Lift trucks are used to lift, engage and transport palletized loads in manufacturing, warehousing, material handling, mining and construction applications. There are 3 main kinds of forklifts: a manual drive, motorized drive and fork truck. The travel or load movement is powered manually or by walking at the rear of the machinery with manual-drive forklifts.
The motorized forklift models come complete with a motorized drive and in numerous cases have a seat or protected cab in their design to keep the operator comfortable and safe. Fork trucks are a different type that are motorized and comprise features like backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the equipment from turning over, some forklifts are counterbalanced. Other models comprise safety rails, a rotating element like for example a turntable or other kinds of hand rails.
Important specifications to take into account when choosing forklifts consist of 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 comprise their tire and fuel type.
Forklifts comprise various fuel options such as: liquid propane or LPG, CNG or compressed natural gas, propane, diesel fuel, natural gas and gasoline. There are 2 basic types of tires for operating fork trucks and forklifts: pneumatic and solid. Solid or cushion tires require less maintenance compared to pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The cushion or solid tires do offer less shock absorption in general. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires on the other hand offer great load-cushioning and drive traction.
There are 7 classes of lift trucks. The first class of lift trucks, Class I, is either stand-up or seated 3 wheeled units that 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 used for stock applications or order picking in narrow aisle setting. These models offer extra swing mast or reach functions.
Forklift Class III lift trucks include walk-behind or standing-rider operated electric-motor trucks. High lift models and automated pallet lift trucks are normally counterbalanced units. Class IV lift trucks have cabs and seated controls. These kinds of forklifts are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. Additionally, this class has solid or cushion tires.
Class V lift trucks are rider fork trucks. They have seated controls and cabs, pneumatic tires and IC or internal combustion engines. Similar to Class IV forklifts, they are usually counterbalanced. Class VI lift trucks are tow tractor lifts which are designed for a sit-down rider. This class is supplied with electric or IC or internal combustion engines.
Class VII lift trucks are the last classification and consist of rough terrain lift trucks, that are normally utilized in construction, logging and agricultural applications. Class VII lift trucks consist of all employee carriers and burden carriers.