Forklifts are used in manufacturing, warehousing, material handling, construction and mining applications to raise, engage and transfer palletized loads. Forklifts have 3 basic types: a manual drive, motorized drive and fork truck. The travel or load movement is powered manually or by walking at the rear of the machine with manual-drive forklifts.
Motorized-drive model lift trucks are complete with a motorized drive. In a lot of instances, a seat or protected cab is part of the design to keep the operator comfortable and safe. Fork trucks are a different kind that are motorized and consist of features like for instance cabs and backup alarms. In order to prevent the equipment from turning over, some lift trucks are counterbalanced. Other types of forklifts consist of safety rails, a rotating element like for example a turntable or different kinds of hand rails.
When choosing forklifts, essential specifications to take into consideration include lift capacity and stroke. 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. Additional specifications for forklifts comprise their type of fuel 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 major types of tires for operating forklifts and fork trucks: 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. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires on the other hand provide great drive traction and load-cushioning.
For forklifts, there are 7 classes. Class 1 forklifts include electric-motor rider trucks, seated or stand-up 3 wheeled units. Normally, rider units may 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 models provide extra swing mast or reach functions.
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 normally counterbalanced units. Class IV forklifts have seated controls and cabs. These types of forklifts are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. Moreover, this class has solid or cushion tires.
Class V lift trucks are rider fork trucks. They have cabs and seated controls, 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 lift trucks are the last classification and consist of rough terrain lift trucks, which are normally used in construction, logging and agricultural applications. Class VII lift trucks consist of all employee carriers and burden carriers.