Buying Tips
When buying a forklift, there can be many factors to take into account since this decision can impact many things such as productivity, operating costs, machine downtime, and even worker morale.
When you are thinking of choosing a new or second-hand lift truck, the following is a short list of factors to take into account. There are several particular questions the sales consultant should address in order to help you choose the best option that is most suitable for your business.
Step 1: Identify Your Needs
Identifying your needs would eventually help that you could find the best most capable lift truck for your company. How big are your typical load sizes? Are they 3,000 pounds to 35,000 pounds or even heavier? How many hours every day would you be utilizing this machinery? Would you be running the machinery outdoors or indoors or possibly both? How wide are your narrowest aisles to go through? Correctly answering these questions would make certain that you are happy with the unit you pick.
Step2: Brand new Vs. Second-hand Forklifts
If you are planning to utilize your forklift more than 4 hours a day, you would probably want to purchase a new unit. The warranty benefits alone would really be handy. A used alternative will more than likely be enough for light duty and infrequent applications.
Step 3: Fuel Options
The huge electric forklift batteries will allow the forklift to run for around 8 hours. These specific power sources make lift trucks uniquely suited for indoor use since they generate no harmful emissions. Though electric models are normally more expensive than other models, they have lower operating costs. Electric lift trucks are a lot quieter to run and do not have fuel storage needs to think about. Additionally, these equipment have fewer moving parts so they have a longer life span since they have less components to get worn down.
Among the downsides of the battery operated forklifts is that they require battery recharging posts and this can take roughly 8 hours. There is an additional 8 hours needed for cooling. Recent innovations have made their way onto the market in order to significantly reduce charging time. The fast-charge technology has become a great new thing.
Step 4: Tire Choice
Forklifts are equipped with either pneumatic or inflated, air-filled tires or cushion tires that are made up of solid rubber. There can be also solid pneumatic tires which are a combination of the two. The pneumatic tire type is great to be used outside. Cushion tires are best to be utilized indoors and solid pneumatic tires are the perfect option for dangerous work environments where there is potential for regular tires being popped by sharp objects on rough terrain.