Fork Lifts

Patrick

Anyone have any advice for buying a used forlift? propane or electric??? is clark a good brand?

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Originally Posted by Celtic
Like I said...I'm sure you are very good at what you do ~ whatever that is and where ever it happens.

nlgutters

Clarks are good. I have a propane and never had any problems with it.

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www.nlseamlessgutters.com

Patrick

what is the cost for the operation? Can you take the tank to the hardware store to re-fill it or do you have to have a company come swap the tanks for you? how often do you have to fill it?

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Originally Posted by Celtic
Like I said...I'm sure you are very good at what you do ~ whatever that is and where ever it happens.

Mike Finley

Important question to ask is are you going to run it on a totally smooth surface or will it have to go over dirt/gravel ect....

That's the first thing you need to know to determine if you can go electric, gas or propane. Most electric have those little tiny wheels.

Next you need to know how high the reach is you will need.

I have two propane tanks and refill at a local grill store that sells propane. I filled the tank on it now in January, but I don't run it that often, maybe 1-2 hours a weeks at most.

jtpro

All long with the other's point VENTALATION!!!

I drove the propane one's indoors years ago piss poor ventalation causes interesting side effects!

Could have been the dead animal carcases too though!

Patrick

smooth, it will only be used indoors maybe on occasion in the parking lot. Maybe only used a few times a month. just would be handy for "those times" when we need one.

the highest we would need to lift is probable 12-14 feet but gennerally just enough to take stuff off a flat bed truck

__________________
Originally Posted by Celtic
Like I said...I'm sure you are very good at what you do ~ whatever that is and where ever it happens.

SC sawdaddy

If I had to buy a lift I'd be looking at a Lull. You need a pretty good bit of room but dang those suckers are handy.

Kgmz

We have 3 forklifts, a propane Hyster, propane Daewoo, and a electric Lektro.

I have had the Lektro for 22 years now and the only thing I have had to do to it is replace the batteries two times. It is a 2000 lb capacity and 12' lift. The Hyster and Daewoo are 5000 lb capacity and 3 stage masts with a lift of about 15-16 feet. These have had a few problems. I had to replace the exhaust on the Daewoo from the flexpipe coming off of the manifold to muffler. A water pump and a few hydraulic hoses on the transmission on the Hyster. A couple of relays, sending units for water temp and oil pressure, etc, etc.

When you look for one check it out thoroughly, especially the exhaust. I was surprised how expensive those parts were and the exhaust parts are all proprietory since they are so small and have some tight bends to fit. I tried a muffler shop for the muffler but they could not get anything that small.

Overall I really like the Lextro and keep it at my home shop, the others are at our other two locations. And I like the Daewoo better than the Hyster. As for the exhaust I think not using it that much may have contributed to its deterioration since it may not have got hot enough to get rid of any moisture.

As for the Clark forklifts they are fine and don't seem to have anymore problems than other brands. My neighbor has a Clark that I borrowed whenever I needed a lift before I bought the Hyster and Daewoo.

Mike Finley

Damn dude! You're like a forklift mogul!

Mike Finley

If I could do it over again, I'd spend the extra dough on the full monty, one that has one of those extension sissor type things so you can reach into a pick up truck bed and then a side to side feature.

Maybe time to trade up.

loneframer

Gotta go versitile, I always say. 36,000 with 2000 hours on it.

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Mike Finley

Show off.

BCConstruction

My uncle has 6 or 7 fork lifts and he swears by the Toyota's. He has a few IC's with reach and a couple of EM's that i have used a few times my self when i used to help him out and they amaze me at how high and far back in racks some of them can reach. The only issue with the EM versions was charging them every night and the guys would sometimes forget to plug them in. IC's used to stay outside most of the week unloading the trucks and they held up well. Used to have a Hyster which was beast and that thing would lift 50+ton without an issue.

mics_54

Loneframer hahah that squirtboom plow rocks! is that yours? plowing a roof seems scarey! but not as scarey as shoveling I guess. Think I would get some plexy and a heater tho

BCConstruction

That is cool. My mate would have loved that when he was hanging off roofs in the winter in whistler clearing roofs with a harness on and his mate holding him lol.

joshua1

Hi, If you want a forklift for occasional use on smooth surfaces, buy a used toyota electric. They are cheap enough, bulletproof and practical. Sorry, you may have got good use from your clark, but they are generally a poor machine with flimsy build and mechanics hate fixing them - you can buy them for buttons over here, because nobody wants them. Jungheinrich also make a good electric, but parts are seriously dear. When you buy any electric, the battery condition is the deal breaker, a replacement will run from 2500-7000 bucks, so not to be overlooked lightly.

Propane powered can be troublesome, require a lot of tuning to keep in good running order, and are a pain as they get older. If you were only using it occasionaly a gas engine would be better and less complicated.(Propane ones are just a standard gas engine with a conversion kit on the induction side)
Diesel is the holy grail, but you will pay for the privelege.

Would a skid-steer with a set of forks suffice for your lifting needs? If it would, you can do a lot more with the one machine than just shifting pallets, they are damn versatile little beast - JCB's robot is also a good dual purpose, a mini-teleporter cum skid steer that will lift good weight.

The daddy is the telescopic though, had one, sold it, and now miss it like hell whenever somthing awkward needs hefting - never seen one plough snow before though, but looks ideal for the job. J

mics_54

no thanks button on this forum section but thats good info joshua. I love my skidsteer. Does the work of ten men and I don't have to grease it near as much.

joshua1

Hi Mics, couldn't agree more, our bobcat is forklift, dozer, sand carrier etc, and its never called in sick or gone home early, taken a long liquid lunch or hidden where I couldn't see it! The other little diamond is the takeuchi 750kg mini-ex we got this year, fitted with a rock-breaker, it is just a work horse for tight access jobs and amazes me daily with what it can do. I thought when the dealer delivered it as a demo that it would be a toy, all my guys were sceptical, but fitted with a thumb, three types of bucket and the breaker, it has done serious work - we loaded 80 tonnes of crushed stone into a dumper with it in one long day, simply amazing. we also have a 6 ton hitachi ex-60, and pretty much don't bother bringing it to a job anymore, the little tak can handle most things, makes less or no mess and when its done, it drives up into the back of one of our vans - low-loader nomore!

loneframer

That lift actually belongs to a good friend of mine. He also has 2 different length jibs, a trash bin, a 7'x16' platform, a 4'x16' "diving board" platform and a box grader attachment. Some guys have all the cool stuff.