How to shop for forklifts

Before you even start looking at forklift trucks or talking to dealers, you need to determine exactly what you need the forklifts to do. Here are some questions you should answer before you start comparison shopping:

• How heavy and what size are your typical loads?
• How high do you need to lift the load?
• Will you be using it indoors, outdoors, or both?
• How much room do you have to maneuver? How wide are your narrowest aisles?
• How many hours per day will it be used?

These answers will help you determine exactly what kind of forklift trucks you need.

Capacity
Forklift trucks are rated according to how much weight they can lift, starting at 3,000 lbs and going up to 35,000 lbs and more. 3,000-, 5,000-, and 8,000-lb models make up the bulk of the market.

The size of your typical load will affect the capacity you need. Forklift capacity is usually based on a 24 inch "load center", meaning that the distance from the center of gravity to the sides of the load is 24".

The easiest way to think about this is that a forklift can only lift its maximum weight if the load is a four-foot cube. If your loads are unusually long or high, the forklift won't be able to safely lift as much. Knowing the typical dimensions and weight of your loads will allow you to work with the salesperson to determine the exact capacity you need.

Also consider how much variation there is in your loads. If you constantly produce identical pallets of products, you know exactly what capacity you need. However, in a more mixed environment, or one where the load size changes over time, you may want to buy a truck with more capacity than you need currently to make sure it gets the job done now and in the future.

Height
A close second to "How much do you need to lift?" is "How high do you need to lift it?" If your primary use for the forklift is loading and unloading trucks, you may not need much height at all; if your warehouse has shelves 30' high, that is a pretty clear indicator of the reach your lift will need.

Unlike load capacity, your height needs are unlikely to change over time barring new construction or major renovations. Buy for the height you need now.

New vs. used
Deciding whether you will buy a new or used forklift truck is a good place to start narrowing your options. Here's a good rule of thumb: if you are going to be using your forklift more than 4 hours a day, you should invest in new equipment.

Forklifts that are used more than 4 hours per day are major part of your operation. With this much use, the operating and maintenance costs for used equipment can quickly wipe out the initial savings you gained.

If the lift truck will be used only a couple of hours per day, you can probably benefit from buying a used truck. When the dealer gets a used lift truck back at the end of a lease, they usually recondition it with a new paint job, new tires, a thorough engine tune-up, and any other mechanical repairs that need to be made, so you can feel reasonably confident in the condition of the truck. "As-is" trucks can save you even more money, but may have original paint, worn tires, and generally not be in the shape you would expect.

Many dealers offer both new and used forklift trucks, so you can compare prices easily. Make sure to inquire about the difference in service plans between new and used models.