It is a common misconception that there is only one type of forklift. We can understand why. They just lift things, right? Well, that’s where you’re wrong. There are many different types of forklift and they are all specifically made to possess their own qualities and primary uses. Let’s take a look at the array of forklifts out there.
Counterbalance Forklift Trucks
These trucks are the most commonly found forklifts and the first one that springs to mind when you ask most people about forklifts. With forks that protrude from the front of the machine, counterbalance trucks have no outrigging arms or legs. This means that the truck can be driven to exactly where the load is. Therefore, operation is straightforward as no additional reach facility is needed. Available as electric, diesel or gas powered, counterbalance trucks usually have side shifts, driver cabs and mast tilt facilities. Marrying up with the name, these trucks use a counterbalance weight design, relying on a weight at the back of the truck to off-set the load at the front. Also, electric counterbalance trucks operate via a small counterweight due to the battery serving as both a source of power and a ballast.
3 Wheel Counterbalance Forklift Trucks
Although working to the same premise as normal counterbalance machines, these trucks allow optimum manoeuvrability through the use of a single drive wheel in the machine’s rear centre. Due to this machine’s tight turning circles, three-wheel counterbalance forklift trucks are perfect to use small, tight places. This is why they are often used both indoors and outdoors. The mixture of tight manoeuvrability and counterbalance under-clearance allows efficiency and productivity.
Reach Trucks
Providing maximum lift height and easy access, these trucks were designed predominantly to be used in warehouses. The word ‘reach’ is in the name as the fork carriage reaches out past the stabilising legs and into racking. The reach can be further than 10 metres while still being usable in tight, compact places. Some reach trucks are made with a tilting cab to provide the operator with a comfortable viewing position. Reach trucks sometimes have a camera fitted on the fork carriage that transmits a signal to an LCD screen to assist navigation. These trucks are not best suited for outdoor use as the low under-carriage clearance can be impractical on uneven surfaces. Also, the electric power systems are vulnerable in wet conditions or if shaken.
Hand Pallet trucks (aka Pump Trucks)
These trucks are non-powered tools that can lift weights up to 3,500kg. Much simpler in their operation, pump trucks have an operator that slides the forks into the pallet, therefore ‘pumping’ the handle to raise the load. With front wheels that are inside the forks, a hydraulic jack is raised, resulting in the forks separating from the front wheels. This then forces the load vertically until the floor is cleared. There is a plethora of hand pallet trucks about:
- Standard pallet compliant
- Low profile
- All terrain
- Narrow fork spread
- Wide fork spread
- Long forked
- Short forked
- Euro pallet compliant
- Foldable
- Stainless Steel Construct
Teletrucks – Forklift Trucks
These trucks are specialist machines. With an extending mast operating on a boom, (as appose to a straight, rigid mask on a counterbalance truck) the main benefit of these trucks is their accessibility. Most teletrucks grant the operator easy access to both sides of a delivery vehicle from one side only; providing great efficiencies. However, there are drawbacks to these trucks. The main issue is their cost as they are massively more expensive than counterbalance trucks, for example. Also, due to the complicated design and structure of these machines, reliability issues can often come into play.
As you can see, there is much more to a forklift than merely two forks that lift up and down. The structure and design across all different forklifts vary, resulting in different forklifts being well equipped to certain scenarios.