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