Forklifts
In material handling, construction, warehousing and manufacturing operation, forklifts are commonly used to move and raise palletized loads. With manual-drive forklifts, the travel or load movement is either walk-behind or powered manually. Motorized drive forklifts have a motorized drive. In various models, the forklift has a protected seat or cab for the operator. Fork trucks include features such as cabs, and backup alarms and are additionally motorized. Some kinds of forklifts are counterbalanced so as to prevent the vehicle from tipping over. Other models are available with safety rails, or a rotating element such as a turntable or a hand rail.
The stroke and lift capacity are other factors which you must take into consideration when choosing a type of forklift. Lift capacity is defined as the maximum, supportable load or force. Stroke is defined as the difference between completely lowered and completely raised lift positions.
The type of fuel and the type of tire are also other vital specifications that should be considered. The available fuel choices include: natural gas, liquid propane or LP, electricity, CNG or compressed natural gas, diesel, gasoline or propane.
For fork trucks and forklifts, there are two basic kinds of tires which can be utilized. They are: solid and pneumatic. The cushion or solid tires need less maintenance than pneumatic tires and do not puncture easily. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires offer great drive traction and load-cushioning. At the end of the day, cushion or solid tires provide less shock absorption.
Class VII forklifts are generally designed for use on rough terrain. These kinds of machinery are normally used in agriculture, construction and in logging environments. Lastly, Class VIII forklifts have all personnel and burden carriers. Dual Fuel lift trucks frequently fit in this class.