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