Forklifts
Forklifts are used to transfer, lift and engage palletized loads in construction, material handling, manufacturing and warehousing applications. With manual-drive forklifts, the travel or load movement is either powered manually or walk-behind. Motorized drive forklifts have a motorized drive. In various models, the forklift has a protected seat or cab for the operator. Fork trucks have features such as cabs, and backup alarms and are additionally motorized. Several kinds of forklifts are counterbalanced in order to prevent the vehicle from turning over. Other kinds of forklifts come outfitted with safety rails, or a rotating element such as a turntable or a hand rail.
Other factors that are essential to think about when choosing a forklift include the stroke and lift capacity. Lift capacity is defined as the maximum, supportable load or force. Stroke is defined as the difference between fully raised and fully lowered lift positions.
The type of tire and the type of fuel are also other key specifications that must be considered. The fuel choices available include: natural gas, liquid propane or LP, electricity, compressed natural gas or CNG, gasoline, propane or diesel.
For forklifts and fork trucks, there are two basic types of tires which can be utilized. They are: solid and pneumatic. The cushion or solid tires require less maintenance than pneumatic tires and do not puncture as easy. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires provide great drive traction and load-cushioning. At the end of the day, cushion or solid tires provide less shock absorption.
Class VII forklifts are generally designed for use on rough terrain. These types of machines are usually utilized in construction, agriculture and in logging environments. Lastly, Class VIII forklifts have all burden and personnel carriers. Dual Fuel lift trucks often fit in this class.