You’ve found the perfect forklift attachment for your truck that will allow you to operate your fleet more efficiently and more safely and things couldn’t be better, right?
Not so fast. It’s possible- in fact it’s likely- that attachment will decrease the lift capacity of your unit.
Here’s how this works- when an attachment is fitted to the front end of a forklift, the truck’s lifting capacity is affected and needs to be down-rated. This must happen to ensure the lift is operating safely, of course, but also for the lifespan of the truck.
Adding an attachment to the front of the truck, fork extensions for example, alters the center of gravity for the truck- moving it forward. This means if the weight the lift is carrying exceeds the newly down-rated capacity of your forklift- your forklift is going to topple forward.
So you simply must know your new down-rated capacity after you install any attachment to the front of your truck. The combined weight of the apparatus attached to the forklift and the weight of the material being handled must be considered before the forklift goes back on the floor.
There are equations set up to determine this and if your forklift’s down-rated capacity is found to be too low for the work it will be doing a larger capacity unit will be required and if you have a fleet of trucks this could get expensive.
Carefully consider any attachments before you install them and make sure you know exactly how it will affect the performance and the capacity of your forklift.
As always, our technicians and staff are very good at math and can help you determine the altered capacity on your trucks if you determine you need attachments, and they can answer all your forklift-related questions at (704) 842-3242.