Buying Tips
When buying a lift truck, there are actually a lot of factors to take into consideration since this decision could impact numerous things like productivity, operating costs, machine downtime, and even employee morale.
Here is a short list of things to think about when deciding on a brand new or used forklift. There are actually some specific questions the sales consultant should deal with to be able to help you select the best alternative which is best for your business.
Step 1: Identify Your Needs
Making the time to identify your requirements would help ensure that you could find a capable equipment. What size are your typical loads? Are they 3,000 pounds to 35,000 pounds or even heavier? How many hours every day will you be using this machinery? Will you be running the machine outdoors or indoors or potentially both? How wide are your narrowest aisles to go through? Accurately answering these questions would ensure you are satisfied with the unit you pick.
Step2: Used Vs. New Lift Trucks
If you are planning to utilize your forklift more than 4 hours per day, you would probably want to purchase a brand new model. The warranty benefits alone would come in handy. A used option will probably be enough for light duty and infrequent applications.
Step 3: Fuel Options
The huge electric lift truck batteries will allow the forklift to run for about 8 hours. These specific power sources make lift trucks uniquely suited for indoor application as they produce no harmful emissions. Although electric units are generally more pricey than other models, they have less operating costs. Electric forklifts are much quieter to run and do not have fuel storage requirements to consider. What's more, these machines have less moving components so they have a longer life span since they have less components to get worn down.
The electric lift truck is not without its disadvantages though. These machinery require recharging stations that can take as much as 8 hours th charge. There is an added 8 hours required for cooling. Recent changes have made their way onto the market so as to significantly reduce charging time. The fast-charge technology has become a great new thing.
Step 4: Tire Choice
Common lift trucks use cushion tires made up of solid rubber or they will be outfitted with pneumatic or air-filled, inflated tires. Several forklifts would utilize a solid pneumatic tires, that is a combination of the two kinds of tire. The pneumatic tire kind is perfect to be used outdoors. Cushion tires are great to be utilized indoors and solid pneumatic tires are the best alternative for hazardous work settings where there is a risk for standard tires being popped by sharp objects on rough terrain.