Lift trucks are used in manufacturing, warehousing, mining, material handling and construction applications to raise, engage and transfer palletized loads. Lift trucks have 3 basic kinds: 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 forklifts.
The motorized forklift models come complete with a motorized drive and in lots of cases have a seat or protected cab in their design in order to keep the operator safe and comfortable. Fork trucks are a different type that are motorized and comprise features like for instance backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the equipment from tipping over, some forklifts are counterbalanced. Other types of forklifts include safety rails, a rotating element like a turntable or different kinds of hand rails.
Important specifications to take into consideration when choosing lift trucks include lift capacity and stroke. Stroke is defined as the difference between the fully-lowered and the fully-raised lift positions. Lift capacity is the supportable, maximum load or forcforce or load. Additional specifications for forklifts comprise their type of fuel and tire.
Forklifts consist of different fuel options such as: liquid propane or LPG, CNG or compressed natural gas, diesel fuel, propane, natural gas and gasoline. There are 2 basic types of tires for operating fork trucks and forklifts: solid and pneumatic. Cushion or solid tires need less maintenance compared to pneumatic tires and do not puncture. The cushion or solid tires do provide less shock absorption overall. Air-inflated or pneumatic tires on the other hand provide excellent drive traction and load-cushioning.
There are 7 classes of lift trucks. The first class of forklifts, Class I, is either seated or stand-up 3 wheeled units which are electric-motor rider trucks. Usually, rider units can have either cushion or pneumatic wheels and are counterbalanced. Class II forklifts are electric motor units which are used for order picking or stock applications in narrow aisle environments. These models offer extra swing mast or reach functions.
Class III lift trucks are either standing-rider or walk-behind operated electric-motor trucks. High lift models and automated pallet lift trucks are often counterbalanced units. Class IV forklifts have cabs and seated controls. These kinds of forklifts are rider fork trucks with IC or internal combustion engines. Furthermore, this class has cushion or solid tires.
Class V forklifts are rider fork trucks. They have seated controls and cabs, pneumatic tires and internal combustion or IC engines. Like Class IV forklifts, they are normally counterbalanced. Class VI lift trucks are tow tractor lifts which are designed for a sit-down rider. This particular class is supplied with electric or internal combustion or IC engines.
Class VII lift trucks are the last classification and include rough terrain forklifts, that are normally utilized in logging, agricultural and construction applications. Class VII lift trucks include all employee carriers and burden carriers.