Forklift Parts in More Detail
A lift truck is made of many parts. The main components that make up a lift truck are the truck frame, the engine parts, the overhead guard, the tilt cylinders and the wheels. What's more, a forklift has different kinds of attachments. All the components making up a forklift are all important as they work together to make the functions of the equipment possible. The following paragraphs describe a few of the forklift parts in detail.
The Overhead Guard - The overhead guard is actually the lift truck's metal roof, that sits atop the operator cab. It's job is to protect the operator whilst they are using the equipment. The overhead guard ensures that nothing falling from above onto the truck will hurt the driver or damage the controls in the cab. The overhead guard is essential to the frame assembly on some models.
The Mast - Mounted either to the forklift frame or the front axle, the mast is the vertical lift truck component made of interlocking rails. The mast allows the forks to move upwards and downwards whilst providing lateral stability. The interlocking rails could either have bushings or bushings as guides. There are a couple of ways the mast can be operated: chain operated with motive power provided by a hydraulic motor or hydraulically by one or more hydraulic cylinders.
Lift Truck Carriage - The carriage is the component which the forks and other kinds of attachments are mounted to. The carriage is in fact directly attached to the hydraulic cylinder and is connected by chains. To allow the forks to be raised and lowered, the carriage may have either bushings or rollers to guide it in the interlocking mast rails.
Load Back Rest - a back rest is a metal rack which prevents a load from falling backwards when the carriage is lifted to its full height. The back rest is either welded or bolted on to the carriage.
Forklift Attachments - a variety of attachments can be fixed to the front of the forklift truck. The most common attachment is forks. Also, there are rotators, rollers, L-shaped members, roll clamps, pole handlers and and all that. These various types of attachments are very helpful for moving various types of loads.