Forklifts are used within manufacturing, warehousing, material handling, construction and mining applications to raise, engage and transfer palletized loads. Lift trucks have 3 main types: a manual drive, motorized drive and fork truck. The load movement or travel is powered manually or by walking at the rear of the equipment with manual-drive lift trucks.
The motorized forklift models come equipped with a motorized drive and in a lot of cases have a protected cab or seat in their design to keep the operator safe and comfortable. Fork trucks are a different type which are motorized and include features like for example cabs and backup alarms. In order to prevent the machine from overturning, some forklifts are counterbalanced. Other models consist of safety rails, a rotating element like for instance a turntable or different kinds of hand rails.
When choosing lift trucks, important specifications to take into consideration 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 maximum, supportable load or forcforce or load. Additional specifications for forklifts consist of their type of fuel and tire.
Forklifts consist of different fuel options like: liquid propane or LPG, compressed natural gas or CNG, diesel fuel, propane, gasoline and natural gas. There are 2 basic kinds of tires for operating fork trucks and forklifts: solid and pneumatic. Solid or cushion tires need less maintenance compared to pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The cushion or solid tires do provide less shock absorption in general. Air-inflated or pneumatic tires however provide great load-cushioning and drive traction.
For forklifts, there are 7 classes. Class 1 lift trucks include electric-motor rider trucks, stand-up or seated 3 wheeled units. Usually, rider units are counterbalanced and may have either cushion or pneumatic wheels. Class II forklifts are electric motor units which are utilized for order picking or stock applications in narrow aisle environments. These kinds of forklifts offer extra reach functions or swing mast.
Class III forklifts are either walk-behind or standing-rider operated electric-motor trucks. High lift models and automated pallet lift trucks are normally counterbalanced units. Class IV lift trucks have seated controls and cabs. These kinds of forklifts are rider fork trucks with IC or internal combustion engines. Moreover, this class uses cushion or solid tires.
Class V lift trucks are rider fork trucks. They 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 which are designed for a sit-down rider. This particular 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 agricultural, construction and logging applications. Class VII lift trucks consist of all personnel carriers and burden carriers.