Forklifts are used to raise, engage and transport palletized loads within warehousing, manufacturing, material handling, mining and construction applications. There are 3 main types of forklifts: a manual drive, motorized drive and fork truck. The travel or load movement is powered manually or by walking at the rear of the machine with manual-drive lift trucks.
The motorized forklift models come equipped with a motorized drive and in many cases have a seat or protected cab in their design in order to keep the operator safe and comfortable. Fork trucks are another type that are motorized and consist of features like backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the equipment from turning over, several lift trucks are counterbalanced. Other models consist of safety rails, a rotating element like a turntable or other kinds of hand rails.
When selecting forklifts, essential specifications to take into account consist of 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. Additional specifications for forklifts include their type of fuel and tire.
Forklifts comprise various fuel options such as: liquid propane or LPG, compressed natural gas or CNG, diesel fuel, propane, natural gas and gasoline. There are 2 major kinds of tires for operating forklifts and fork trucks: pneumatic and solid. Cushion or solid tires require less maintenance than pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The cushion or solid tires do provide less shock absorption in general. Pneumatic or air-inflated 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 which are electric-motor rider trucks. Usually, rider units are counterbalanced and can have either cushion or pneumatic wheels. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units which are used for stock applications or order picking in narrow aisle setting. These models offer extra swing mast or reach functions.
Class III lift trucks are either walk-behind or standing-rider operated electric-motor trucks. High lift models and automated pallet lift trucks are usually counterbalanced units. Class IV forklifts have cabs and seated controls. These models are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. Additionally, this class uses cushion or solid tires.
Rider fork Trucks are included in Class V. These machines will have cabs and seated controls, pneumatic tires and internal combustion or IC engines. Similar to Class IV forklifts, they are typically counterbalanced. Class VI lift trucks are tow tractor lifts which are designed for a sit-down rider. This particular class is supplied with IC or internal combustion or electric engines.
Finally, Class VII forklifts are the ideal choice for use on rough terrain areas. They are a common feature in agricultural, construction and logging applications. Class VII lift trucks include all personnel carriers and burden carriers.