Lift trucks are used in warehousing, manufacturing, material handling, construction and mining applications to lift, engage and transport palletized loads. Forklifts have 3 basic kinds: a fork truck, manual drive and motorized drive. The load movement or travel is powered manually or by walking at the rear of the equipment with manual-drive forklifts.
Motorized-drive model lift trucks are complete with a motorized drive. In many instances, a seat or protected cab is part of the design in order to keep the operator comfortable and safe. Fork trucks are another kind which are motorized and consist of features such as cabs and backup alarms. In order to prevent the equipment from overturning, some 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.
Essential specifications to take into consideration when choosing lift trucks consist of 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 lift trucks comprise their fuel type and tire.
Different fuel options for forklifts include: LP or liquid propane, compressed natural gas or CNG, diesel fuel, propane, natural gas and gasoline. There are 2 basic kinds of tires used for operating fork trucks and forklifts: solid and pneumatic. Solid or cushion tires do not puncture and need less maintenance compared to pneumatic tires. The solid or cushion tires do provide less shock absorption overall. Pneumatic or air-inflated tires on the other hand offer excellent load-cushioning and drive traction.
There are 7 classes of lift trucks. The first class of lift trucks, Class I, is either stand-up or seated 3 wheeled units which are electric-motor rider trucks. Usually, rider units are counterbalanced and can have either pneumatic or cushion wheels. Class II lift trucks are electric motor units that are used 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. High lift models and automated pallet lift trucks are normally counterbalanced units. Class IV forklifts have cabs and seated controls. These types of forklifts are rider fork trucks with internal combustion or IC engines. Additionally, this class has solid or cushion tires.
Class V forklifts are rider fork trucks. They have seated controls and cabs, pneumatic tires and internal combustion or IC engines. Similar to Class IV forklifts, they are typically counterbalanced. Class VI lift trucks are tow tractor lifts which are designed for a sit-down rider. This particular class is supplied with IC or internal combustion or electric engines.
Class VII lift trucks are the last classification and consist of rough terrain forklifts, that are normally utilized in agricultural, construction and logging applications. Class VII lift trucks include all personnel carriers and burden carriers.