Forklifts
In material handling, construction, manufacturing and warehousing applications, forklifts are commonly used to transport and lift palletized loads. With manual-drive forklifts, the load or travel movement is either walk-behind or powered manually. Motorized drive forklifts have a motorized drive. In various types of forklifts, the forklift has a protected cab or seat for the driver. Fork trucks include features like backup alarms, and cabs and are also motorized. Several kinds of forklifts are counterbalanced so as to prevent the vehicle from tipping over. Other models come equipped with safety rails, or a rotating element such as a turntable or a hand rail.
Other specifications that are essential to think about when choosing a forklift are the lift capacity and stroke. Lift capacity is defined as the supportable, maximum load or force. Stroke is defined as the difference between fully raised and fully lowered lift positions.
The type of tire and the type of fuel are also other key specifications which should be considered. The available fuel choices include: liquid propane or LP, natural gas, CNG or compressed natural gas, electricity, diesel, gasoline or propane.
There are two basic kinds of tires utilized for forklifts and fork trucks: solid and pneumatic. The solid or cushion tires need less maintenance compared to pneumatic tires and do not puncture as easy. 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 normally designed to be used on rough terrain. These machines are usually utilized in construction, agriculture and in logging environments. Lastly, Class VIII forklifts include all burden and personnel carriers. Dual Fuel forklifts frequently fit in this class.