7 Common Forklift Types and Their Benefits

Encountering powered industrial trucks around construction, mining, or warehousing industries in Australia or other parts of the world isn’t quite surprising. These dynamic mechanical beasts are hero performers that ensure safe and easy lifting and transit of heavy objects.

Forklifts are indispensable equipment for any job site. But selecting one could be pretty challenging due to its varied structural and functional versatility. Here, in this article, we will project a detailed insight into the various types of forklifts available in the market.

What is a Forklift?

Forklifts are small industrial vehicles that are typically used for carrying items from one point to another. From commercial construction sites and projects on massive sea ships to construction or mining sites, forklifts are worthy of praise due to their utility irrespective of the job environment.

These are remarkably critical pieces of equipment that feature a truck frame, counterweight, power source, carriage, and mast. They are either electric or battery-powered and even feature excellent combustion engines powered by gas or petrol.

According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), there are seven distinct types of forklifts. Here it is:

Finding it hard to decide which one suits you out of many? Before you check out various forklifts for sale, do follow our comprehensive guide on different types of forklifts!

Types of Forklifts:

1. Counterbalance:

These are one of the most common types and widely preferred choices of most buyers. If you are out in the market for forklifts for sale with no vital specifications, then counterbalance forklifts are good-to-go.

They feature forks in the front and weight in the back with no extending arm. They are available with LPG, diesel, or electric fuel sources and are fairly straightforward to use.

Benefits:

• Navigates tight areas and maneuvers in circles easily with a 3-wheel model.
• Mainly suitable for indoor work

Popular manufacturers: Toyota, Komatsu, Mitsubishi, Clark

2. Reach Trucks:

Performing your job at an unreachable height seamlessly has gotten much easier with Reach Fork Trucks. And, as the name suggests, these forklifts are capable of reaching heights even over 10 cm, which makes working at large warehouses effortless.

Benefits:

• These are engineered to bring high warehouse racks within your reach.
• Ensure work at narrow aisle or maybe at places where there isn't a lot of space hassle-free.
• The open compartment is another feature of these machines that offers great visibility while operating.
• The capacity of Reach Fork trucks ranges between 1000 Kg and 3,000 Kg.

Popular manufacturers: UniCarriers, Clark Materials, and Yale

3. Rough Terrain Forklifts:

While reach trucks are idyllic picks for indoors, Rough Terrain Forklifts make your outdoor lifting smooth and easy. These vehicles feature heavy-duty tires and a durable, rugged design that are essentially the rightful choice for any type of outdoor job site.

The structural design of this wheeled forklift highlights pivoted boom and/ or a vertical mast. They can function either at a fixed length or variable height along with additional attachments.

Benefits:

• Better stability on rocky surfaces.
• Great for Lifting pallets, shifting supplies, moving materials, like sand, gravel & soil, loading & unloading and storing objects.
• The capacity of Rough Terrain Forklifts ranges between 2000 Kg, and up to 25,000 Kg.

Popular manufacturers: JCB, CASE IH, Komatsu, Hyster, and many more.

4. Telehandlers:

A great combo of crane and forklift with a boom and extendable arm that makes telehandlers ideal for lifting heavy loads at a height up to 19 feet in the air, even at tight spaces and odd angles. Its extendable arm attachment decides its lift capacity and size, which makes it fit for outdoor uses.

Benefits:

• Telehandlers are compatible with work platforms, buckets, lifting jibs, and sweepers.
• Incredibly versatile, robust, offers top performance, great lifting capacity, and low operating cost, thereby making it applicable for various construction jobs.
• These have a weight capacity of 2,500 Kg to 21,000 Kg.

Popular manufacturers: JCB, Genie, Bobcat, Haulotte, and Caterpillar

5. Sideloaders:

If heavy and bulky forklifts have given you tough challenges in maneuvering in tight spaces, then probably you haven’t used a side loader. These types of forklifts are typically for industrial use and their design allows them to move in tight spaces without turning.

Benefits:

• Easy drive up alongside racks
• Making loading and unloading bulky and long items like pipes and timber hassle-free.
• Ideal for worksites where driving a full-sized truck could be tough and challenging.

Popular manufacturers: Toyota, Raymond, Yale, and Hyundai

6. Pallet Jacks:

If you can sacrifice power and maneuverability then Pallet Jacks are a great pick as these are one of the most economic purchases one can make. Their small size allows them to operate in tight spaces easily, thereby making this ideal for moving small loads.

Benefits:

• Compact size and powered by a battery
• Ideal for lifting up and down small loads.
• Helps in moving material over long distances with lifting capacity ranging between 1000 Kg and up to 3,500Kg

Popular manufacturers: Clark, Ulma, MANUViT, SANTSAi, and many others.

7. Walkie Stackers:

If you are looking for a similar configuration like a Pallet Jack but want to access greater heights, then Walkie Stackers are ideal for you. These facilitate open-head operation, where drivers walk behind the stacker and steer the handle.

Benefits:

• Higher durability, low running costs, smooth top-end travel speed, versatility, easy to use, and more power than Pallet Jacks.
• Capable of lifting heavier loads quickly.
• Besides lightweight design, these facilitate great maneuverability while turning around tight corners or narrow passages.
• Lifting capacity ranges between 1000 kg to 2000kg.

Popular manufacturers: Hyster, Jungheinrich and Toyota

Final Word!

So now you have a full list of types of forklifts to make your research precise and seamless. Check out Farmtender’s online inventory to access suppliers from all across Australia including regions like Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, and others. We bring forth multitudes of branded forklifts for sale along with other farming machinery and equipment.