Forklifts
In material handling, construction, warehousing and manufacturing applications, forklifts are commonly utilized to transport and lift palletized loads. With manual-drive forklifts, the travel or load movement is either walk-behind or powered manually. Motorized drive forklifts have a motorized drive. In various types of forklifts, the forklift has a protected seat or cab for the driver. Fork trucks include features like for example cabs, and backup alarms and are also motorized. Various models of forklifts are counterbalanced so as to prevent the vehicle from tipping over. Other kinds of forklifts come outfitted with safety rails, or a rotating element like a turntable or a hand rail.
The lift capacity and stroke are other factors which you should take into consideration when choosing a type of forklift. Lift capacity is defined as the supportable, maximum load or force. Stroke is defined as the difference between completely raised and fully lowered lift positions.
The type of tire and the type of fuel are also other vital specifications which must be considered. The available fuel choices are: liquid propane or LP, natural gas, electricity, CNG or compressed natural gas, propane, diesel or gasoline.
There are two basic kinds of tires used for forklifts and fork trucks: pneumatic and solid. The solid or cushion tires require less maintenance than pneumatic tires and do not easily puncture. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires offer great drive traction and load-cushioning. At the end of the day, cushion or solid tires offer less shock absorption.
Class VII forklifts are generally designed to be utilized on rough terrain. These types of machines are normally utilized in construction, agriculture and in logging environments. Lastly, Class VIII forklifts have all personnel and burden carriers. Dual Fuel lift trucks typically fit in this class.