Forklifts are used in warehousing, manufacturing, construction, mining and material handling applications to lift, engage and transfer palletized loads. Lift trucks have 3 basic kinds: a manual drive, motorized drive and fork truck. The travel or load movement is powered manually or by walking behind the equipment with manual-drive lift trucks.
The motorized forklift models come equipped with a motorized drive and in lots of cases have a seat or protected cab in their design in order to keep the operator safe and comfortable. Fork trucks are a different kind that are motorized and include features like for example backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the equipment from overturning, several lift trucks are counterbalanced. Other types of forklifts comprise safety rails, a rotating element like a turntable or different kinds of hand rails.
Essential specifications to take into consideration when selecting forklifts include stroke and lift capacity. Stroke is defined as the difference between the fully-lowered and the fully-raised lift positions. Lift capacity is the supportable, maximum load or forcforce or load. Other specifications for forklifts consist of their type of fuel and tire.
Forklifts include various fuel options like: liquid propane or LPG, CNG or compressed natural gas, propane, diesel fuel, natural gas and gasoline. There are 2 major kinds of tires for operating fork trucks and forklifts: pneumatic and solid. Solid or cushion tires do not puncture and require less maintenance than pneumatic tires. The cushion or solid tires do provide less shock absorption overall. Air-inflated or pneumatic tires on the other hand offer excellent load-cushioning and drive traction.
For lift trucks, there are 7 classes. Class 1 lift trucks incorporate electric-motor rider trucks, stand-up or seated 3 wheeled units. Typically, rider units are counterbalanced and may have either cushion or pneumatic wheels. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units that are used for order picking or stock applications in narrow aisle environments. These models provide extra swing mast or reach functions.
Forklift Class III lift trucks consist of walk-behind or standing-rider operated electric-motor trucks. Automated pallet lift trucks and high lift models are often counterbalanced units. Class IV lift trucks have seated controls and cabs. These models are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. Moreover, this class uses solid or cushion tires.
Class V forklifts are rider fork trucks. They have cabs and seated controls, pneumatic tires and internal combustion or IC engines. Similar to Class IV forklifts, they are usually counterbalanced. Class VI forklifts are tow tractor lifts which are designed for a sit-down rider. This particular class is supplied with electric or IC or internal combustion engines.
Class VII lift trucks are the last classification and include rough terrain lift trucks, that are commonly utilized in agricultural, construction and logging applications. Class VII forklifts include all employee carriers and burden carriers.