Lift trucks are utilized in warehousing, manufacturing, mining, material handling and construction applications to raise, engage and transfer palletized loads. Lift trucks have 3 main types: a motorized drive, fork truck and manual drive. The travel or load movement is powered manually or by walking at the rear of the machinery with manual-drive forklifts.
Motorized-drive model forklifts are complete with a motorized drive. In numerous instances, a protected cab or seat is part of the design in order to keep the operator safe and comfortable. Fork trucks are a different type that are motorized and consist of features like for instance backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the equipment from overturning, some forklifts are counterbalanced. Other kinds of forklifts consist of safety rails, a rotating element such as a turntable or other kinds of hand rails.
When choosing lift trucks, essential specifications to take into consideration include stroke and lift capacity. Stroke is defined as the difference between the fully-lowered and the fully-raised lift positions. Lift capacity is the supportable, maximum load or forcforce or load. Other specifications for lift trucks consist of their fuel type and tire.
Forklifts include various fuel options like: liquid propane or LPG, compressed natural gas or CNG, propane, diesel fuel, gasoline and natural gas. There are 2 basic kinds of tires utilized for operating forklifts and fork trucks: solid and pneumatic. Cushion or solid tires need less maintenance than pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The solid or cushion tires do provide less shock absorption in general. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires on the other hand offer excellent drive traction and load-cushioning.
There are 7 classes of lift trucks. The first class of forklifts, Class I, is either seated or stand-up 3 wheeled units that are electric-motor rider trucks. Normally, rider units could have either cushion or pneumatic wheels and are counterbalanced. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units that are utilized for order picking or stock applications in narrow aisle setting. These kinds of forklifts provide extra swing mast or reach functions.
Forklift Class III lift trucks include standing-rider or walk-behind operated electric-motor trucks. High lift models and automated pallet lift trucks are usually counterbalanced units. Class IV lift trucks have seated controls and cabs. These kinds of forklifts are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. Furthermore, this class uses solid or cushion tires.
Rider fork Trucks are incorporated in Class V. These equipment will have seated controls and cabs, pneumatic tires and internal combustion or IC engines. Like Class IV forklifts, they are usually counterbalanced. Class VI forklifts are tow tractor lifts that are designed for a sit-down rider. This class is supplied with IC or internal combustion or electric engines.
Finally, Class VII forklifts are the perfect choice for use on rough terrain areas. They are a common feature in agricultural, construction and logging applications. Class VII lift trucks consist of all employee carriers and burden carriers.