Forklifts are utilized to lift, engage and transport palletized loads within manufacturing, warehousing, material handling, construction and mining applications. There are 3 basic kinds 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 equipment with manual-drive forklifts.
The motorized forklift models come complete with a motorized drive and in numerous cases have a protected cab or seat in their design in order to keep the operator comfortable and safe. Fork trucks are another type which are motorized and consist of features like for instance cabs and backup alarms. In order to prevent the machinery from turning over, several lift trucks are counterbalanced. Other kinds of forklifts consist of safety rails, a rotating element such as a turntable or different types 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 maximum, supportable load or forcforce or load. Other specifications for forklifts consist of their tire and fuel type.
Forklifts comprise different fuel options like: liquid propane or LPG, CNG or compressed natural gas, diesel fuel, propane, natural gas and gasoline. There are 2 major kinds of tires used for operating forklifts and fork trucks: solid and pneumatic. Cushion or solid tires require less maintenance compared to pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The cushion or solid tires do offer less shock absorption overall. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires on the other hand provide excellent load-cushioning and drive traction.
There are 7 classes of lift trucks. The first class of forklifts, Class I, is either seated or stand-up 3 wheeled units which are electric-motor rider trucks. Normally, rider units are counterbalanced and may have either cushion or pneumatic wheels. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units which are utilized for order picking or stock applications in narrow aisle setting. These models provide extra reach functions or swing mast.
Class III forklifts are either standing-rider or walk-behind operated electric-motor trucks. Automated pallet lift trucks and high lift models are normally counterbalanced units. Class IV forklifts have cabs and seated controls. These kinds of forklifts are rider fork trucks with IC or internal combustion engines. In addition, this class uses solid or cushion tires.
Rider fork Trucks are included in Class V. These machinery will have cabs and seated controls, pneumatic tires and internal combustion or IC engines. Like Class IV lift trucks, they are typically counterbalanced. Class VI lift trucks are tow tractor lifts that are designed for a sit-down rider. This particular class is supplied with IC or internal combustion or electric engines.
Class VII forklifts are the last classification and consist of rough terrain forklifts, which are commonly used in construction, logging and agricultural applications. Class VII forklifts consist of all burden carriers and employee carriers.