Forklifts
In material handling, construction, warehousing and manufacturing applications, forklifts are usually utilized to move and raise 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 numerous kinds of forklifts, the forklift has a protected seat or cab for the operator. Fork trucks have features such as backup alarms, and cabs and are also motorized. Various models of forklifts are counterbalanced so as to prevent the vehicle from tipping over. Other types of forklifts come outfitted with safety rails, or a rotating element such as a hand rail or a turntable.
The stroke and lift capacity are other factors that you should take into consideration when selecting a kind of forklift. 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.
Some of the other important specifications for the forklift include fuel type and tire type. The available fuel choices are: liquid propane or LP, natural gas, compressed natural gas or CNG, electricity, gasoline, propane or diesel.
For forklifts and fork trucks, there are two basic kinds of tires which can be utilized. They are: pneumatic and solid. The cushion or solid tires need less maintenance than pneumatic tires and do not easily puncture. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires offer load cushioning and great drive traction. 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 usually used in construction, agriculture and in logging environments. Lastly, Class VIII forklifts include all personnel and burden carriers. Dual Fuel lift trucks typically fit in this class.