Lift trucks are used within warehousing, manufacturing, mining, material handling and construction applications to lift, engage and transfer palletized loads. Lift trucks have 3 basic kinds: a fork truck, manual drive and motorized drive. The travel or load movement is powered manually or by walking behind the equipment 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 safe and comfortable. Fork trucks are another kind which are motorized and consist of features like for example backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the equipment from tipping over, some forklifts are counterbalanced. Other models comprise safety rails, a rotating element such as a turntable or different types of hand rails.
When choosing lift trucks, essential specifications to take into consideration comprise 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 comprise different fuel options such as: liquid propane or LPG, 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: pneumatic and solid. Solid or cushion tires do not puncture and need less maintenance than pneumatic tires. The solid or cushion tires do provide less shock absorption overall. Air-inflated or pneumatic tires however provide great load-cushioning and drive traction.
For lift trucks, there are 7 classes. Class 1 forklifts incorporate electric-motor rider trucks, stand-up or seated 3 wheeled units. Typically, rider units are counterbalanced and may have either pneumatic or cushion wheels. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units that are used for order picking or stock applications in narrow aisle setting. These models offer extra swing mast or reach functions.
Class III lift trucks are either walk-behind or standing-rider 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 IC or internal combustion engines. Moreover, this class utilizes cushion or solid tires.
Class V forklifts are rider fork trucks. They have cabs and seated controls, pneumatic tires and internal combustion or IC engines. Like Class IV forklifts, they are normally counterbalanced. Class VI lift trucks 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 choice for use on rough terrain areas. They are a common feature in agricultural, construction and logging applications. Class VII lift trucks consist of all burden carriers and employee carriers.