Lift trucks are used to lift, engage and transfer palletized loads in manufacturing, warehousing, material handling, construction and mining applications. There are 3 basic kinds 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 equipment 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 a different type that are motorized and consist of features like for example cabs and backup alarms. In order to prevent the machine from overturning, some forklifts are counterbalanced. Other types of forklifts consist of safety rails, a rotating element like for instance a turntable or different kinds of hand rails.
Important specifications to take into consideration when selecting forklifts 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 supportable, maximum load or forcforce or load. Other specifications for lift trucks consist of their tire and type of fuel.
Forklifts consist of different fuel options like: LP or liquid propane, compressed natural gas or CNG, propane, diesel fuel, natural gas and gasoline. There are 2 basic types of tires for operating forklifts and fork trucks: pneumatic and solid. Cushion or solid tires require less maintenance compared to pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The solid or cushion tires do offer less shock absorption overall. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires however provide excellent drive traction and load-cushioning.
There are 7 classes of forklifts. The first class of lift trucks, Class I, is either stand-up or seated 3 wheeled units that are electric-motor rider trucks. Normally, rider units are counterbalanced and could have either cushion or pneumatic wheels. Class II forklifts 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. High lift models and automated pallet lift trucks are often counterbalanced units. Class IV forklifts have cabs and seated controls. These models are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. In addition, this class utilizes cushion or solid 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 typically counterbalanced. Class VI forklifts are tow tractor lifts which are designed for a sit-down rider. This particular class is supplied with internal combustion or IC or electric engines.
Class VII forklifts are the last classification and consist of rough terrain forklifts, which are usually used in logging, agricultural and construction applications. Class VII forklifts consist of all personnel carriers and burden carriers.