Hi,
We just opened a small warehouse for our company, which just has two people in it. In forklift training it is stated to leave the forks on the ground level, tilted forward so they are not raised at all.
Is this due 100% to safety purposes, or to also preserve longevity of the lift?
Would keeping the forks elevated (say 10 feet off the ground), at all times while the lift is park, put strain on the lift system long term, possibly causing hydraulic leaks?
In a small warehouse environment I can understand some people wanting to leave forks raised so they can put a pallet underneath them for storage, if the lift is rarely in use. But I am thinking that over time, the weight of those forks and having the shaft permanently raised, will put a stress on the hydraulics and may compromise its seal over time.
Does anyone have any knowledge about this? Basically, if you take safety aside (no employee ever walking under the forks), may doing this damage the lift?
It's a 5,000 pound capacity lift, but the forks and lift system itself is probably quite heavy (triple mast).
Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some insight on this.
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yep bbforks is right about the rental yards, they only raise thier booms and masts to get attention to potential customers. Thats the only reason they keep them raised up like that, apparently in that case money is more important than safety.
As for the idea of leaving the forks elevated at all?
No it will not hurt the lift but also it is not safe.
It is always a good practice to leave them on the ground and even tilted forward a bit to keep the tips down flush with the ground. But even doing so it still doesnt prevent slips trips and falls. You can always add an additional attention getter by putting orange safety cones on or around the forks if the lift is going to be sitting in one place for long. Or assign an area for parking the lifts that is roped or chained off with safety chain or something like that if you have room for it.
Anything to help prevent accidents.
Just my thoughts on this.
I would not make it a habit of leaving the forks up because of just that reason- habit. The carriage assy w/ forks is around 1000 lbs & I wouldn't want anyone to get into the habit of leaving the forks up & walking under the forks because- you hever know- any number of reasons could cause the forks to come crashing down in a real hurry.
I know it's improbable- but not impossible. As far as the rental yards go- they know as much about lift trucks as I do about installing carpet- they're more interested in attracting attention than being safe. Every forklift dealer I know rents lifts but you don't see their fleet hanging around in they're yards with the carriages at full extension- they know better.
Just to add to my last comment. All forks/masts on forktrucks have a drop rate for which there are acceptable limits. If you leave the forks in the air they will creep down overtime. The older the truck the more likely the drop rate will be more. Another reason not to park with forks in the air.
When the forks are raised above the free lift phase & 10' is well above that by 6', you also have the weight of the intermediate & inner mast channesl on the the hydraulics in addition, to the carriage forks & free lift cylinder & a side shift, more than likely - that is not neglible. One thing about hydralulic and water leakage - they happen when you least expect them.
Gravity is awesome, it kept me from being 6' tall.
I really cannot see why you would want to leave the forks in the raised position. If it is a space saving consideration why can you not park the truck with the forks in a pallet?
The purpose of "forks down and tilted slightly forward" is to lessen the chance that a pedestrian (possible toting something in their arms) would walk over the forks and catch a foot UNDER a fork and break small bones in the foot/ankle as well as other injuries in the ensuing fall.
Keeping the fork and tips in contact with the floor provides the lowest fork profile for pedestrian traffic to contend with.
Reletively speaking, the weight of the carraige and forks is negligable to the system. If you drive by any rental yard, you see every zoom boom in the yard elevated and extended for weeks on end, that would also lead you to believe it is a non factor. From a personal stand point I prefer forks down (as Im sure every safety officer in North America does). Why chance coming in to work on a Monday morning to find what ever was under the forks damaged due to a "newly" discovered bypassing lift cylinder creeping down all weekend.
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