salvaged a Clark forklift...

[LouNY]

That's unfortunate about the VFD. In my experience AutomationDirect has been acceptable in quality and unbeatable in price. Your experience I would call a fluke. AutomationDirect is my go-to source for clients on a budget or clients with no vendor preference. I can get 90% of all the components needed to build a panel from one source, ordered online with instant pricing and fast shipping. No waiting on quotes. I can get my bid in before my competition and its typically the lowest.

Between them and Omega automation and controls can be covered fairly well. Started using their PLC's well over 20 years ago the first ones because of the software cost and licensing issues.

 

[tc429]

slowly but surely... got all the rust wirewheeled off and ospho'd, went with bedliner for the black...got all the rust/paint/filler off the counterweight and repainted that chunk, painted the rusty floor/seat structure, bushed the levers...found a bad roller on the mast(easy one) and went to start tonight, it ground once- better pull the starter and look at the ring gear/bendix...gotta sand/fill some dents in the side tin, was gonna pull the cage off, but no way to lift, so its gonna have to get rear sheetmetal welded/roll painted as it sits...

 

[strantor]

Dang, looking good! You wouldn't by chance just be doing all this cosmetic stuff so you can take the pics to work and tub it in?

 

[tc429]

Dang, looking good! You wouldn't by chance just be doing all this cosmetic stuff so you can take the pics to work and rub it in?

LOL, nah...well maybe. I hate when they waste, and we do waste a lot... it should be handy, I know its not new, putting it back in daily service, theyd probably break something and want a new one again...but occasional use, it ought to outlast me. they just drug our other mitsubishi back from the other plant and parked it in the field where this one was- now THAT truck needs fixed...maybe if they see this one brought back, they'll consider fixing the mits- the other one weve had since like 1990 (we had both in our shop for 20 years when they took one to the other plant) guess somehow they drove it off some concrete and busted a hole in the axle. one thing with the mits, the sheetmetal is thin, both of them look like theyve been thru a demolition derby just from guys tossing chains/clevises by the seats...aside from thin metal seat structure though, those are the smallest/heaviest moving/best visibility/smoothest hydraulics/of any of the probably hundreds of trucks theyve bought or rented over the years...everyone loves the beat up looking old mits over any other, and they never break.

maybe i can talk them into getting some of the kids to work on repairing our own trucks instead of tossing them out- factory service is nice, but very pricey most of the stuff is just time/light parts... it would be a good typical mechanic experience for them, and these things are the filthiest things on earth it seems, dirt/chips/grease/machine shop goo- getting them up to the elbows in filth sorts out the ones that wont want to get dirty real quick too Ive had my kids in some crappy situations, like pressure washing old machines- they hate it at first but learn its just all part of the job you gotta do before anything can look pretty again. If my wife woulda saw the mess i had in the driveway cleaning the clark, she'd have flipped out...musta been 20 pounds of grease/grime- 1-2" thick in spots... i put down tarps, rolled up the mess and washed the concrete, even pressure washed my work clothes and washed them before she got home

 

[tc429]

got the rest painted, done for now... lights are still off as wiring was a mess, will put back on soon, but everything else is working, running fine...glad its no longer rusting, awaiting a trip to the scrap processor, but again...needed it like a hole in the head

 

[flyerdan]

That's a mighty fine restoration. I like the multi-stage mast, mine only lifts 11 feet or therebouts, but it's better than no forklift.

 

[tc429]

That's a mighty fine restoration. I like the multi-stage mast, mine only lifts 11 feet or therebouts, but it's better than no forklift.

thanks, when I saw it was a 90's model, and a triple, just couldnt stand to see it sinking in the ground... honestly, a smaller truck would be better at home, this thing is too tall to get into one garage and weighs 9900, worried it might crack the floor...gonna need to pour a heavy pad/put a lean to on the garage to keep the truck i didnt really need...but heck, getting older, having easier ways to move heavy stuff might be a back saver- i built a big rotisserie out of a gantry crane for my mustang, put it together by myself except had one of the kids on one tractor to help roll it upright(used legs like a 'gin pole' to roll it upright- top beam is >500 pounds alone). that was 5 years ago, doubt my back would tolerate taking it apart now- this thing will make that easy peasy. ever since putting it together, ive been thinking how much harder it was gonna be to roll it down without damaging it... heck even moving the cradles/lift tables I used to hang the car can be be done easier with the truck...the cradles alone were a couple hundred pounds ea...they clamp to 2x2 lift bars, and support the body under full length of the rocker...made them in 2003 to pull the body off our 65 galaxie, but my back was still pretty good back then

 

[flyerdan]

Mine stays under the extended roof of the shop, it stays dry and it's on gravel, no issues there but I did get it stuck in the lawn once when it hadn't dried up enough. Was moving a trailer and it didn't take much.
Now you need some extended forks, I lucked into some 4x8 I beams and a chunk of 9" .250" flat bar for $40 and made me some 8 footers. And of course you need one of the baskets for elevated work platforms.
Here's me slinging a Blazer body off, the back window is on and a board with some rugs at the front door openings avoided any damage. Be pretty difficult to do this without long forks.

 

[ultrarunner]

Really enjoy threads like this... the satisfaction of giving new life to someone's cast off.

Part of the reason I enjoyed doing frame off restorations for many years... hands or more like fingers don't like it now.

Still have my Bridgeport NC mill with Slo-Syn controls and stepper motors... did a lot with it once but have not turned it on for more years than I car to admit...

Not sure what will happen to all of it once I go... no real interest or space for the cars or machine tools...

The Tool and Machine shop had an old Clark... it did a lot of work each and every day... the wheels were small so it was only useful on smooth floors... the company bought a Toyota which was much better outside... the old life was just parked... asked the boss about it and he asked me if I wanted it... said wanted yes... just not sure what I would do with it or where I would put it... so it stayed.

 

[tc429]

Really enjoy threads like this... the satisfaction of giving new life to someone's cast off.

same here- and kinda neat crossing paths with others having similar passions for old stuff...stuff todays generations typically would toss away without blinking a eye...

Part of the reason I enjoyed doing frame off restorations for many years... hands or more like fingers don't like it now.

yep, i dont 'feel old' but definitely know things like joints ache and make noises i never knew when younger...i'm getting 'old man hands' as I used to think of them as a kid, fingers getting crooked, etc...funny, i remember being 15, my grandpa told me 'i still feel 15 in my head, but cant do what i used to', and see that plainly now at only 55...but i had(still do) a bad habit of lifting things i shouldnt, rode atvs for years(and rode like a total idiot- flat out, jumping higher and higher till stuff broke) and all that beating takes a toll...as kids we dont realize a spine can take only so many impacts, and i was ticking them down daily

Still have my Bridgeport NC mill with Slo-Syn controls and stepper motors... did a lot with it once but have not turned it on for more years than I car to admit...

Not sure what will happen to all of it once I go... no real interest or space for the cars or machine tools...

same here... i got 4 sons, a couple are into building stuff, but not much...but still young/learning, hopefully they'll be using this crap long after i'm gone- if not it will be worth a few bucks to someone, those bucks will be spent and forgotten... alas, it is what it is

The Tool and Machine shop had an old Clark... it did a lot of work each and every day... the wheels were small so it was only useful on smooth floors... the company bought a Toyota which was much better outside... the old life was just parked... asked the boss about it and he asked me if I wanted it... said wanted yes... just not sure what I would do with it or where I would put it... so it stayed.

on the clark, i just couldnt see past the potential enough to think about 'why/where'...if i had any common sense, i wouldnt even walk out to the scrapyard area...after the fact, maybe i shoulda spent the past month and a half enjoying the summer more...oh well.

brakes on the truck got hard last time i moved it- readjusted to no avail, so pulled axles/hubs... sitting not surprisingly took a toll on brakes, wheel cyls started to seep... shoes/cyls should be here today by time i get home from work, inching clutch master leaking too- hopefully a one evening job, but doubtful- but after this, time to quit forkin around and finish a couple other things before winter, the clocks ticking down fast