Forklifts are used in manufacturing, warehousing, material handling, construction and mining applications to lift, engage and transfer palletized loads. Forklifts have 3 main kinds: 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 lift trucks.
The motorized forklift models come equipped with a motorized drive and in lots of cases have a protected cab or seat in their design to keep the operator safe and comfortable. Fork trucks are a different kind that are motorized and consist of features such as backup alarms and cabs. In order to prevent the equipment from overturning, several forklifts are counterbalanced. Other models include safety rails, a rotating element like a turntable or other kinds of hand rails.
When selecting forklifts, important specifications to take into consideration consist of 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 lift trucks comprise their fuel type and tire.
Forklifts consist of various fuel options like: LP or liquid propane, CNG or compressed natural gas, diesel fuel, propane, natural gas and gasoline. There are 2 major types of tires used for operating fork trucks and forklifts: solid and pneumatic. Cushion or solid tires do not puncture and need less maintenance compared to pneumatic tires. The cushion or solid tires do offer less shock absorption in general. Air-inflated or pneumatic tires however provide great load-cushioning and drive traction.
There are 7 classes of lift trucks. The first class of forklifts, Class I, is either stand-up or seated 3 wheeled units that are electric-motor rider trucks. Typically, rider units can have either pneumatic or cushion wheels and are counterbalanced. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units which are utilized for order picking or stock applications in narrow aisle environments. These models offer extra swing mast or reach functions.
Forklift Class III lift trucks consist of walk-behind or standing-rider operated electric-motor trucks. Automated pallet lift trucks and high lift models are often counterbalanced units. Class IV forklifts have seated controls and cabs. These models are rider fork trucks with IC or internal combustion engines. Moreover, this class uses cushion or solid tires.
Rider fork Trucks are included in Class V. These machines would have cabs and seated controls, pneumatic tires and internal combustion or IC engines. Like Class IV forklifts, they are usually counterbalanced. Class VI lift trucks are tow tractor lifts which are designed for a sit-down rider. This particular class is supplied with internal combustion or IC or electric engines.
Class VII forklifts are the last classification and include rough terrain forklifts, that are normally utilized in agricultural, construction and logging applications. Class VII lift trucks consist of all burden carriers and employee carriers.