Overwhelmed by all the choices when it comes to buying lift trucks? A Guide to Purchasing Forklifts

Posted February 18th, 2010 by admin and filed in Benefits and Tips
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February 18, 2010

By Gino Crisanti
CEO

Sometimes having a large selection of products from which to choose can be a blessing. In other cases, though, having too many choices can be a curse.

If you’re in the market for lift trucks and are feeling a bit like a kid in a candy store, you’re not alone. Plenty of equipment purchasers feel this way. It takes a great deal of research into the many variations on the forklifts theme before you can logically eliminate some models from consideration.

According to the Industrial Truck Association (ITA), there are more than 20 different types of lift trucks and more than 20 lift-truck manufacturers in the United States and Canada. The ITA represents the manufacturers of lift trucks and their suppliers who do business in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The ITA has organized the different types of lift trucks into eight classes:

  • Class 1: Electric-Motor Rider Trucks
  • Class 2: Electric-Motor Narrow-Aisle Trucks
  • Class 3: Electric-Motor Hand Trucks
  • Class 4: Internal-Combustion Engine Trucks–Cushion Tires
  • Class 5: Internal-Combustion Engine Trucks–Pneumatic Tires
  • Class 6: Electric and Internal-Combustion Engine Tow Tractors
  • Class 7: Rough-Terrain Forklift Trucks
  • Class 8: Personnel and Burden Carriers

When it comes time to select the type of lift truck that best fits your needs, our best advice is don’t begin with the truck. First, focus on what you’re going to move and store, such as pipe, furniture, or cartons. Second, figure out what kind of storage module you’ll use, such as a single-deep rack, a double-deep rack, a push-back rack, or a flow-through rack.

Once you have considered the product that you are going to handle and the exact application, you can start to look at the various types of trucks. If, for example, you’re going to be using a double-deep rack, this will limit your choice to a deep-reach truck. If you’re going to be loading pipe or lumber, you will probably want a side-loader truck or four-way truck.

Another consideration is how much capacity you need. Truck capabilities range from 3,000 to 35,000 pounds, with the average being 5,000 to 8,000 pounds.

Height is also a factor. If all you do is load and unload, you won’t need as much height as you would when stocking on high warehouse shelves.

Many buyers wonder whether it makes sense to buy a used lift truck. If you’re only going to use the truck for a couple of hours a day, you may want to consider used equipment. But if you plan to use it for four or more hours, it makes more sense to buy new.

Finally, take into account a truck’s life-cycle cost, not just its up-front cost. If you want quality, you generally have to pay for it up-front.  If you accept lower quality, you will end up paying more through the life of the product.

If you want more information or assistance with your next buy, give us a call. For over 100 years, the experts at Williams Machinery have been helping prospective buyers make these tough choices. We’ll break it down for you and lay out your options.