Forklift Advice Please

I used to drive them back in my youth lol.

They are expensive to buy... Think about maintenance too... Maybe look at leasing with a service contract rather than buying outright?

I've no idea what the prices might be though but probably worth comparing.

I used to drive these ones
https://www.linde-mh.co.uk/en_uk/Products/Forklift-hire/

we've got some 3 wheel ones at work, they are Hyster RO1.6-2.0 supplied by Briggs equipment.  You need a dedicated charge bank that will also monitor battery health.  They are quite new as all of the other ones we have are traditional diesel ones.  Assume you are not operating in a zone 1 or 2 environment you wont need pyroban (license to print money) modifications.

You need to decide if you need it capable of operating outdoors (i.e. off-loading trucks in the wet), or it will be from the back of a loading bay so it's always dry.  we got the reach trucks as they are much more compact, but still with the ability to go outdoors.  you can get "Isle" trucks to, which literally just go up and down very tight racking without the need to turn.

That's a point.. Consider the surface inside and outside in the yard... The flatter the better lol.

We had a fleet of about 8 electric ones with a big battery station, but also a couple of Toyota gas powered ones for yard work where the ground was a bit more uneven.

They required a cage for the spare gas bottle storage slightly away from the main building I guess due to safety regs.

You'll need to watch the forklift safety video - very important this!...

She will also need a proper FLT drivers licence and LOLER inspection schedule for insurance/legal regs compliance 

LOLER = Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations. 

Edit- that'll need to include inspections of any warehouse racking too. 

Do the pallets need lifting onto racking? (I'm guessing so otherwise a pump truck would probably do)

edit:  Way back in the early 90's I worked at a small wine importers - we all used to drive the forklift with zero qualifications .... utterly bonkers thinking back on it 😱
(See also climbing around on the racking to retrieve one or two bottle of [whatever] when we did picking every afternoon!)

Edit- that'll need to include inspections of any warehouse racking too. 

which don't fall under LOLER but under PUWER - Which even our LOLER inspector who had been signing off on racking and workbenches for years didn't know. 

common mistake apparently. 

The problem with owning a "Hyster" forklift, is that some joker always scrawls an "S" in front of  the "Hyster" logo!!

which don't fall under LOLER but under PUWER - Which even our LOLER inspector who had been signing off on racking and workbenches for years didn't know. 

I actually did know!! But I'll bet our workshop benches aren't inspected. I suppose that would include all the big tool cupboards and cabinets as they carry a fair old weight. I suppose I'll have to go and discuss with the compliance engineer...

🥫🪱🪱

Can I suggest you call the Green Line - https://www.mitsubishi-forklift.co.uk/contact

They're good trucks, my wife's marketing agency does their marketing & I once dressed up as the Easter Bunny to hide eggs around their warehouse...

Do not underestimate the damage one can do to a squishy human or a building. Regular inspection of the Flt as mentioned and decent continued training of anyone using it. Unless you have racking I'd have goods delivered by a tail lift and use a pallet truck.

No idea what constitutes a good or bad forklift, but I do know they are incredibly fun to drive.

Even if you don't have a license or work in that capacity, but have convinced the boss to allow you to blast about on it in the yard moving and stacking empty pallets.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Some of the delivery wagons don't have tail lifts so she needs to unload them in the yard. Also she does have racking and plans to get additional pallet racking. She's currently using a lifter but it only works with euro pallets so she's looking to upgrade to a proper forklift. I'm looking forward to having a go on one in the yard but we will take a training course to keep things safe.

As others have said lease one and make sure all servicing and mandatory checks are included as is a replacement FLT if yours if out of service. Who's driving it, what are they licenced to drive and don't forget refresher training. Counter balance is the most common (truck and licence), unless you have a specific requirement, narrow aisles for example. Match the racking layout to the truck capbilities. Gas or electric, not diesel, unless you want black grime on every thing. Got 3 phase  power as you'll probably need that for the charger. Bottom line go tall to a leasing company and let them guide you. You do not want the hassle and responsibility of owning one.

Do not let unlicensed people drive it. HSE will crucify you if there's an accident.

Make absolutely sure anyone operating one has the proper training. I once witnessed a fatality when a girl was helping out her stepdad in a yard next to where I was refitting a sailing vessel and she overloaded one which then toppled. As it went over it was obvious that she tried to climb out. 

Sideshift on the forks can be pretty useful. Don't use any attachments on the forks unless everything is rated correctly. They change the centre of gravity on the truck ans can significantly impact what weight can lifted safely.

A basic counter balance course is usually 3 to 4 days but I did mine a long time ago.

Posted by: stumpyjon

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A basic counter balance course is usually 3 to 4 days but I did mine a long time ago.

I don't think it's that long now. A lot of this kind of training has been dumbed down on recent years. 

Forklift driver (amongst other duties) here. Initial training is usually 3 days, refresher training (every three years) is 1 day. We have 1 gas truck for the really heavy lifts and 3 electric trucks. All have side shift and one has fork positioners which are great if you have to lift lots of different size pallets. Do not let unqualified people drive under any circumstances, corporate manslaughter charges would really put a dampener on your day.

Do not let unqualified people drive under any circumstances, corporate manslaughter charges would really put a dampener on your day.

If you're managing other people driving it's worth knowing something about what the qualifications involve and how qualified drivers should actually be driving them as -  most people I see driving  them on my travels are ignoring their training and deliberately circumventing safety features like the seat belts. Unfortunately I watched a guy die that way and in the years since I've only seen one forklift driver not doing exactly what he was doing before he died.

So if you're going to have other people driving for you at least sit in on the theory part of the training so you know what they should be doing.

Christ, that's awful @oceanskipper and @maccruiskeen

This thread has reminded me of the safety (real one) video of the guy reaching out of the truck to grab a clip board and job sheet getting his arm folded 90 degrees the wrong way