Lift trucks are used to raise, engage and transport palletized loads within warehousing, manufacturing, material handling, construction and mining applications. There are 3 main kinds of lift trucks: a manual drive, motorized drive and fork truck. The load movement or travel is powered manually or by walking behind the machine with manual-drive forklifts.
The motorized forklift models come equipped with a motorized drive and in many cases have a seat or protected cab in their design in order to keep the operator comfortable and safe. Fork trucks are another type that are motorized and comprise features such as backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the equipment from turning over, some lift trucks are counterbalanced. Other kinds of forklifts comprise safety rails, a rotating element such as a turntable or different kinds of hand rails.
Important specifications to take into consideration when choosing lift trucks include stroke and lift capacity. Stroke is defined as the difference between the fully-raised and the fully-lowered lift positions. Lift capacity is the maximum, supportable load or forcforce or load. Other specifications for forklifts comprise their tire and fuel type.
Forklifts consist of various fuel options like: liquid propane or LPG, compressed natural gas or CNG, propane, diesel fuel, natural gas and gasoline. There are 2 basic types of tires used for operating forklifts and fork trucks: pneumatic and solid. Solid or cushion tires require less maintenance compared to pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The cushion or solid tires do provide less shock absorption in general. Air-inflated or pneumatic tires however offer great drive traction and load-cushioning.
There are 7 classes of forklifts. The first class of forklifts, Class I, is either seated or stand-up 3 wheeled units which are electric-motor rider trucks. Usually, rider units are counterbalanced and may have either cushion or pneumatic wheels. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units which are used for stock applications or order picking in narrow aisle setting. These kinds of forklifts provide extra reach functions or swing mast.
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 usually counterbalanced units. Class IV lift trucks have cabs and seated controls. These kinds of forklifts 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 seated controls and cabs, pneumatic tires and IC or internal combustion engines. Like Class IV forklifts, they are normally counterbalanced. Class VI forklifts are tow tractor lifts that are designed for a sit-down rider. This class is supplied with IC or internal combustion or electric engines.
Finally, Class VII lift trucks are the perfect choice for use on rough terrain areas. They are a common feature in construction, logging and agricultural applications. Class VII forklifts consist of all employee carriers and burden carriers.