Used Forklifts

Ive been driving a electric hyster for about 10 years as one of the hats i wear at work. Ive got better stuff to do but for some reason its quite hard for the others to operate without damaging something or accepting grossly damaged shipments(thanks Estes for damaging literally every shipment and trying to pass it off). The first “hyster” was actually a shaeff if i remember right and it was a great machine. Stand up and has the video game controls. A reseller convinced folks at my company to get a used one (actual hyster)with a “good” battery. Me being the “forklift guy” i tested it right off the flatbed. Went from full battery to red dead in about 2 minutes. After some BS, we were left with a really unfriendly forklift with a battery that will die after like 2 hours of intermittent use. The shaeff/hyster was all around a much better machine. Also the guy that took our better, non working “hyster” let us know the reason they wanted to pawn the “new hyster” on us was because it has a tall warehouse boom and it wont fit in a semi, so it cant drive in to fill semi trucks. 

So yeah watch what your buying. People will be more than happy to sell you junk. And this thread is old so, whatever. 

HappyAndy said:

As far as damage from overloading is concerned, I've never seen a machine damaged from it in anyway except being flipped over (which, BTW, can happen in the blink of an eye).

Back in high school and college I worked at a Kmart store (#4459) in the early 1980's and when you turned 18 years old you can take a test and get your Kmart Fork Lift Operator's License.  We had a propane forklift and used it a lot as we sold building materials and had to unload stacks of plywood, giant bundles of 2x4's, and pallets of concrete and sand mix.  

Our forklift had solid, slick type tires and some gearhead figured out you could go in reverse and throw the lever into forward and smoke the slicks and leave two trails of rubber on the smooth asphalt behind the store.  As with teenagers it got out of hand and one night of doing burnouts a guy went around a corner too fast and flipped it on the side - I was told later two tow trucks were used to pick it up and it ended cocking the cage but no other damage.  The guy was blessed he didn't get killed that night.  As usual I was glad to miss the drama that night.  

In reply to Beer Baron :I spent a large portion of my life selling forklifts. 

Some like Clark used to be the absolute best but the new owners soon cheapened it up to the point where only a fool would buy one.  Pre 1980 buy it they are great!  

Toyota is a pretty good company but make sure the data plate is in English.  More than a few come into this country as gray  market forklifts.  Parts aren’t available at regular dealers.  And waiting for the right parts to arrive can take months and in several cases never arrive!  

Hyster made Great forklifts.  They tend to be expensive but they are second only to the old Clark’s.  

Yale has always been the cheap price leader and you really do get what you pay for.  Dealerships would sell forklifts below costs at times knowing the profit in forklift sales comes not at purchase but in parts and service.  

Nissan has a relatively small market share and like their cars quality varies. 

For a small operation consider a full maintenance lease instead of a purchase. We often did that and put new or near new equipment in to have good used equipment to sell our better used equipment buyers.  

In general if you are not going outside or going outside only on smooth surfaces an electric is more reliable and costs less to own and operate.  

Three wheel forklifts are capable of handling up to 4000 pounds (GMA pallet rules)  and turn the tightest.  ( except for stand up machines which are all electric) 

pneumatic tires are required if the forklift needs to go outside and still they get stuck easily since they have very low ground clearance.  

Rough  terrain forklifts solve that but are remarkably bulky. 

Places not to buy used equipment from.  Tanning factories, slaughter houses, canning factories , scrap metal dealers,  

rust and corrosion makes some of those relatively new ones worthless.  

Never buy a used forklift with a fresh paint job.  Paint and decals cover up so much abuse and neglect.  They look good but remember  you’re paying for the mechanic from his last place of work and it’s amazing how much time it costs to get the guy there. 

Plus more often then not he won’t have the required parts requiring more expensive travel time.  

When I worked at a parts house ~30 years ago, we had an old propane fork lift.  Mainly used for unloading pallets from delivery trucks.  Every fulltime employee had at least some experience with it.  I used to also use it in the shop to lift truck drums onto the turning lathe and also raise/lower the press carriage since the lift mechanism was broken. I also used it to replace the pick-up bed on my old Ford truck.  You stood on the back and there was a dead-man throttle and a regular steering wheel.

In the 4 years I worked there, I think we refilled the tank once and I don't think it was ever maintained - but it also only got a few hours of use per week. 

Today, I design electrical systems and have designed power for more forklift charging stations than I can remember. Most of them require a fairly hefty power supply - not talking a residential plug here - most chargers I design for take 480V 3-phase.  So depending on what you get, consider your facility and where it can live for charging where it won't be in the way and away from wet areas (I know this is a consideration in a brewery). 

Granted, I'm sure three years after BB started this thread, I'm guessing they bought/leased something... 

ave has a new video about diagnosing an electric forklift problem 

Ian F said:

Most of them require a fairly hefty power supply - not talking a residential plug here - most chargers I design for take 480V 3-phase.  

This is what happened to the jerks that sold us ours. Talked up this wonderful charger they were including. Never once asking what power our building had.  Funny thing is the old forklift that had a “bad” battery had been there for years. Took forever to charge and never seemed right. They send their very incompetent tech out to install and cant figure anything out. Turns out we had 3 phase “regular” i guess? Each leg was 108v if i remember right. Poking in the panel i find 2 120v breakers. Wtf?  Check the box at the charger and in the panel. The 3rd leg for 3 phase was sitting there cold. The original installer saved some $$ by just hooking up normal 110 breakers over the “gotta go to the real electrician supply store” and buy the 100$ proper 3 phase one. So no wonder the old charger sucked and the battery wasnt happy. The old analog charger ran on it, the new digital was a no-go.