Forklift

[Hot Tub Guru]

Does anyone have a forklift for sale?  

What should I look for in a forklift?

Michael
www.HeavenlyTimes.com

[Tman122]

How much are you looking to spend? Do you need a hard tire (warehouse style) or a semi pnumatic (inside or outside solid ground) or do you need a full pnumatic tired lift (mostly outside)? How high do you need to lift and what capacity? Propane, deisel, gas? Hydraulic shift? 2 or 3 stage? Where are you located? Used or new? Lease or own? 5000 to 70,000!! Big range there.

[Phil]

ohhhh!!!! I know this one Rog!

semi phnumatic, 5000 #, have a welder build you extensions to 6 or 7' long, own it, trip stage  lift, propane,

$10 to $13K for a good used Toyota approx 3 years old.

Ultimate Hot Tub Lift!

Did I do ok Rog?

Michael, I have been down this road 3 times, once w/tman's help, or twice?? can't remember!!!

[Hot Tub Guru]

Under $7000.

semi pnumatic (inside or outside solid ground)

my warehouse is 16 foot high

Looking for a 3000-5000lbs capacity, at least thats what I've rented before

doesn't matter gas, desial, or electric.  

side shift, back and forward tilt.

Breckenridge, CO

Michael
www.HeavenlyTimes.com

[Phil]

Wow!

Good Luck on that one!

At least shoot for propane so you don't stink up the warehouse.

I would think there is ugly stuff in that range out there that probably isn't to reliable.

I like to buy em and forget about em and have em serviced once a year.

Kind of reminds me of a customer who wants a $10K spa for $5K cause it's only a box of water w/jets.

[J._McD]

Michael, do you need it in colorado or Novi.  Yale, electric, triple mast, 6' forks, 10,000#, $6,000, PM.

[Chas]

Nothing for sale, but I'll tell ya what I did:

I have an old 'Clark,' which hasn't given me a moment's grief in almost ten years. I bought it refurbished from a dealer who did some in-house financing. I figured if he was willing to give me two years to pay he must have thought it would keep working for two years....

He purchased a Siberian from me, and I gave him a break. When I went in to buy a forklift, he gave me a break.  

4500 pounds, double mast (not triple: I don't need to lift that high and I can see through it much easier), Propane, solid "cushion" tires.

Serviced once a year, or two.

The one thing I am extra glad about: I bought long slender forks. They called them "Plywood Forks" because you can use them to move units of plywood. They are fully tapered. The ends come to a point, they are extra wide to make 'em strong, and they are 72" long. I can pick up a spa right from the ground without a pallet or block, and I can stack wrapped spas right on top of each other. I can't stand using fork extensions!

[Tman122]

Under $7000.
semi pnumatic (inside or outside solid ground)
my warehouse is 16 foot high
Looking for a 3000-5000lbs capacity, at least thats what I've rented before
doesn't matter gas, desial, or electric.  
side shift, back and forward tilt.
Breckenridge, CO
Michael
www.HeavenlyTimes.com

Trust me if you spend any time inside you will want propane and you may struggle getting anything that will last more than a few years as phil said for 7000

Ask a dealer about a lease to own or financing and shoot for 10 grand or slightly more for a refurbished. You may be able to get by with a double mast. The plywood forks as Chas mentioned is also a good idea but be carefull as they are rated for less weight than your lift. Always block a fragile load as sliding forks under specialy for someone in a hurry can ruin stuff quick.

There's plenty of places out there (I'm sure even in Co.) that do nothing but refurbish lifts and resale them, with there original name still intact

[Tman122]

Michael, do you need it in colorado or Novi.  Yale, electric, triple mast, 6' forks, 10,000#, $6,000, PM.

This is a good deal except electric is slow specialy this capacity. How are the batterys on this unit? Does the charge hold for more than a day? Replacing batterys on this unit is a big deal. How long on average do they last (I mean a year or 2 not a day) in otherwords before they need to be replaced cause they won't last a year. How does it do outside.........we have a couple and they struggle.

[Phil]

My electric Nissian struggles.

Very expensive power pack that is hard wired to our main box.  We just plug that in.

No matter what, have a welder weld fork extensions then weld the damn things right to the other forks.

[stuart]

My electric Nissian struggles.

Very expensive power pack that is hard wired to our main box.  We just plug that in.

No matter what, have a welder weld fork extensions then weld the damn things right to the other forks.

I would never do fork extensions if I didn't have to. I did the same thing Chas did and put plywood forks on my last lift.

[Wisoki]

I purchased my first fork lift, Yale 5000# two stage mast propane slant 6 chrysler for $1800. Other than regular anual maintinence, it ran for 5 years with out a hitch. I sold it for $1200 and it is still operating tip top. Look around, you can find great deals on fork lifts if you know where to look. I found mine in the trader publication.

Wow!

Good Luck on that one!

At least shoot for propane so you don't stink up the warehouse.

I would think there is ugly stuff in that range out there that probably isn't to reliable.

I like to buy em and forget about em and have em serviced once a year.

Kind of reminds me of a customer who wants a $10K spa for $5K cause it's only a box of water w/jets.

[J._McD]

This is a good deal except electric is slow specialy this capacity. How are the batterys on this unit? Does the charge hold for more than a day? Replacing batterys on this unit is a big deal. How long on average do they last (I mean a year or 2 not a day) in otherwords before they need to be replaced cause they won't last a year. How does it do outside.........we have a couple and they struggle.

Started out with a refurb Baker, 10,000#, trip mast used it for 15 years, went through 1 battery and needed a new one so we opted to upgrade.

I prefer electric for lifting around the shop and working on spas.  Propane = too many starts and stops just to use the hydraulics.  

Recently bought new TCM trip mast, 10,000 load lift, electric.  Have not been using the Yale as much, we just sent it in for a new battery for something over $2,000, when it's back we will either use it or sell it for $6,000.

So far in 22 years and 2 machines this will be our second battery.  When I am taking three spas off of a flatbed at a time, I just don't need speed.  Electrics are great because they are quiet, don't stink, neither does propane, but you have to start and stop it to use the hydraulics, thats a PIA.

[Chas]

Refering to Propane machines, I have seen mentioned that you have to "start and stop it to use hydraulics," a couple of times. I started to get water in the oil on my current machine - the service guy came out and checked all the plugs, did a compression test, pressure test on the cooling system, and finally decided it was just from condensation. He changed the oil, drove it around for a half hour, then changed it again and it still had a little milky look to it.

He said we needed to stop running it for short periods of time. So I told the guys, and now we start it up and leave it running until we are done - even if it sits idling for half an hour before being put away. That completely got rid of the water in the oil problem! I thought for sure it was a blown head gasket or $imilar.

Once we got the idea of letting it run until it was operating temperature, we also got longer life out of the battery, and presumably the starter should last longer since it gets used once per session instead of over and over.

I had an electric many years ago: it was a huge battery: about a 36" CUBE. Many I have seen are less than half that width. I was told the battery was bad when I bought it. I put three deep-cycle marine batteries on a tray behind the seat, and used it that way for several years. Three standard battery chargers from Pep Boys - had snap timers and plugged into 110. I set them up on a shelf on the wall above where we parked it, and had to connect them via alligator clamps every time - that was a minor pain.

Worked great except when we were unloading a large incoming shipment. It would work realy hard for about three or four hours. Then we would hook it up to the chargers, take a long lunch and it was good to go when we got back.