Buying Tips
When purchasing a forklift, there are many things to take into consideration as this decision may impact a lot of things like productivity, operating expenses, machine downtime, and even employee morale.
When you are thinking of choosing a new or second-hand forklift, the following is a short list of factors to take into consideration. There are actually several particular questions the sales consultant must address in order to help you choose the best option that is right for your business.
Step 1: Identify Your Requirements
Identifying your needs will eventually help that you can find the best most capable forklift for your business. How big are your standard load sizes? Are they 3,000 pounds to 35,000 pounds or even heavier? How many hours every day will you be using this equipment? Would you be running the machinery indoors or outdoors or potentially both? How wide are your narrowest aisles to travel through? Answering these questions correctly would ensure you are satisfied with the unit you choose.
Step2: Brand new Vs. Second-hand Forklifts
You may want to buy a brand new unit of lift truck if you are planning to utilize your forklift for more than 4 hours a day. The warranty benefits alone would come in handy. A used alternative will probably be enough for light duty and infrequent applications.
Step 3: Fuel Options
The large electric forklift batteries will allow the forklift to run for roughly 8 hours. These specific power sources make lift trucks uniquely suited for indoor use because they produce no harmful emissions. Even if electric models are generally more expensive than other units, they have lower operating costs. Electric forklifts are much quieter to run and do not have fuel storage needs to consider. In addition, these machinery have fewer moving components so they have a longer life span as they have fewer components to get worn down.
The electric lift truck is not without its disadvantages though. These machinery need recharging stations that can take as much as 8 hours th charge. There is an additional 8 hours needed 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 wonderful 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 are also solid pneumatic tires that are a combination of the two. The pneumatic tire style is great to be used outdoors. Cushion tires are best for indoor use and solid pneumatic tires are the perfect option for dangerous work environments where there is a risk for standard tires being popped by sharp objects on rough terrain.