Lift trucks are utilized in manufacturing, warehousing, mining, material handling and construction applications to lift, engage and transport palletized loads. Lift trucks have 3 basic kinds: a fork truck, manual drive and motorized drive. The travel or load movement is powered manually or by walking behind the equipment with manual-drive lift trucks.
Motorized-drive model forklifts are equipped with a motorized drive. In lots of instances, a protected cab or seat is part of the design to keep the operator safe and comfortable. Fork trucks are a different kind that are motorized and comprise features like for example backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the vehicle from tipping over, several forklifts are counterbalanced. Other kinds of forklifts include safety rails, a rotating element such as a turntable or different types of hand rails.
When choosing forklifts, important specifications to take into consideration include stroke and lift capacity. Stroke is defined as the difference between the fully-raised and the fully-lowered lift positions. Lift capacity is the maximum, supportable load or forcforce or load. Other specifications for lift trucks consist of their tire and type of fuel.
Forklifts consist of different fuel options like: LP or liquid propane, compressed natural gas or CNG, diesel fuel, propane, natural gas and gasoline. There are 2 major types of tires utilized for operating fork trucks and forklifts: pneumatic and solid. Cushion or solid tires need less maintenance compared to pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The cushion or solid tires do offer less shock absorption overall. Air-inflated or pneumatic tires however offer great load-cushioning and drive traction.
There are 7 classes of forklifts. The first class of lift trucks, Class I, is either seated or stand-up 3 wheeled units that are electric-motor rider trucks. Usually, rider units are counterbalanced and may have either pneumatic or cushion wheels. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units that are used for stock applications or order picking in narrow aisle setting. These kinds of forklifts provide extra reach functions or swing mast.
Class III lift trucks are either walk-behind or standing-rider operated electric-motor trucks. High lift models and automated pallet lift trucks are normally counterbalanced units. Class IV forklifts have seated controls and cabs. These models are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. In addition, this class uses cushion or solid tires.
Class V lift trucks are rider fork trucks. They have cabs and seated controls, pneumatic tires and IC or internal combustion engines. Like Class IV lift trucks, they are normally counterbalanced. Class VI lift trucks are tow tractor lifts which are designed for a sit-down rider. This class is supplied with electric or IC or internal combustion engines.
Finally, Class VII lift trucks are the perfect choice for use on rough terrain areas. They are a common feature in logging, agricultural and construction applications. Class VII lift trucks consist of all burden carriers and personnel carriers.