Counterbalanced Forklift Trucks
A counterbalanced forklift have a heavy weight at the rear to counterbalance any
weight the truck ends up carrying at the front, obviously up to a certain limit. This is the reason for the name 'counterbalance forklift truck'.
Specifying a counterbalance fork truck for your application is sometimes not straight forward due to the number of variations available, following is a brief guide on the few types of counterbalance forklift available to you.
Walkie Pallet Trucks
The Walkie Pallet Truck is at the least expensive end of the scale and is primarily used for moving fairly small product. Because of the movability of this lift truck piece of equipment, you can use it almost anywhere you need to.
Walkie Stackers
The Walkie Stackers are very similar to the Walkie Pallet trucks. The main difference being that they are used to lift product much higher than the Walkie pallet trucks. They are still easy to get into tight places, but are made to lift extra high for the stacking capability. Walkie stackers are really multifaceted and designed for use in a range of applications. Stackers can lift up to 2.0 tonne with mast heights reaching 6.0 metres.
Standard Walkie Stackers are are used extensively in warehousing and storage environments for moving low volume pallets.
Rider Pallet Trucks
Rider Pallet Trucks, unlike the Walkie line of lifts, have the operator seated within the machine as opposed to walking behind. The Rider Pallet Trucks are used extensively for dock loading and unloading.
Sit Down Counter Balanced Trucks
The Sit Down Counter Balanced Trucks are known for their different designs. They feature a three wheel as well as a four wheel forklift. They are made to be ridden, and are tough as well as durable trucks.
A standard counterbalanced forklift truck is made up of the following features:
The Truck Frame - The truck frame is the main body of the truck to which the mast, axles, wheels, counterweight, overhead guard and power source are all attached. The frame may or may not have fuel and hydraulic fluid tanks constructed as part of the frame assembly.
The Counterweight - The counterweight on
counterbalance forklifts are mainly a heavy cast iron balllast added to the rear of the forklift truck frame. The sole purpose of the counterweight is to counterbalance the load being lifted, it goes without saying that the counterweight is only effective within the lifting capacity of the forklift and this should not be exceeded. If the forklift is powered by an electric motor then the big lead-acid battery itself may serve as part of the counterweight.
The Forklift Cab - The cab is the area that has a seat for the driver along side the control pedals, steering wheel, levers switches and a dashboard containing operator readouts. Sometimes the drivers cab is left open air other times they are fully enclosed, but it is always surrounded by a steel cage-like overhead guard assembly.
The Overhead Guard - Designed to protect the driver from falling objects the overhead guard is a metal roof support by posts at each corner of the cab. The Overhead Guard helps to minimise any risk to the forklift operator.
The Power Source - The source of power to the forklift may consist of an internal combustion engine that can be powered by LP gas, CNG gas, gasoline or diesel fuel. Electric forklifts are powered by either a battery or fuel cells that provide power to electric motors. The motors may be either DC or AC types, and there are differing benefits and restrictions to all types of fuel.
The Mast - The forklift mast is the vertical assembly that does the work of raising and lowering the load. The mast is made up of interlocking rails that also provide lateral stability. The interlocking rails may either have rollers or bushings as the guides.
The Carriage - is the component to which the forks or other attachments are mounted. The carriage is mounted into and moves up and down the mast rails by means of chains or by being directly attached to a hydraulic cylinder.
Attachments - There are many different types of fork attachements available, these may include extensions, sideshifters, carton clamps, multipurpose clamps, rotators, fork positioners, carpet poles, pole handlers, container handlers, roll clamps and many others.
by: Paul Wheater
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