Would be nice to know a make, model, and serial #. If the OP would like, here is some requests and advice.
1. Make, model, amd serial#. There will be a data plate on it somewhere, hopefully. About the size of an index card. Also, try to find out a manufacture date. I am going to take a stab here and guess it's not a reach truck but a 3 wheeler counterbalance. Easy way to tell, a reach truck has outriggers with 4"-5" wheels at the ends. The outriggers extend outwards towards the forks. A counterbalance 3 wheeler will have 2 wheels at the base of the mast usually around a foot in diameter. The reason I say 3 wheeler is that with a battery that big, reach trucks usually have a very tall collapsed height and would require either a low-boy or be laid down to transport. 3 wheelers usually don't have a tall mast. Reach trucks however, are way more popular and numerous than 3 wheelers.
2. Find out exactly what is wrong with the battery. Ask your buddy. Either the battery is old and won't hold a charge very long or it is damaged. May have a bad cell, bad cable, maybe he didn't bother to find out, maybe he did. Either way, good to find out.
Here is my rationale for dumping it. Only you can decide what you want to do but here is simply my humble opinion. You already know the pros of keeping this truck, now here are the cons.
You gotta get the thing running. Have to figure out the battery issue. Used batteries will buy you a couple years at best then you are back to where you are now. Reconditioned batteries are a scam. Repeat, a scam! Industrial batteries only have so many life cycles in them I don't care what you do to them. Steam clean them and paint, does nothing for adding life cycles. These batteries are made to expend a certain amount of amp hours over a 6 hour period. If you don't use them in that fashion, the life cycle is shortened. If your battery is old, the 6 hour cycle will be cut lower and lower until it's to the point of getting nothing done at all. Also, when you run a battery in this condition in your forklift, you will burn up electrical components. Quick electrical lesson. Power is watts, it takes so much power (watts) to do work. Watts is amps multiplied by voltage. When your battery is going bad, voltage drops. Now it takes the same amount of wattage to do work no matter the voltage, so the amps come up to compensate for the drop in voltage. When amps come up, you start burning up components. So don't run it with a bad battery. If you look on the side of the battery right below the lifting eyes, it should have the weight stamped into the frame. Right now, industrial batteries are going roughly $1.25 a pound. My guess is your battery weighs around 3,000 pounds. Do the math. That gets me to my next point.
Getting it repaired. When this thing runs, it's gonna be a blast to run and very handy. When it doesn't run, you're screwed. I am a road tech and technical trainer for a major forklift dealer. We charge $103 an hour. You pay an hour trip charge just for me to pull up to your door and grace you with my presence. Then it's an hour minimum. So you're at $206 minimum and I can't recall seeing a bill that low in forever. And don't even try an independent. Oh they will tell you they can fix anything and you might get lucky and find a guy that can. Do you feel lucky? Lol! Sorry, a little Dirty Harry humor. Wanna try fixing an electric forklift yourself? Go ahead, see if you can even find all the fuses on the truck. Guarantee they are not all in one spot or even under the same panel. Need a component? Depending on what it has for a drive system, some components are a few bucks. I changed a module the other day that was $3500! So I ask again, you feel lucky?
Addressing the 6-6v battery idea. What draws the most power for your truck is lifting, especially when the mast is staged. Remember my comment about watts, power and voltage drop? Those 6 batteries won't have a prayer of keeping up. In the short term, it will work. We use a battery cart like this for moving trucks around the shop. As a permanent solution? Not! I would like those guys out there that replace larger batteries with these smaller one to perform a voltage drop test under load, if you know what test I am describing. If you don't, you shouldn't have put the batteries in. If you do, give me your resting voltage and voltage under load. You're gonna be shocked.
I can go on longer but it's getting late. I think you get it by now. Now you know why I said to get rid of it. With my knowledge and ability, I don't think I would even keep this unit. And I do need one around my shop. I am renting space in a 125,000 square foot building and need a forklift, but I don't need another headache. Good luck.
Andy
