Forklifts are used to raise, engage and transport palletized loads in warehousing, manufacturing, material handling, construction and mining applications. There are 3 basic types of forklifts: a manual drive, motorized drive and fork truck. The load movement or travel is powered manually or by walking at the rear of the machine with manual-drive lift trucks.
Motorized-drive model forklifts are complete with a motorized drive. In a lot of instances, a seat or protected cab is part of the design in order to keep the operator comfortable and safe. Fork trucks are another kind which are motorized and consist of features like backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the equipment from overturning, several forklifts are counterbalanced. Other models comprise safety rails, a rotating element like a turntable or other types of hand rails.
Important specifications to take into account when choosing lift trucks consist of lift capacity and stroke. 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. Additional specifications for forklifts comprise their fuel type and tire.
Different fuel options for lift trucks comprise: LP or liquid propane, compressed natural gas or CNG, diesel fuel, propane, gasoline and natural gas. There are 2 basic kinds of tires used for operating fork trucks and forklifts: solid and pneumatic. Cushion or solid tires need less maintenance than pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The solid or cushion tires do provide less shock absorption overall. Air-inflated or pneumatic tires on the other hand provide excellent load-cushioning and drive traction.
There are 7 classes of forklifts. The first class of lift trucks, Class I, is either stand-up or seated 3 wheeled units which are electric-motor rider trucks. Usually, rider units can have either pneumatic or cushion wheels and are counterbalanced. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units which are utilized for order picking or stock applications in narrow aisle setting. These types of forklifts offer extra swing mast or reach functions.
Forklift Class III lift trucks include standing-rider or walk-behind operated electric-motor trucks. High lift models and automated pallet lift trucks are often counterbalanced units. Class IV lift trucks have seated controls and cabs. These kinds of forklifts are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. Furthermore, this class uses cushion or solid tires.
Class V lift trucks 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 normally counterbalanced. Class VI forklifts are tow tractor lifts that are designed for a sit-down rider. This particular class is supplied with electric or IC or internal combustion engines.
Class VII forklifts are the last classification and include rough terrain lift trucks, which are usually utilized in construction, logging and agricultural applications. Class VII lift trucks consist of all burden carriers and personnel carriers.