Just bought a forklift but I have no idea what it is.

I just bought this at a local auction and brought it home. It's perfect for what I want to do--move fixtures on and off my mill without hurting my back. All the auction could tell me was that it's called a "dyna lift" and it runs on one 12v car battery poorly installed in a wooden tray in the back. The pump/reservoir looks just like the one for my QuickJacks. 

But while I'm happy with my purchase, I have no idea what I bought. What's this thing's real name? How much can it lift? Is there anything I should check/maintain?

Outstanding purchase. That should come in handy for all kinds of things around the shop.

I think what you have is a material lift. I looked at those before i bought a forklift. Any clue what the capacity is?

In reply to Toyman! :

Toyman is right. It's not a forklift it's a material lift. However you have my permission to call it whatever you want to.  ;-) 

That thing is really cool.  I can not help with the ID but it immediately had me thinking how great that would be for getting heavy parts in and out of trucks and putting things on engin stands. I can see all kinds of uses for that. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

I immediately though about upgrading to a modern battery.... and then thought that in this case, weight is good.  So nevermind.

I see them called walkie stackers. A common use would be order pickers in warehouses. Capacity is likely not too high as there’s no counterbalance on it.

No stickers or plates inside the battery cabinet?  ANY  would help identify it.

Yeah, material lift, or "stacker".  Should be really handy in the shop! Hopefully you can find a manufacturer's ID plate on it for weight rating, parts info, etc.

Yeah, the weight rating is kind of important, since overloading it could produce some extremely dangerous conditions.  We used to have one in the back warehouse, but it was so rarely used that the batteries were always dead when we needed it.    I forget what that thing was called, but it was very similar.

Edit:  Ours was a "Big Joe".  I'm guessing 1000lbs. maximum load.

I took a closer look and found these ID plates:

Looking at the cables and the way the battery is just sitting there, I'm assuming this would have originally had a bigger/more specialized battery? I don't mind losing runtime (I'll only use this for 5-10 minutes in a day unlike a real shop using it for a full shift), but I'm curious what it would have originally looked like.

And sorry for offloading the research to you all; I'm home in bed with Covid, so my brain isn't working at 100%. 

There was probably originally a rechargeable battery that filled the cavity and add ballast when the other end is loaded. I would be careful what you lift. Weights of some sort under the battery would help.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Would have been a tall, wide, deep battery that filled 80% of the opening you see there. That is also part of its ballast, so your load rating is severely lowered. 
I still wish I had it for my home shop!

R. B. G. got it in there while I was typing! Spot on. 

Auctions are fun. How much did that set you back?

Covid finally got me this week as well. Hope you feel better soon. 

Thanks for the help, everybody! Yeah, I'll build a battery tray and add some ballast, but unlike a traditional forklift the outriggers on this one should reduce the importance of the counterweight, right?

And with taxes and fees, I paid $450. I'm not worried about getting my money back if I decide to get rid of it, as anything similar around here sells for at least twice that price. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Yeah this doesn't need a counterbalance. It has the front outriggers. At my work they would be called a material handler. Nice buy!

When do we get the OSHA  picture of you on a ladder on the thing all the way up trimming a tree branch?

I've heard that you don't really own a forklift until you've done something sketchy.

NY Nick said:

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Yeah this doesn't need a counterbalance. It has the front outriggers. At my work they would be called a material handler. Nice buy!

I was just about to say the same thing.

Found some parts at Northern Hydraulics.

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

When do we get the OSHA  picture of you on a ladder on the thing all the way up trimming a tree branch?

I've heard that you don't really own a forklift until you've done something sketchy.

Definitely needs a remote control box, lowrider hopper style.

That is similar to my EZ stacker. They only need a deep cycle battery, nothing special. Mine has a built in charger and I plug in it once in a while to top it off.  You will get a lot of work out of the battery in there. At 5 -10 minutes a day you will get a week out of it easy.

Tom Suddard said:

Thanks for the help, everybody! Yeah, I'll build a battery tray and add some ballast, but unlike a traditional forklift the outriggers on this one should reduce the importance of the counterweight, right?

And with taxes and fees, I paid $450. I'm not worried about getting my money back if I decide to get rid of it, as anything similar around here sells for at least twice that price. 

The outriggers help, but the rear weight still affects the load rating. A LOT more than some are implying. Trust me, I have that experience. 
That being said, you have some sense, and I don't foresee you having a problem, even without added weight. 

1988RedT2 said:

Yeah, the weight rating is kind of important, since overloading it could produce some extremely dangerous conditions.  We used to have one in the back warehouse, but it was so rarely used that the batteries were always dead when we needed it.    I forget what that thing was called, but it was very similar.

Edit:  Ours was a "Big Joe".  I'm guessing 1000lbs. maximum load.

We had big Joe walkie stackies as well, they were the bomb. That is a good purchase for $450!

But can it smash rafters? 
 

nice purchase. Super simple mechanics for easy fixin.