What to Understand About Lift Trucks

When you decide that it’s time to purchase a new or used lift truck, there are several factors that need to be looked at to ensure that you purchase the right truck.

Load Capacity

The load capacity is simply the maximum amount of weight a forklift can lift and move. If a forklift can’t pick up your product, it doesn’t do you any good. Note that the rated load capacity is for the load centered on the forks. If your load is off center, it reduces the load capacity tremendously. Unusually shaped loads can affect the capacity as well so be aware of that.

Lift Height

The lift height is the highest point at which the forklift can safely lift its load capacity. Keep in mind, that knowing your forklift’s lift height is important because you’ll want to take advantage of all the vertical space in your facility. Inventory space is very important in any warehouse – you must find a forklift that can manipulate a large percentage of the available space. If your forklift can’t get high enough to lift your product where it needs to go, the forklift is useless to you. It’s also important to keep in mind that the higher the forklift can lift product, the less load capacity it has.

Power Source & Environment

Forklifts can be powered by either Internal Combustion (propane, gas, diesel) or electric. It’s important to know where you’ll be using your forklift – the environment can greatly affect the type of forklift you select. If you’ll be using it mostly indoors, it seems to be more popular to use an electric or LP powered forklift. However, if you’ll be using it mostly outdoors, diesel and gas usually outperform electric and LP.

Where you’ll be using your forklift is key in choosing the right forklift for your business. Are you using the lift outside? If so, how’s the terrain? If it’s rough, you’ll need pneumatic tires (tough rubber equipped with treads). If you’ll be indoors, you can have pneumatic but cushion tires (smooth, rubber filled) work just fine.

Turning Radius

The amount of rack that you have at your facility relates directly to the amount of product you can store. If you have a lot of racking and not a lot of space, then it’s not wise to get a big forklift because then you won’t be able to move it through the aisles or around the corners. You’ll have to rely on a narrow aisle forklift to do the job.

Service & Support

If your facility operates 24/7, you’ll want and need a forklift dealer that is able to accommodate your needs. Be sure to check any reviews and look for award-winning support as well. It’s also a good thing to ask if any warranties are offered when you purchase a lift. Since newer lifts typically don’t break down very often, you should only need a preventative maintenance performed on your lift. It’s important that there is a maintenance agreement that the company offers to ensure that your lift runs at it’s fullest potential.

Lift Atlanta is sure to beat out other forklift dealers in your area in all 7 of the above-mentioned categories. Call us today and see what kind of deals we can get you! 770-987-3200