Lift trucks are utilized within manufacturing, warehousing, material handling, construction and mining applications to lift, engage and transport palletized loads. Lift trucks have 3 main kinds: a manual drive, motorized drive and fork truck. The travel or load movement is powered manually or by walking behind the machinery with manual-drive lift trucks.
The motorized forklift models come complete with a motorized drive and in many cases have a protected cab or seat in their design to keep the operator safe and comfortable. Fork trucks are another type that are motorized and consist of features such as backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the machinery from turning over, some forklifts are counterbalanced. Other models comprise safety rails, a rotating element such as a turntable or different types of hand rails.
When selecting lift trucks, essential specifications to take into account consist of lift capacity and stroke. Stroke is defined as the difference between the fully-lowered and the fully-raised lift positions. Lift capacity is the supportable, maximum load or forcforce or load. Additional specifications for forklifts consist of their tire and fuel type.
Forklifts include different fuel options like: liquid propane or LPG, CNG or compressed natural gas, propane, diesel fuel, gasoline and natural gas. There are 2 basic kinds of tires utilized for operating fork trucks and forklifts: pneumatic and solid. Cushion or solid tires require less maintenance than pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The cushion or solid tires do provide less shock absorption overall. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires however offer excellent drive traction and load-cushioning.
For forklifts, there are 7 classes. Class 1 lift trucks incorporate electric-motor rider trucks, stand-up or seated 3 wheeled units. Normally, rider units could have either pneumatic or cushion wheels and are counterbalanced. Class II forklifts 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.
Class III forklifts are either standing-rider or walk-behind operated electric-motor trucks. Automated pallet lift trucks and high lift models are usually counterbalanced units. Class IV forklifts have seated controls and cabs. These models are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. Moreover, this class uses solid or cushion tires.
Rider fork Trucks are incorporated in Class V. These equipment would have cabs and seated controls, pneumatic tires and IC or internal combustion engines. Similar to Class IV lift trucks, they are typically counterbalanced. Class VI forklifts are tow tractor lifts that are designed for a sit-down rider. This particular class is supplied with IC or internal combustion or electric engines.
Finally, Class VII lift trucks are the perfect option for use on rough terrain areas. They are a common feature in construction, logging and agricultural applications. Class VII forklifts include all personnel carriers and burden carriers.