Stagemaker® chain hoists (also called chain motors) are a new and modern design, incorporating all of the best features. Lighter and smaller than the other common brand, these hoists are a great value. The most popular sizes for portable applications are 1/2 ton, 1 ton, and 2 ton. There is a significant safety advantage when using Stagemaker configuration \'A\'(4 pin direct control configuration) versus the more common brand hoist (4 pin power plus 3 pin low voltage control). There is always the possiblity of a cable being pinched, causing a short. This can happen in number of ways. A lighting truss could bump into a speaker cluster, or someone could close the lid of a road case on a cable. Any short in the 4 pin power cable for the more common brand, or a Stagemaker 4 pin cable will cause a breaker to trip. No harm is done except the mechanical damage to the cable. If the 3 pin control line for the common brand hoist has a short while the hoist has power, two of the three shorting combinations will cause that hoist to run away in a random direction, even if the pickle has been removed from the system. Stagemaker® hoists are configured to your requirements for amount of lift chain and control/power setup. Please call with your requirements and we will provide a quote.