Regarding Kiwi's point -
I know what you mean about the Jungheinrich control cards, it was a problem here about two years ago when they first set up the 24 and 48v with AC power. However the reliability now they have gone to making thier own cards is much better, plus they are now much cheaper...
Regarding John's point -
The idea that a 3 wheeler can ever be as stable as a 4 wheeler is interesting. The german equipment is now coming complete with systems like 'curve control' to reduce speed dependent on steering direction but I don't think on counterbalances you will ever beat wheels at the corners for stability. 4 Wheel a bit of a compromise on turning circle sometimes, this is where 3 wheel is certainly best.

Trust all of you using three wheel forklifts appreciate the inherent increase in risk compared to four wheel units. With three wheel units the safety triangle cannot be improved with systems like the Toyota stability system

That is the same yarn there sales team gave us,but they didnt stand up to the inviroment.If you decided to use that brand of equipment I would reccomend a fully maintained lease option so you dont get stung for the price of parts because they are very expensive to fix.

Interesting, as the controller is in a fully sealed aluminum box, so freezer should not be an issue. It has even a Goretex membrane to let sweatwater from going in and out of a freezer devapurate from the controller box. We have 8 units in an soft ice production plant and they run just fine.

I dont know about Tusk,but Komatsu gear always seems to be very lightweight and cheap,we on the other hand had experience with Linde's and they proved to very expensive when it came to maintenence time,even when they sold the units as having the lowest total cost of ownership.We have been running Crown SC4040's for the last 3 years and they have proved to be the most solid and reliable and also the cheapest to maintain in a cold storage hard inviroment.

Europe is much different! I agree with Will_d

Clark just came out with a new All AC unit with ZAPI controls, same ones that NACCO (Hyster & Yale) utilize.

Nissan also has a new (Jan 2006) all AC unit

Crown has a truck..... but I think they still use carbon pile or squirrels on a wheel to power it......

;-)

Anyone seen a Tusk or Komatsu 3 wheeler?

How about Linde?

I agree, there is a different standard for forklift operators in europe. Over there the back end of the forklift better look the same as the operators car, all the bumping and scrapping are considered accidents, until we get that quality of operator I guess we need tough lift trucks instead of nice driving ergonomically enhanced equipment.

I agree the Junghienrich units are very comfotable for the operator,but in my experience they seem to have a habit of blowing controll cards quite regularly with not a lot of hours on the clock-expecially if the unit is travelling out-side frequently or being used in a freezer enviroment.Making for a very costly ownership + downtime.Maby these German units are better suited to the perfect working conditions found in Germany.

Jungheinrich have an excellent range of 24 volt and 48 volt three wheeler counterbalances. All are AC powered and are built in Germany to the highest engineering standards at very reasonable prices. Check out ttp://www.jungheinrich-us.com