How to buy a used forklift ?

Plenty of good safety tips there, even if you don't speak German.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany
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Hey Steve,

What hall are you at??

forklift-shaped

Reply to
Pedroman

======================================= Hmmmm.....

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seems to work fine. Almost as bad as the bandsaw suicide photo, but funny.

Joe =========================================

Reply to
Joe Way

In the past thirty years, I've bought or leased about thirty five or forty forklifts, and although I don't claim to be an expert I will share my limited knowledge with you. Every brand on the market has it's pluses and minuses. The most important thing is that you determine what you want to do with the forklift and then buy the best machine for the job. The second most important thing is the ergonomics of the machine. Are the controls well placed and easy to use? Are you comfortable and do you have good visibility? Do you fit on the machine and can you reach all the controls easily? ( This has been a problem for me, I'm 6'6" and about 250# so most of the lighter machines make me feel like a grass hopper). Also, be aware of the length of the forks. Make sure that they have to proper length to safely lift the loads you intend to handle, i.e.; if you plan on moving mostly 48x40 pallets then the forks should be 42"-48" long. If most of you loads are shorter, than a 36" set of forks might work for you. Also, consider any fork attachments you might put on the machine, like carpet poles, crane attachments, rolls clamps, slip sheet forks, pull-pack clamps, etc, before you purchase a forklift. If you plan on adding any hydraulic powered attachments, will the pump and valve set handle the additional demands?

If you plan on using the machine a lot, buy the best one you can afford. However if you are going to use it once or twice a month, then you can buy a lot less machine and get good service out of it.

I've owned or leased Bakers, Clarks, Datsuns (Nissans), Yales, Hysters, TCM's Cats, Kalmar's, Toyotas, Towmotors,Linde and a Raymond. Each had its good points and its bad points. But each one did its job and each one had drivers that praised it or hated it. Most of my drivers have loved Hysters because of their "Monotrol" system (the "gas" pedal is also the transmission selector), I personally had a hard time driving Hysters because of me big feet and the although I owned the machines, I wasn't really a forklift driver. The Monotrol is a great system if the driver is experienced, but it is a little hard on drivers that don't have much experience.

If you plan on using the forklift indoors most of the time, usually propane is the best all around choice.

Low hours indicated less use. If you are going to use your new machine a lot, then look for something in the 1500-2000 hour range. I've had machines that ran over 120 hours a week for 3 three years and they were still in pretty good shape after 18000+ hours and I've seen 2000 hour machines that were scrap. If depends a great deal on the task the machines were doing, the care of the operators and the maintaince. I've always over maintained my equipment. ( A pound of grease is much cheaper than a pound of machined steel)

A sideshifter causes the load to move right or left, perpendicular to the forks.

I've never been a fan of electric forklifts, because of the operations I ran.

Cushion tire lifts are designed for any "hard" level surface. They really suck on loose gravel and sand. I used cushion tire lifts on asphalt and concrete and the trucks never complained, however because of the limited suspension, pot holes will cause major havoc.

I've never experienced a problem with propane going bad.

Sit down fork lifts tilt both forward and backward.

Most forklift dealers ca arrange for drivers training. There are also tape or DVDs available.

Reply to
Greg Postma

At HomeBuilders a couple of weeks ago, a huge overhead stage truss assembly hit the deck when a forklift operator went to tweaking the legs with his forklift. It was bad, but no one was hurt.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

All over. Presently C hall. The down of NADA.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

On Tue, 03 Feb 2004 20:57:06 -0800, Joe Way brought forth from the murky depths:

Thanks. I'll see you and raise you one:

Only in Canada...

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

I want to second the caveat about forklift dealers. Dealers put forklifts, on lease, into large facilities which have all kinds of operators, under all kinds of supervision, or none. Many of these forklifts are used three shifts a day and/or get abused to an incredible degree, and may be in poor shape after a few months. SOME WILL STILL LOOK NEW. Also, it is easy to put a really nice looking paintjob on a recently new machine, regardless of it condition otherwise. (its the weathering and wear of details which are hard to fix) You are taking a chance buying any used forklift. You are risking less money if you buy an older cheaper one. Some of the old forklifts are bullet proof. I have several forklifts, but the one I use the most is an Allis Chalmers 4,000# propane from the early sixties. I have a friend in the forklift repair business who tells me the transmission will never go out. It has manual steering. I like the old thing so much that when it started to smoke I put more than its market value back into the motor. It has a nice feel, never stalls when you bottom out the controls (a big factor, I think), easy to get on and off, easy to see past the mast, etc (ergonomics like the man said). The older forklifts usually are underrated for lift. My

4,000# AC will pick up 6,000#. A side shift is most important for tight loading, like in box trucks, and for pnumatic trucks operating on gravel. Otherwise it is so easy to get position on hard pavement, the sideshifts don't get used much. Around here (Cincinnati) the forklift market is in the toilet. You can get a really good truck for $2-3,000. My old AC wouldn't bring $1,000. Paul
Reply to
6e70

I spent a fair amount of time running a clark fork truck indoors, in very tight quarters, around a lot of expensive equipment. The side shift feature was worth it's weight in gold, absolutely.

There were some nights that the only way to get bins of parts in to where they needed to be, was by greasing them up with KY jelly and taking a running start at the goal.

Jim

================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================

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jim rozen

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mikee

Reply to
mikee

============================ Haw. I suspect that car was beyond repair.

Joe

Reply to
Joe Way

|On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 18:57:12 GMT, Larry Jaques | wrote: | | |>>Hmmmm.....

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seems to work fine. |>>Almost as bad as the bandsaw suicide photo, but funny. |>

|>Thanks. I'll see you and raise you one: |>

|>Only in Canada...

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|>

|============================ |Haw. I suspect that car was beyond repair.

It was a Geo to start with, a broken mirror would total it :) Rex in Fort Worth

Reply to
Rex B

It still is. But it is also know for its continuing education classes for those either looking to get better or change trades.

Reply to
Young_carpenter

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