It depends on the forklift, some forklifts are not to be jacked or blocked under the counter weight.

I am in a bit of a battle with a trainer on not having techs trained to jack or block by the counter weight. Do you re-call when you were trained not to do so?

We use oak blocks or the plastic support blocks from TVH.

We also had fabricated strong metal props of different lengths for sticking under a raised mast section.

As for jacking, we have 5 ton toe jacks & also a proper 10 ton trolley jack designed for forklift use.

Also got a 2.5 ton BT Reflex reach truck for other jacking projects.

We have various methods for blocking lifts, depending on the type and capacity of the lift, what section we are working on, and if it is in the shop or field.
in the shop we use a heavy 1/2" wall square tube with inside supports that work a dual purpose as a handle and as added working capacity. These blocks are extra material from our machine and fabrication shop and they work really well. We have cut them to different lengths over the years, and used them on every lift. We have also incorporated wheel chocks into these stands by fabricating a plate that has angle iron inserts. The stands work well with a truck bed liner applied to them as well. We also have fabricated some smaller rectangular tube for reach trucks and electrics.
For the field we manufacture the traditional jack stands, with engineered drawings, equivelant to what is available thru tvh/smh. These stands are of various heights from 5' to 9". We also carry oak blocks cut to various lengths.

All of our vans and all the guys in the workshop use plastic block kits which sit inside each other to lock together and you have a top and bottom piece. They are tested to 100 tons. You can get them from TVH uk and you can also get them from the manufacturer who is in the uk, they also make bigger kits for earth moving kit etc.

We have a PDF instruction manual on proper technique to block up a forklift. Contact me off line and I can send to you else you can visit store.intellaliftparts.com under Alligator jack

IT goes without saying that you must never stand a wooden block on end to support a lift truck or you may invent a new generation of log splitter with deadly consequences.

Be safe blocking, always doublecheck before crawling uner the truck.

hey dave sorry i didnt see you posted again

jenga is a game here
they prob have it there but google "jenga" and youll see what i mean
its hella fun lol

TVH (owned by SMH or vise versa) i think is the name of the place in europe but im sure they sell the stands
manufacturers recommend in service books to use oak blocks

the wood gives a lil due to the cellulose construction of the natural material so its less prone to cracking
composites may be too hard and crack under weight

if some1 made a better wood block im sure TVH (or the like) would sell it to our industry lol

o and not only that you shouldnt work on stuff if they are supported under the wheels
you want to jack and block the frame or the pivot point of the steer axle (4 wheel sitdowns)
DONT block the wheels (no matter what this is unstable as wheels can move with shifting weight)
DONT jack or block under the counterweight
when i was new i jacked a machine by the weight and i didnt notice the bolt was missing
the frame dropped down and luckily the counterweight just rested against the back of the frame and didnt flop onto me or some1 else

ithink i found a pic of the bison stand you were referring to
i believe youre using 10K lb capacity pipe or roll stands
it looks like they only manufacture products for manufacturers lifting needs not products for service industries

what if you have to remove the tires?

iv,e seen wooden blocks with safe working loads painted on them. in the MOD. they used to sandwich the blocks between 2 plates on the press and load test them to 4 tons. honest but they don,t do it now.and they would re-test them 6 monthly. you can get good truck stands from grays who make the jacks. little dumpy extendable jobs

Thanks for the replys, where do you get forklift jack stands from Justin? Sorry I don't understand "jenga set jacking" must be because I'm English :). Roadrat: I have always considered a little oil soaked into the blocks stops them drying out and splitting........but point taken about them being liable to slip. We are looking for some sort of composit material to use, because you can't have a wooden block proof load tested, and marked with the max load it should support, as your jack stands would probably be marked? It is a problem with most trucks as the under belly clearance is low and normall jack stands are to high............thats why we use wooden blocks. I am really worried that they may split and we will get a trapped or dead technician!

With the emphasis on Oak, no cracks in the "grain" of the wood and must lay "flat" on floor, warped blocks will break.
Also, no oil soaked wood, they can cause slips.

use oak blocks and/or forklift jackstands
do not "crib" the blocks (what i like to call the jenga set jacking)