Forklift Specifications

The main identifying feature of a forklift is two horizontal arms that support the load and raise or lower it along a vertical mast. The forks are cantilever beams 3-6 ft long, supported on a cross frame that rides up and down the mast. The arm spacing is changeable to a limit of 3-5 ft apart, but its maximum load capacity is found at the 2 or 3 ft (24 or 36 in.) spacing. This maximum load capacity for the smaller units will be one to four tons, but there are large forklifts with capacities of 10 to more than 40 tons without the extending mast. The mast is held at the front end of a two-axle tractor unit while the rear axle carrying the engine serves as the counterweight to the load projecting out in front of the equipment. The mast is a structural frame with two vertical members to form the track for the fork beams to ride up and down. Some masts can be extended upward by telescoping sections of progressively smaller pieces of mast that are hidden in the basic height of mast. This allows the mast to extend from a 7 to a 9 ft height fully retracted to a maximum of more than 20 ft, from the surface supporting the forklift, when the mast is fully extended. All forklift masts can be tilted 50 to 100 back and up to 250 forward. The smaller angle may be the limit when the mast is fully extended. The tractor is somewhat unique in that on a majority of models, the front wheels are larger than the rear wheels, which are primarily for steering. The forklift tractor may have two- or four-wheel drive with a turning radius of about twice, somewhat more for four-wheel drive, the wheel base for maneuverability. The wheel base may be as short as about 4 ft to more than 8 ft long. A forklift generally has travel speeds up to 10 mph, but the largest units can move as fast as 25 mph. A desirable feature for a forklift is to have a torque-converter power transmission to provide smooth travel and avoid shaking a load off the equipment due to sudden starts and stops.