There are too many articles teaching you how to buy the good quality forklift. But what does ‘good quality’ mean for a forklift? What makes the forklift a quality one? Are there any clues to guide? Which point you cares about most? The quality or the purchasing price matter? In this post, you will find your own answer!
Firstly, let us see how the forklift looks.
From above picture, you will know the major parts in a forklift. And below are the name for each part. Different countries with different expressions. In china, we usually call them as showed below:
1, Inner mast | 2, Outter mast | 3, Lifting cylinder | 4, Load Bracket | 5, Fork carriage |
6, Fork | 7, Front wheel | 8, Tilting cylinder | 9, Rear wheel | 10, Counter balance weight |
11, Hood | 12, Seat | 13, Steering wheel | 14, Overhead guard |
In this table, Pls pay special attention to:
- The item 1, and 2, about the mast.
A good forklift mast supposes to be with a wide sight of view and great stability. We have the new model of 3T diesel forklift, whose mast channel steel is made from German Krupp steel, thinner mast with a wider view of sight. It’s thin, but the stability is pretty excellent!
I think you know Adolf Hitler? He was a friend of the Krupp family. Most Nazi weapons were made of… Krupp Steel. German weapons were of an exellent quality, so that’s why people HATE nazi’s but LOVE Krupp Steel. Hitler made a speech in which he stated ‘the youth of Germany should be fast like whippet-dogs, durable like leather and HARD AS KRUPP STEEL’ That was an ‘advertisement’ that still works today.
- Item 10, the counter balance.
It should be made of high quality cast iron. Otherwise there would lose some weight (or even break) and not able for any percentage of overload capacity for emergency or unexpected situations. You will never know that a quality forklift will save a huge cost for some unexpected situations one day.
- Item 3, and 8, the cylinders.
It should avoid any oil leakage possibilities anytime. ForkFocus pays a lot of attention to the seals to prevent oil leakage! And a strong con nection of the tilt cylinder to the mast has to be 100% assured. If this connection is not good, there would result in a bad accident.
- Item 14, overhead guard.
For Chinese forklift, there usually two of such designs for overhead guard. Pls find the picture as below:
The left one is the classic version and be on market for many years. It is strong, but the driver gets wet when used in rain.
This one is the current improved one, which was designed to greatly protect the driver and doesn’t influence the driver’s sight of view. Of course there is plenty of room for tall people like westen people to sit comfortably!
Secondly: What compose a good quality forklift?
Price shows the quality. There are some components greatly decides the forklift price, like chassis thickness, engine, transmission, pump valve, ,,,etc. All these matters.
*** The thickness to a forklift chassis.
Every manufacture has different chassis thickness. It greatly decides its basic price for forklift. Usually the thickness is 5mm, even higher. Thicker Chassis ensures a solid forklift structure and able to stand 20% overload for unexpected circumstance.
The thickness of Forkfocus forklift. 20% overload is allowable without any problem!. Click to know more.
*** Engine.
Forklift with Chinese engine is much competitive because of the lower price. The drawback is the emission standard problems and the black smoke happens. But now, as china product is much welcomed by world market, Chinese engine was greatly improved too. There are better Chinese engine on the market, like Xinchai common rail engine. This engine noise, emission standard, vibration, are much better and the performance is even somewhat better than some Japanese engine. If you are interested in this engine, pls feel free to contact us
When comes to Japanese engine, it occurs to our mind these brands: Isuzu, Yammar, Mitsubishi, Nissan. Among these, Isuzu engine is the widely used engine and easy to buy this engine parts in the world. Japanese engine is a few thousand us dollars higher than that with Chinese engine, and parts are available in many sources in many countries.
*** Transmission. Likewise, there are Chinese transmission and Japanese brand transmission like Okamura. There are many brands of Chinese transmission and prices are different. Thus makes the Chinese forklift with different prices as well.
*** Radiator. An excellent radiator is able to keep an excellent heat balance system. The radiator prices differ a lot. Pls find pictures for two kinds of radiator as below:
This one is widely used. It’s small and light.
While this one, it’s much expensive. Price could be double. It’s much bigger and heavier with special design. The forklift with the right radiator is able to stand long working hours, for example, 6 hours working continuously in a tropical climate. It’s the good choice for forklift rental business.
With a good understanding for these components, you will know how good your forklift will be. Please do not fucus too much on the purchasing price because every coin has its value and every component has its price! Buying cheap will make you happy at the buying moment. But the high price will be long forgotten when you are happy for many years with your machine.
Thirdly: What makes a comfortable driving experience.
A good driving experience can makes the driver an easy and comfortable operation and greatly enhance the productively. This can be improved from these points: Pedal space, location of control level, less vibration, and a very good seat.
A Wider pedal space, enough for a big foot to operate, will makes the driver pedals easily. The reasonable location and height of the control level, will greatly reduce driver’s fatigue. So does the good seat and the acceptable vibration from the forklift. Good Driving experience will have the driver enjoy working.
See? You see: when you realize that there are so many factors we should concern when buying an ideal forklift, that you will understand price should not be the most concern. We have to think the quality behind its price. With good evaluation from those points above, you will have your own ideas.
If you need the forklift to do a light work, like a 1 or 2 hours a day, that you can try the ordinary one.
But if you need to do the heavy work or three-shifting job, that you’d better to choose highly configurated forklift. Otherwise you’ll be annoyed by continuously repair work. Either the buyer or the seller would never want such happen. So, make sure you deliver the right buying need to the seller. ForkFocus, is much experienced at this. We will always provide the most practical lifting solutions based on your real needs – for a very competative price!
