16, 2018)

Sometimes the obvious escapes me. Thanks for that 



Donatelo said:


> Something I haven't seen talked about here is; " Why put it in a 6 gallon carboy when two 3-gallons will do."
> easier to lift and if you decide to do something different, you can do it to half and let the other half continue .
> 
> Just my two cents.


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## balatonwine (Feb 16, 2018)

Donatelo said:


> Why put it in a 6 gallon carboy when two 3-gallons will do.



Half the number to clean. Half the number of airlocks to deal with. Half the number of setup actions to rack/bottle. Bulk aging is more consistent in one than two. Etc.


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## balatonwine (Feb 16, 2018)

It is sometimes nice to be able to move things. Even carboys. For all sorts of reasons. A few ideas:

One can get a chain hoist for $50 or less. And even those are still way overkill for just a carboy. And it is pretty easy to attach to a ceiling joist (6 gal is really not that heavy). If need to move around, hoist the carboy onto a table on wheels, or dollies are fine. Or if one wants, a rail track around your workspace for the hoist is a pretty easy DIY weekend project (because, again, if you are just lifting a carboy you do not need an degree in engineering to build such, and to handle these "minor" weights).


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## Scooter68 (Feb 17, 2018)

15 lbs for a glass carboy (According to someone's actual measurement on a scale
6 gallons at approx 10 lbs per gallon (That's high but error on the high side is good)

So a total of 75 lbs. Seems like someone could build a simple lever and frame without all the need for the hydraulics. The key is going to be to determine the height needed for the final lift with knowledge of the available overhead space limits. As long as the base is stable to avoid tipping right or left of lift. Hmm time for some DIY design work. 
I work with 3 gallon carboys so I'm looking at less than 45 lbs but still.... My bigger challenge is moving containers downstairs and upstairs between the kitchen (Upstairs) and the basement where I store bottles full (Aging wines) and empty, as well as post-bottling movement of the bottles. NOT fun carrying bottles in hands up and down some very steep old stairs. At least the thick oak stairs are solid as a rock. I've thought about a chute but then that means any container has to be sealed adequately to lay on at least a 45 degree angle.


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## Arne (Feb 18, 2018)

Scooter68 said:


> 15 lbs for a glass carboy (According to someone's actual measurement on a scale
> 6 gallons at approx 10 lbs per gallon (That's high but error on the high side is good)
> 
> So a total of 75 lbs. Seems like someone could build a simple lever and frame without all the need for the hydraulics. The key is going to be to determine the height needed for the final lift with knowledge of the available overhead space limits. As long as the base is stable to avoid tipping right or left of lift. Hmm time for some DIY design work.
> I work with 3 gallon carboys so I'm looking at less than 45 lbs but still.... My bigger challenge is moving containers downstairs and upstairs between the kitchen (Upstairs) and the basement where I store bottles full (Aging wines) and empty, as well as post-bottling movement of the bottles. NOT fun carrying bottles in hands up and down some very steep old stairs. At least the thick oak stairs are solid as a rock. I've thought about a chute but then that means any container has to be sealed adequately to lay on at least a 45 degree angle.



If you have a vac. pump, get some long hose. Vacuum will bring the wine upstairs and you can rack it back downstairs with gravity. No lifting. of full carboys. Arne.


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## pete1325 (Feb 19, 2018)

I use the handles but ALWAS support with the hand under the carboy. Knock wood......


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## Scooter68 (Feb 19, 2018)

Carrying a single 3 gallon carboy is not terribly hard but the hassle is taking the bottled wine downstairs after bottling, corking and shrink capping. Guess I need to find a good carrier that I can hold better than 4 bottles in two hands walking down stairs. Of course this is an older house with short steep steps. We even have a cushion for the head when you pass under a floor truss. 
Once downstairs I use a old typewriter stand to hold the carboy and set the empty carboy on a 1 x 12 wood piece on the floor. Eventually I'll work out a method for lifting full carboys (Other than the carry Web-straps)


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## winepittsburgh (Feb 19, 2018)

Use a milk crate. The carboys fit perfectly into them. You can also consider transferring wine with a diaphragm pump, vacuum pump, or pushing it with inert gas so that you don't need to keep changing the elevation of your carboys...


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## vacuumpumpman (Feb 19, 2018)

Yes milk crates work really well with wine-making . It can hold most carboys and bottles when filling and transferring to different stages ( sanitizing,bottling,corking,labeling, and boxing)


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## Just_Jack (Feb 25, 2019)

Although I’m new to this, I have avoided lifting full carboys by using a regular autosiphon to remove half the contents to another carboy at the same level, subject to the laws of siphoning. Then I have a half carboy of wine still on lees, for example, and another of clear wine that was just removed, both on the ground. To complete my racking, I only need to lift a half full carboy above ground level onto a sturdy chair and resume siphoning. Seems a lot better than trying to lift a full one. Is this a common practice?


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## ThreeSheetsToTheWind (Feb 25, 2019)

I lift them by keeping my legs straight, bending at the waist and lifting with a twisty jerky motion


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## sour_grapes (Feb 25, 2019)

Just_Jack said:


> Although I’m new to this, I have avoided lifting full carboys by using a regular autosiphon to remove half the contents to another carboy at the same level, subject to the laws of siphoning. Then I have a half carboy of wine still on lees, for example, and another of clear wine that was just removed, both on the ground. To complete my racking, I only need to lift a half full carboy above ground level onto a sturdy chair and resume siphoning. Seems a lot better than trying to lift a full one. Is this a common practice?



Common? I don't know if it is common, but it is wise! I don't do that myself, but I probably should. (Not getting any younger, you know!)


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## Walt (Feb 26, 2019)

Harbrook said:


> Definitely a beginner question I'm sure!, and one thats asked in the title itself..
> I'm about to rack my first wine in to a glass carboy and don't want to drop it when transferring it to its resting place. I've seen pictures of the carboy lifters people have that clamp on to the neck. Are these designed to use when the carboy is full or only when empty?
> What in your opinion is the best thing to buy for lifting the carboy safely when it is full of lovely wine?



Two solutions:
(1) Use stairs. Place empty carboy on a stairstep about halfway down the stairs. Fill as usual. When reacking, place another empty carboy on the stairs, about two stairsteps below the full carboy. Rack and repeat. Finish with a carboy about two stairsteps above the floor. Bottle from there. NO LIFTING EVER. Note: If your stairsteps are narrow, you may need to secure your carboys with a bungee cord.

(2) Switch from glass carboys to 3 gallon BetterBottle carboys, which are easy to lift even when full. I did this four years ago and have never looked back.


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