Sunday, July 15, 2012

Used forklift truck fair in Bristol, UK

Jungheinrich-usedforklifts
Jungheinrich has announced that it will be holding a used forklift equipment fair at its Bristol showroom on July 18th.

All the trucks on display have been refurbished to an extremely high standard and are ready to start work straight away. Each model comes with a full service history, valid LOLER certification and up to six months warranty.

Used forklifts for sale at the Bristol showroom event will include electric- and engine-powered counterbalance machines and pallet trucks as well as specialist internal warehousing machines such as reach trucks.

Jungheinrich's Bristol showroom is located at Orpen Park, Ash Ridge Road, Almondsbury, Bristol BS32 4QD.

LINK: http://www.mhwmagazine.co.uk/LatestNews/Used_forklift_truck_fair_in_Bristol-12090.html

About Continental Lift Truck & Used Forklifts

Continental Lift Truck, located in Minneapolis, MN, is one of the largest wholesalers of Used Forklifts in the World. Established in 1984, the founder of the company, Douglas Tamasi, has been in the forklift industry since 1969.

Our huge inventory includes: Cushion Tire Used ForkliftsPneumatic Tire Used Forklifts,Rough Terrain Used ForkliftsThree Wheel Electric Used ForkliftsSit Down Rider Electric Used ForkliftsReach Trucks Used Forklifts and more used forklifts.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Different Types of Fork Lift Trucks Available

Forklift trucks are extremely useful for lifting transport materials which are heavy and cannot be lifted manually and by other machines. However, forklifts are slightly expensive and so it is sensible to buy a one of the used forklifts from the market. A large number of vendors put up used forklifts for sale.

A used forklift will not only be as useful and as good as a new one but will also be very cheap in comparison to a brand new fork lift. Make sure the fork lift truck you buy is made up of durable material and is easy to handle.

There are a large number of dealers who have been providing lift trucks for many years and at a very affordable price. If you are looking to buy a forklift, then you should look out for one of the online vendors. They will provide both the best possible truck and the best possible customer service to their clients. However, make sure the company you are buying from has a really strong and reliable reputation

These companies usually have different departments for fulfilling different needs of each customer. Each customer is treated as a separate individual and a customized fork truck lift is provided to each customer separately. Thus, the companies do understand that the needs of each and every customer are different. Hence, they work separately for each customer. For instance, some people will need heavy lift forklifts whilst some will need a smaller one. Some will need it for a few hours whilst some might need it for a few days. They try and provide the best lift trucks to every customer who approaches them. Hence, these companies are considered to be highly dependable and worth spending your money on. The companies providing brand new trucks are also the ones who provide a used lift truck.

These companies have a huge collection of trucks of almost every brand in the market. Hence, if you wish to buy a truck of particular brand out of loyalty or any other reason, then you may simply ask for that particular brand and your needs will be taken care of. Each brand has a different kind of fork lift truck available. For instance, some sell trucks with cushion tires while some others have a pneumatic tire. Few come with an electronic and narrow isle while others are walkie stackers. A fork lift truck of a different built is used on a rough terrain and it is built specifically for that purpose.

Thus, each kind of fork lift truck is available in the market. All you have to do is put forward your needs to the vendor clearly and they will give you the truck which is most suitable for you. If you are confused, then the vendor will also help you in deciding which kind of truck would be apt for you as per your needs. Since you are buying used forklifts , check whether all its parts are in a good and working condition.

LINK: http://kansari.com/47404/different-types-of-fork-lift-trucks-available/

About Continental Lift Truck & Used Forklifts

Continental Lift Truck, located in Minneapolis, MN, is one of the largest wholesalers of Used Forklifts in the World. Established in 1984, the founder of the company, Douglas Tamasi, has been in the forklift industry since 1969.

Our huge inventory includes: Cushion Tire Used ForkliftsPneumatic Tire Used Forklifts,Rough Terrain Used ForkliftsThree Wheel Electric Used ForkliftsSit Down Rider Electric Used ForkliftsReach Trucks Used Forklifts and more used forklifts.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Used Forklifts for Sale Considerations

Purchasing used forklifts can be an excellent method of saving on costs if you are in the process of selecting a truck for your warehouse. Buying a pre-owned forklift ensures that you will not have to dig so deep into your pockets to acquire it. Selecting from used forklifts for sale means you will have in your possession a great machine that works as well as a new one but for a lesser amount. It is still important to know what you are looking for in a used forklift. This is because forklifts used when bought after following necessary guidelines, will benefit you more.

You will first have to understand the weight and size of the loads you will be carrying with the forklift truck used. Even though a lot of warehouses are known to have the standard size pallet, there will be varying sizes that will depend on the merchandise you might carry and load using the used forklifts. Overloading the forklift truck will cause it to tip over, possibly causing an accident. Learning the weight of the stock in your warehouse when you’re selecting used forklifts is crucial for right truck selection.

You should also consider the height of the forklifts used that you want to acquire. Smaller forklift truck used can lift a couple of pallets high. When it comes to working on large warehouses, you may need used forklifts that will go up to seven pallets high. The lifting power of the lift trucks will have to cater for more weight as it goes higher also. This is an important consideration in picking your second hand forklift. As far as used forklifts is concerned, if it can’t support what you want it for, it will be a wasted investment.

The area where you will be using your forklifts used is something you will also need to take into careful consideration. An indoor forklift truck used will be cheaper than an outdoor all terrain forklift which can be quite expensive. This type can accommodate most weights as well as handle any terrain, so consider where your used forklifts will be likely to be used with careful examination of the ground. This decision will impact in a profound way on the decision around the type of used forklift you will have to acquire. You will thus be able to get what you need and not what you think you need.

Get to know how big your warehouse is to determine the size of equipment you will be purchasing. If your warehouse is big with lots of space between shelves, you can afford to buy a larger more powerful forklift truck used. You should think about how much it could be used. Gas forklifts will run provided they are fueled up but electric ones will have to be charged regularly. From this, you can know which forklift used will be the most economic for your needs. Fuel consumption of the truck should be taken into account when buying hence the need to understand the difference between the two.

LINK: http://www.articleshops.info/16362/used-forklifts-for-sale-considerations/

About Continental Lift Truck & Used Forklifts

Continental Lift Truck, located in Minneapolis, MN, is one of the largest wholesalers of Used Forklifts in the World. Established in 1984, the founder of the company, Douglas Tamasi, has been in the forklift industry since 1969.

Our huge inventory includes: Cushion Tire Used ForkliftsPneumatic Tire Used Forklifts,Rough Terrain Used ForkliftsThree Wheel Electric Used ForkliftsSit Down Rider Electric Used ForkliftsReach Trucks Used Forklifts and more used forklifts.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Operating Benefits for Used Forklifts

When working in warehouses, there will be heavy objects to lift using a fork lift truck in order to move them or organize them properly. Most of the boxes and loads are quite heavy and heavy lift forklifts make it convenient and easy to handle them. Electric forklifts will help you to move and place even those items that you can manage to lift, in high places such as shelves. New or used forklifts are machines that have been designed for lifting heavy objects onto high leveled areas. Almost all warehouses have at least a used forklift at their disposal.

Working at a warehouse would be a very tedious affair if there were no heavy lift forklifts to use for heavy loads. Currently the least you can do is rent a forklift or buy used forklifts if you are to move heavy items. The presence of electric forklifts means that not all forklifts are identical to each other. There are used forklifts that use fuel but do the same work as the electric ones. All makes and models of the used forklifts are designed to handle a specific weight. Most forklifts are quite small and do appear as if they could easily topple over because of the loads they carry.

This is the very reason heavy lift forklifts will contain a mass in the rear that is usually called the counter weight. Due to the counterweight, the used forklifts are very heavy. Electric forklifts as well should be heavier than the load you will be trying to lift or else it will topple over. It is for this reason that you must be careful when you operate a forklift. Learn how to properly handle a used forklift even before you start lifting boxes. The maximum weight for forklifts that they can handle is usually labeled on its side.

Any attempts to lift a load which is heavier than the maximum weight of the heavy lift forklift could result in its breaking or toppling over. If you are planning on moving large loads in your warehouse, get electric forklifts or any other type. You can also rent a forklift if you don’t need it for long periods. You can do this with used forklifts if all you will do is transport your stuff for a given period with it. That can be one reason that instead of buying a used forklift, you can rent one.

A lot of warehouses have enough used forklifts that you can easily rent or borrow one. Renting a used forklift is great if you do not have enough money to buy one. It can be quite economical for you in the long run to just hire forklifts if your load work is not so demanding. It is recommended that you only buy a heavy lift forklift when you are creating a company where you must load and unload heavy objects. If you just need to move simple and not so heavy stuff, used electric forklifts would be the ideal choice.

LINK: http://www.latestarticlestores.info/article.php?id=13325

About Continental Lift Truck & Used Forklifts
Continental Lift Truck, located in Minneapolis, MN, is one of the largest wholesalers of Used Forklifts in the World. Established in 1984, the founder of the company, Douglas Tamasi, has been in the forklift industry since 1969.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

How to Choose a Forklift

Everyone knows how to choose a car. After all, most people drive them every day. But how do you choose a forklifts or used forklifts?

To most people, forklifts appear to be all the same, but when they get down to details, they come with a bewildering variety of options and accessories, lift heights and classes.

What is important to remember is that the forklifts or used forklifts for you is the one that does the job you need, reliably and at a minimum of expense. 

 Before you start shopping, the basic questions you need to answer about your forklift requirements are:

What surface or environment?

Indoor, outdoor, gravel, concrete, mud/grass? Generally, electric used forklifts are
 suitable for indoor use only, batteries and rain don’t mix. Accordingly, electric units are designed around these parameters, with low ground clearance and low profile, long lasting tyres. If you’re going to be outside in a yard for most of the time, you may want to consider an enclosed forklift, or at least one with a roof and windshield, especially if you’re in an area with high rainfall. Going to be driving over crossovers onto roads, or over speedhumps or potholes? Look for a forklift with high ground clearance, and pneumatic tyres which will absorb bumps and uneven ground better. If you are working indoors for more than a few minutes, diesel forklifts are probably not advisable, most of the state industrial safety regulations don’t approve their use inside a factory. For these reasons, LPG is considered a more general choice, able to work indoors and outdoors easily. Cushion tires are only suitable for indoor use, but are very hard wearing and stable. Solid tires will absorb bumps better and last a long time (with regrooving), but can be somewhat unstable on uneven surfaces. Pneumatic tyres are cheap to replace and very cushioning on gravel, mud and bumps, but wear out faster than the other types.

How high do you need to lift?

This is, really what forklifts and used forklifts are for. To lift goods and move them, either into racking or onto trucks. Many people only need to lift one metre off the ground, and just about any forklift you can buy will do that. Others have racking, and if you do, measure the topmost rack and add 200mm to enable the bottom of the pallet to clear the rail. That is the lift height you need to look for when purchasing.

Capacity

Forklift capacity is measured in tons and lbs. Generally there is some rounding up, eg a 2.5 tons forklift will often be rated to lift 2.42 tones. In addition lift capacity decreases logarithmically with height and length. The larger a load and the higher it goes, the lower the available capacity. Weigh and measure the heaviest pallet or object you intent to lift, and measure your maximum lift requirements. All forklifts and used forklifts should have a load plate that will determine if your requirements can be met.

Unloading Containers or going under low doorways?

If clearance height is an issue, then you will need what is commonly called a container mast. Available in two or three stage (in forklift parlance, a section of mast is called a stage). This in turn will limit the overall height that you can lift, the maximum height you can achieve on a container mast forklift is approximately 4.3 metres. If your racking is higher than this and you need to unload containers, you will probably need 2 different units.

Aisle width restriction or turning circle

Typical factory racking is designed to allow most forklift equipment to load
and unload easily. However if you have narrow aisles or tight turns, you may need a more compact unit, such as a reach truck. Reach trucks come in a variety of brands and are exceptionally high lifters and very compact, however there disadvantages are a more complex control scheme, no weatherproofing and a higher initial cost. Other options can include a walk-behind stacker or compact conventional forklift.

Attachments / other special features

New Forklifts and used forklifts are designed to lift pallets, however they can be adapted to a wide variety of applications. We can supply sideshifts (useful for tight spaces), fork positioners (if you need to lift different sized pallets), rotators for drums and rolls, carpet poles for carpet or fabric, jibs for lifting engine blocks and the like and many, many more types of attachments. The most common are sideshifts, which are highly sought after as they allow the tynes to be repositioned on the fly, increasing loading speed. The best attachments to look for are the ones you need, there is no point in paying for something you don’t really need.

Cost

This is what people generally consider first, and while it is very important to stay within budget, it’s more important to end up with a forklift that does the job you need it to do. Cost will dictate the features you end up with, the weight capacity and the age of the unit. The simplest way to evaluate your needs is to think of it like this:

  • Age/Quality
  • Features
  • Price

Now pick two, e.g. – you can get a cheap forklift in good condition, but it may only lift 1.5 tons and have no sideshift. Or you can get a model with more hours that lifts more weight and has good specifications at a good price but it will be older and in poorer condition. You must carefully consider what specifications are important to you and balance these against the cost of the unit. Look for an upcoming post on the various purchasing methods available.

Before comparing units, try to make a list of all your ‘must haves’ and all your ‘would like to have’ features before you begin looking, like this

Must Have

  • 3.5 metre lift height
  • Cost under $10,000
  • 2 tonne minimum capacity
  • LPG

Would like to have

  • Sideshift
  • Solid Tyres

We hope this guide was helpful to you. Remember to check out our used forklifts. Don’t forget we are just a phone call (952-492-3900) or email away, even if you end up purchasing elsewhere, give us a call to compare models and pricing.

LINK: http://secondhandforklifts.com.au/2011/01/how-to-choose-a-forklift/

 

About Continental Lift Truck & Used Forklifts

Continental Lift Truck, located in Minneapolis, MN, is one of the largest wholesalers of Used Forklifts in the World. Established in 1984, the founder of the company, Douglas Tamasi, has been in the forklift industry since 1969.

Our huge inventory includes: Cushion Tire Used ForkliftsPneumatic Tire Used Forklifts,Rough Terrain Used ForkliftsThree Wheel Electric Used ForkliftsSit Down Rider Electric Used ForkliftsReach Trucks Used Forklifts and more used forklifts.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Forklift's Safety, Repair & Functionality

There’s more to the forklift story these days, as functionality improves and dealers and aftermarket parts providers help guide users towards better safety and maintenance practices.

When Don Martindale sees used forklifts with damaged lights, seats, or forks, he doesn’t view it as normal wear and tear, rather, “the canary in the coal mine.” According to Martindale, president of international supplier of forklift parts and accessories Panacea Aftermarket Co., these are the most common areas that need to be replaced, however: “This is usually a direct result of operators not being trained properly or, even worse, being trained and not acting in a professional or responsible manner. It speaks to a larger problem that needs to be quickly addressed.”

Safety
What Martindale points out is certainly not lost on a typical plant or warehouse manager, whose job requires continuously ensuring that the new or used forklifts are being used by well-trained, professional operators. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), work-related deaths have been steadily decreasing over the past decade. Despite this, it still notes that 16 percent of fatal work injuries result from “contact with objects and equipment.” Considering that a forklift is arguably one of the most dangerous pieces of equipment in a given facility — and can easily be party to collisions and other contact — these statistics should be cause for concern if a plant manager has any misgivings as to how a truck is being operated. Symptomatic of this, seeing more required reactionary maintenance than usual would also be a red flag. Bruce Marti, national manager of parts, service, customer satisfaction, and customer service support operations for Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., says the parts that tend to see the most abuse vary from application to application, but generally cites body panels, tires, and forks as the most abused components he sees. “Abuse can usually be attributed to three things: contact, poor housekeeping, and improper use,” says Marti. “All of the above parts tend to be the victims of those three variables.”

Adds Martindale: “Forklift trucks at their best are of tremendous value and significantly add to the bottom line performance and efficiency. At their worst, they are non-recoverable expenses and exposure on wheels. In my experience, the relatively small abuse repair cost does not compare to the amounts companies spend on product damage, downtime, and injuries.”

Repair
Besides safety risks, the repair issues that result from careless use of industrial vehicles can result in some costly investments — not to mention the downtime that Martindale refers to. With industrial users increasingly streamlining their fleets, it’s oftentimes the case where they no longer have a back-up truck sitting idle in the event of a severe maintenance issue. For Marti, having a good new or used forklifts repair program in place, along with working with a dealership, can improve a lift truck’s uptime and overall lifetime. “The benefit of a well-designed lift truck repair program is lower cost of ownership through the lifecycle of the lift truck, and can delay the decision to replace a lift truck by extending its useful life,” says Marti. “This type of program will also improve the customer’s productivity by potentially reducing downtime and providing safer equipment for the driver to use.”

In addition, says Martindale, the professional fleet manager should be cognizant of the fact that forklifts need to be viewed as other rolling fleets — like over-the-road equipment and cars. With this watchful eye in place — and with predictive maintenance in mind — “Abuse repairs can be spotted and addressed earlier.”

Functionality
Much like any plant and warehouse equipment, technology improvements tend to drive the value proposition of investing. For Marti and Martindale, new developments based on operator need are becoming more prevalent in customer functionality requirements:

Scales/Load Weight Management: “Scales are one of the upgrades more customers are requesting. Previously an add-on, Toyota now offers scale integration. This allows for simultaneous weighing and transportation of loads, resulting in increased efficiency and reduced logistic expenses,” explains Marti. “The scale enables operators to quickly view, record, or transfer legal-for-trade load weight information as the load is being transported through the facility.” With the ability to weigh loads en route, integrated scales eliminate the repetitive, time-consuming process of transporting loads to and from floor scales. Warehouse and freight terminal operators, dependent on weight data for their shipping fees, benefit from an integrated scale, which will help avoid costly weight discrepancies and works to ensure safe trailer load weight.

Ergonomics: “In the recent past, seat products have been greatly improved to offer improved comfort and ergonomics,” says Martindale. “Remember, there are no shock absorbers or any type of suspension on a new or used forklifts, so the operator is exposed to every bump and jolt. There are seats available now that match the all-day comfort which you see in the automotive market.”

Connectivity: “Real time data at first was relatively expensive and was usually seen in the larger fleets. Now the pricing is such that even the single user can benefit,” Martindale says. Key benefits of this technology get at the core of operator use, allowing management the kind of data that can actually prevent misuse or overuse, remind them of upcoming preventive maintenance requirements, and help them decide whether the number of trucks they have in service is appropriate. “These products can tell you if the operator is traveling too fast, turning too sharply, is with or without a load and at what height, if there were any sudden jolts or shocks and how bad they were, when the unit is throwing a repair or diagnostic code, seat time, as well as actual travel time,” says Martindale. “All of this can be monitored in real time or alerts can be emailed or texted. My favorite is the product that controls speed in a designated area. I do not believe there is a situation or event that cannot be monitored, including restricting access to certain parts of a warehouse.”

With these new tech developments will likely come a learning curve as operators adjust to these improvements in functionality and revised maintenance requirements. The good news is how the greatest concerns for management — safety and appropriate use of equipment — can be balanced with some of the aforementioned connectivity solutions that can better monitor speeds, conditions, travel time, and the drivers themselves. Couple a reduction in preventable repairs with the improved logistics through load weight management, and users can be well on their well to a less cost-intensive lift truck fleet.

LINK: http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2012/06/fork-authority

About Continental Lift Truck & Used Forklifts

Continental Lift Truck, located in Minneapolis, MN, is one of the largest wholesalers of Used Forklifts in the World. Established in 1984, the founder of the company, Douglas Tamasi, has been in the forklift industry since 1969.

Our huge inventory includes: Cushion Tire Used ForkliftsPneumatic Tire Used Forklifts,Rough Terrain Used ForkliftsThree Wheel Electric Used ForkliftsSit Down Rider Electric Used ForkliftsReach Trucks Used Forklifts and more used forklifts.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Lift Truck Tips: Tablets break free of the fixed mount

Ruggedized mobile computers improve productivity on or off new or used forklifts.

As technology rapidly improves, on-board computing has added incredible productivity and visibility for lift truck fleets everywhere. However, the pace of that improvement has some customers concerned that they will be left with obsolete computer equipment within a few years.

Given the intensity of many lift truck applications, customers also wonder if new computing equipment will hold up or result in costly and time-consuming repairs. Mark Holleran, president of Xplore Technologies, says recent improvements in durability, modular component design, and user interface are enabling customers to get even more from their on-board computers while ensuring a productive future.

The current trend in warehousing/distribution, says Holleran, is to move away from fixed-mount devices to more mobile platforms.

“If, say, 20% of the fleet is down at any given time for charging, repair or off shift, the device is also down,” says Holleran. “Similarly, if the computer is down, then so is the lift truck.”

With easily detachable on-board computers, the customer can purchase and maintain fewer devices. This kind of flexibility can even enable devices to serve a number of purposes in a facility, says Holleran, from wall-mounted time clocks to GPS units.

Holleran says the second key shift in mobile computing is the preference for tablet-style computers with touchscreens. Customers want stylus and touch capability, and studies show that the intuitiveness of touch interfaces increases data accuracy, says Holleran. An additional benefit of the widespread use of tablets is the ease of training. “To some extent, training for these devices and their software is built into the ambient culture,” he says.

Customers want to be able to do on-site repairs for things like hard drives and ports that become damaged, he says. Some tablets now offer tool-less hard drive removal, tool-less access to the SD memory card, and as little as four screws to access the memory chips. These features allow for quick upgrades, repairs and data transfers in the field.

Durability is also essential, says Holleran. Units should have a minimum five-year lifespan, he says, as compared to an 18- to 24-month rotation cycle for desktop computers. Unlike desktops, industrial tablets must contend with industrial environments, like rough floors and minimal suspension.

“You need industrial-class components, not just a hard shell on a consumer-grade product,” says Holleran. “They call those products ‘semi-ruggedized,’ but customers need real-world rugged.”

LINK: http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/view/lift_truck_tips_tablets_break_free_of_the_fixed_mount/mmh.com/topic/tag/Lift_Trucks

About Continental Lift Truck & Used Forklifts

Continental Lift Truck, located in Minneapolis, MN, is one of the largest wholesalers of Used Forklifts in the World. Established in 1984, the founder of the company, Douglas Tamasi, has been in the forklift industry since 1969.

Our huge inventory includes: Cushion Tire Used ForkliftsPneumatic Tire Used Forklifts,Rough Terrain Used ForkliftsThree Wheel Electric Used ForkliftsSit Down Rider Electric Used ForkliftsReach Trucks Used Forklifts and more used forklifts.