Forklifts have gone through a major evolution since their introduction to the market during the 1920s. These machines are now much stronger and smarter. These kinds of machinery have revolutionized the material handling arena and have become exceptional workhorses in our warehouse and distribution facilities all over the world.
The initial forklifts roughly 100 years ago, started as really simple pieces of motorized machines that were only capable of transporting pallet loads from one place to another. Nowadays, really sophisticated models are offered in the marketplace. These models are offered in a wide variety of weight capacities, different designs and many lifting heights. Moreover, these equipments come with various ergonomic designs to enhance driver comfort and a lot of new safety features. Keeping the operator as comfy as possible could greatly add to the overall productivity attained during a shift.
A key feature placed on nearly all of the available lift trucks on the market are tires and forks. Tires allow the equipment to move around and the forks can lift and carry loads. The basic application and design of different types of forklifts utilized in distribution centers, warehousing operations and manufacturing facilities is included in this specific article.
Counterbalanced Forklifts
Counterbalanced Forklifts comprise: Electric forklift models and Internal Combustion or IC units.
Narrow-Aisle Lift Trucks
Narrow Aisle Forklifts consist of: Turret Trucks, Reach Trucks and Order-Pickers.
Low Lift Pallet Jacks or Pallet Trucks
Pallets Jacks consist of Electric-Powered Pallet Trucks as well as Non-Powered Pallet Trucks.
Counterbalanced Forklift Trucks
The lift truck is the most common kind of lift truck. This unit is the counterbalanced, sit-down kind. A weight found in the equipment's rear is responsible for counterbalancing the load's weight. The counterbalance is what prevents the forklift the truck from tipping over.
Usually, a counterbalanced lift truck has a lifting height of around 16 feet, 189 inches is the most popular. What's more, these units are capable of lifting a range between 4,000 to 6,500 pounds. Counterbalanced forklifts are available with backup alarms and different other kinds of safety features like for example lights.
Roughly 60% percent are electric models and approximately 40% percent are internal combustion units. Each kind of lift truck has a specific place and is ideal to complete a lot of different tasks. Depending on whether or not you will be utilizing the machine outside or indoors and what kind of terrain and surfaces you will be operating on, as well as what specific types of cargo you would be utilizing determines the kind of lift truck that you would select.