need info about forklifts

[Anonymous Poster]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good fork lift (lift truck). I am very partial to Japanese engineering, so I am interested in gathering information about Mitsubishi, and Toyota lift trucks. I can't seem to find any forktruck forums on the net. Go figure. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Taylortractornut]

My neigbor has worked on lift trucks around 50 years hes still working on them every day at age73. He says a Toyota is a good lift but at a few years of age they start droppin parts like crazy. He works for a coffee warehouses fleet of them and after 2 years they go down hill. A mitsubishi is a good lift change the paint color and you have a Caterpillar lift. Thats also a korean lift truck that makes one for Cat that ls identical to one of of theres but its got red paint on it and has a lw resale whichs doesnt matter.
You can buy an older Hyster, Towmotor/Cat, Baker, Yale,Clark,Allis Chalmers for a few hundred dollars here. The little hard tire machines dont sell well here i have 3 in the shop with 2 of them for sale now. Id recomend any of the mentioned for business use just make sure that you have a good motor if its a Contenintal engine. Take care Taylor Lambert

 

[Anonymous Poster]

http://www.nissanforklift.com/frame.html
http://www.crown.com/

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

Ben.......I make my living reconditioning used/off lease forklifts and for my money the toyota's are the way to go. I have several dealers I buy from and I always have customers waiting for used toyota trucks. I get machines that have been maintained through a lease maintence program which PM's the machines on a hourmeter basis. I don't usually get any toyota machines in with less than 5000 hours on them and most if not all need only cosmetic work to make them look and perform good as new. The toyota rep. says 20,000 hours on a machine is common and I personally saw a 1994 model at a trucking terminal with 33,500 hours still used on a daily basis. If you have any questions send me an E-mail and I'll help you with any info you need..........TOM

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I've heard only good things about Toyota lifts, and I personally know what kind of quality goes into their cars/trucks. I was suprised to hear one of the replies indicating they were unreliable. I heard one other guy tell me that Toyota was bad about obsolecent parts.
I have done some calling around though, and have found a Nissan dealer and a Mitsubishi dealer that service my area. I am tempted to go with the Nissan lift, because the dealer has been there (selling Nissan lifts) for 15+ years. I have owned Nissan cars also and believe that their quality is a close second to Toyota.
Can anyone give the Nissan lift a good recommendation? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Thanks for all the replies! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

I've had a couple nissan lifts as well as others powered by the nissan H-20 engine. The lifts were well built and their motors hold up well. As for mitsi.............Well.........."Go for the nissan"...................Enough said ????.....................Most larger dealers have a parts network ("unisource" for example) that is kind of "NAPA" for the forklift world.....They can get parts and service for most popular brands which enables the dealer to service several different brands as most large companies have several different makes of lifts running around their facilities but only want to call one repairman.................

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for the input. Let me ask you one more thing please.
I've been riding around on hard tires for 5 years, and never really had any complaints. I am sort of thinking air tires would come in handy in certain instances. I am wondering about flat tires though. Are those tires pretty resistant to flats? I have always wondered how lift trucks can drive around salvage yards and such without getting flats. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I have also been getting along fine without side shift forks, but I'm thinking that I would never regret buying that option.

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

What is your lot surface??..........Pavement "ie" concrete, black top or chip/seal..........cushion tires OK........Loose gravel, uneven terrain, dirt, etc = air tires..........They make a solid tire to fit most air tire rims which eliminates all flats but ride quality suffers and they're quite expensive. The standard air tires for lift truck service are really heavy duty and unless you are around nails or metal chips they hold up well. You can always foam fill the air tires but the cost is life threatening.........As for side shift........it's like a pickup truck..........never had one .........you don't need it..........once you've had it you get used to it and won't do without it...........Tom

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for the replies Tom. You're a good egg. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Taylortractornut]

I didnt mean to sound down Nissan badly, just not alot of good ones here, most dealers here dont carry parts and it used to be hard for my neighbor to buy parts for them. I used to own a few of them for my shop but they had been reconditioned poorly. At a freinds scrap yard they have virgin rubber filled tires they get holes in them but self seal they loose alittle air but not enough to hurt and they have a good smooth ride. i just piccked up 3 Raymond pallet stakers with the sideshift and telescopic scissor forks for 145 dollars each all running with chargers. Take care Taylor Lambert

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I run forklifts every day, my personal favorite set up is an older 6000lbs capacity Mitsubishi, with foam filled tires and side shift. Side shift is a MUST HAVE if you are loading van trailers, the large foam filled tires are much better for traction and ride, you don't get that wobble when you run down an uneven surface. Unfortunately we have purchased 3 new Mitsubishi lift trucks this year to replace our older models , and they have been poor lifts. The hydraulics are slow, and the engines have been stalling out here and there. My company has been so upset with the lifts that they have switched to Hyster for their new lifts. Too bad Mitsu dropped the ball with the new lifts, I'd rather use a pallet jack than drive a Hyster, I truly dislike every thing about them. I like the Nissan better than the Toyota's that I have operated, but I don't have a lot of time on either. Good luck

 

[Taylortractornut]

I dislike the monotrol on a hyster mainly because i operate loaders and dozers for living and like my shuttle on the column to reverse with my left and while steering.
I just past up a good deal on 3 older 6000 pound Mitsubishi/Cat lifts all three 800 each. I ran them unloading iron on a job. I think you can remove the orifices on the Mitsubishi lifts in the tilt and hoist lines and get a bit better performance. I worked for an outfit that had a newer one in there shop and it was like that to make the lift slower. I hated to sound down on Nissan and Toyota but our local dealers dont back them very well.

 

[ScottAR]

We use Yales at work. Only lifts I've ever driven but they seem ok, fast. These are 5,000 lb. and 9,000 lb. machines. One I can think of with around 7k hrs. stalls some if the steering is cranked at idle. (which is to say often) I think it's cursed or somthing though. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif The others stall rarely.