Lift trucks are used within warehousing, manufacturing, material handling, construction and mining applications to lift, engage and transfer palletized loads. Forklifts have 3 basic types: a motorized drive, fork truck and manual drive. The load movement or travel is powered manually or by walking at the back of the equipment with manual-drive forklifts.
The motorized forklift models come equipped 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 kind that are motorized and consist of features like backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the machinery from tipping over, several forklifts are counterbalanced. Other types of forklifts consist of safety rails, a rotating element like for instance a turntable or different types of hand rails.
Important specifications to take into account when selecting forklifts comprise lift capacity and stroke. 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. Additional specifications for lift trucks include their fuel type and tire.
Forklifts include various fuel options such as: LP or liquid propane, compressed natural gas or CNG, diesel fuel, propane, gasoline and natural gas. There are 2 basic kinds of tires used for operating forklifts and fork trucks: solid and pneumatic. Cushion or solid tires require less maintenance than pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The cushion or solid tires do provide less shock absorption in general. Air-inflated or pneumatic tires however offer great drive traction and load-cushioning.
There are 7 classes of lift trucks. The first class of lift trucks, Class I, is either seated or stand-up 3 wheeled units which are electric-motor rider trucks. Usually, rider units may have either cushion or pneumatic wheels and are counterbalanced. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units that are utilized for order picking or stock applications in narrow aisle environments. These types of forklifts 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 kinds of forklifts are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. Furthermore, this class uses solid or cushion tires.
Rider fork Trucks are included in Class V. These equipment will have seated controls and cabs, pneumatic tires and internal combustion or IC engines. Similar to Class IV lift trucks, they are normally counterbalanced. Class VI forklifts are tow tractor lifts that are designed for a sit-down rider. This class is supplied with electric or IC or internal combustion engines.
Lastly, Class VII lift trucks are the ideal choice for use on rough terrain areas. They are a common feature in construction, logging and agricultural applications. Class VII forklifts consist of all personnel carriers and burden carriers.