Gas fork lift trucks

[pettsy]

I’m hopefully starting a double storey extension on my house refurb in the next month or so. I’m going to have various pallets of blocks and bulk bags to move to the rear of the house so considering a small forklift that I can make use of then sell on once the project is finished. It it’s paved all round so hopefully a standard forklift would manage? (Will all be replaced one day!)

I’ve spotted this on eBay not a million miles away from me, and should just about be able to pick it up on my ifor beavertail trailer?

Www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123793247746

I’ve used forklifts, but what obvious things should i looking at when buying one?

 

[V8Druid]

I’m hopefully starting a double storey extension on my house refurb in the next month or so. I’m going to have various pallets of blocks and bulk bags to move to the rear of the house so considering a small forklift that I can make use of then sell on once the project is finished. It it’s paved all round so hopefully a standard forklift would manage? (Will all be replaced one day!)

I’ve spotted this on eBay not a million miles away from me, and should just about be able to pick it up on my ifor beavertail trailer?

Www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123793247746

I’ve used forklifts, but what obvious things should i looking at when buying one?

not dear IMHDO ... not a bargain but a decent looking FLT .... clear view mast ... can't tell if it's a low headroom or not ... (stages go up one at a time, once the carriage reaches the top of the first one) LH is a better option for tight spaces.
looks like cushion solid tyres, so no punc.ys ..... if you get an Acme adaptor, you can refill the bottles at an LPG seller ... prob.s cheaper than buying FLT bottles.
you will need SOLID ground to run that one on .... fine on properly prepped planings / hard stand...
your slabs may well be problematic depending on what's under 'em ...
your ifor is going to groan with that on and put extra ply on the bed .... it'll punch its way through the bed other wise

 

[pettsy]

I’ve got about 2.4m at the side of the house so smaller is better in terms of access, and haven’t got the budget for a small telehandler sadly. I can’t imagine there’s much under the existing paving, I’m not bothered about it moving but i guess there isn’t much clearance underneath if one flicks up? If needs be I could get it picked up on a truck, thought I may manage it if I lay a few scaffold boards to spread the weight?

Engine wise I assume there’s nothing unusual to look out for?

 

[V8Druid]

I’ve got about 2.4m at the side of the house so smaller is better in terms of access, and haven’t got the budget for a small telehandler sadly. I can’t imagine there’s much under the existing paving, I’m not bothered about it moving but i guess there isn’t much clearance underneath if one flicks up? If needs be I could get it picked up on a truck, thought I may manage it if I lay a few scaffold boards to spread the weight?

Engine wise I assume there’s nothing unusual to look out for?

petrol engine essentially, with an LPG carb (usually) and a vaporiser set up ...... should start and stop as you'd expect .... if it takes a lot of cranking over it'll be the gas solenoid cut offs probably or leaking plumbing

could lay some GOS sheathing on your slabs ... would help a lot ..... same on the trailer bed ... those two little back wheels are carrying a lot of weight

 

[Grahams]

You will need a pretty solid haul route. It won't have suspension or diff lock, so very easy to be spinning one drive wheel and you get stuck.
Personally I hate gas. Runs out when you least expect it and tempermental on older trucks, especially in the cold. But I may have had bad experiences. They seem popular enough, but I would go diesel every time.
Graham

 

[doobin]

What Graham said. I think you'd be much better off with a rough terrain truck for that job.

 

[pettsy]

That might kill that idea then. I’d rather have diesel, but there aren’t many small ones and many are far heavier than I need. I could potentially borrow a full size rough terrain but not sure if it would even fit Back to the drawing board

 

[AusDave]

Spent a lot of time when I was looking for a forklift truck as I was kitting out my shed with pallet racking to maximise space. I learnt a lot about secondhand forklifts so here's a list to help you out.
1. Most secondhand forklifts have had virtually no maintenance their entire lives. Expect oil like treacle... or milk, as a head, head gasket or welsh plug has let go. Reason why water in the oil? No-one bothers with proper coolant in a forklift and the engine corrodes away from the inside.
2. Get a container mast forklift. This means the mast is low enough to go in a container which means it will go into most sheds and be much more useful. Sections will extend plenty high when needed.
3. Get sideshift on the fork carriage as it makes it so much easier to work in tight places.
4. LPG is the best fuel. Why? See point 1 above. LPG systems are very simple and low maintenance and can cope with lack of care. When the fork is used for short periods and doesn't get the motor very hot, LPG powered motors don't suffer. Use a diesel fork in these conditions and the motor will suffer as diesels work best and cleanest when motor is running under load at operating temperature. Petrol motors are OK, and many LPG forks can run on both petrol and LPG. However when the petrol fork sits for long periods between use gaskets in the fuel system/carby dry and leak air or fuel. LPG can be cheaper to buy as well.

I found having a forklift is really useful even when you don't use it a lot. If you make sure where you run it has a well compacted surface you can take it wherever you want. Mine has solid tyres all round with a tread pattern on the front and it gets around on the dirt ok at my place.
Carrying a bit of a load will help even more as most of the weight is over the back wheels when unladen.
Make sure you don't get one with tiny wheels with no tread which need a very smooth hard surface.
Put all your crap on pallets and stack 'em or move them around easily whenever its in the way.
They make a great mini crane especially with an extension on the forks.
The manoeuvrability is fantastic and makes tight areas no problem.
They are very heavy, even the small ones, so I would be very careful loading and trailering one home.

Do your homework, inspect every machine very thoroughly and go get a good one You'll love it!

AusDave

 

[Jimoz]

How much room you got at rear is it just a pinch point you need to get thru? Mine's pretty handy and not as heavy as the 926's there's a couple about online

 

[diggerjones]

I'm not sure why you would bother having a fork lift on a domestic double story exstenstion. If you get it priced its up to the builder to move materials. And if doing it your self it wouldn't take long to move a few packs by hand.
The other thing to consider is space or lack of it. The machine itself will take up room aslo you will have materials everywhere.

 

[Russell]

What about a little tracked dumper? I used my one to bring 500 concrete blocks and 500 light weights and it took less than a full day. You obviously have to load and unload but it's very easy as you can half tip it to get the blocks out at a nice height. Just have to be careful it doesn't fall on you because it's a bit tippy with a full load of concrete, my brother tiped it over when we did the floor slab

 

[pettsy]

I'm not sure why you would bother having a fork lift on a domestic double story exstenstion. If you get it priced its up to the builder to move materials. And if doing it your self it wouldn't take long to move a few packs by hand.
The other thing to consider is space or lack of it. The machine itself will take up room aslo you will have materials everywhere.

The house is set back from the road slightly which means a lorry can’t reach to unload onto my property, only onto a public tarmac area. It was a thought that a cheap forklift would mean i could stack blocks on my own front driveway and transfer to rear of house as needed along with bulk bags etc. Saves manual handling, time and could keep things organised.

 

[V8Druid]

You will need a pretty solid haul route. It won't have suspension or diff lock, so very easy to be spinning one drive wheel and you get stuck.
Personally I hate gas. Runs out when you least expect it and tempermental on older trucks, especially in the cold. But I may have had bad experiences. They seem popular enough, but I would go diesel every time.
Graham

99.9% of gas vaporisers are water jacket-ed and pre-heated by the engines coolant jacket ....
when very cold it's advisable to let the motor warm for a few minutes, at tick over, to raise the coolant temp. and stop the vaporiser freezing up ....
as the LPG changes from liquid at 9.5bar to gaseous fuel in the milibar range it chills ...
the greater the demand the faster it chills, which is why the vaporiser is heated by the engine's water jacket and needs a few minutes to warm, ideally, when it's below freezing on site.
easy enough to have a spare bottle of gas to change over, if you run out ... have a refillable type and fill at LPG outlets ... cheaper than buying bottles for FLTs
in confined spaces you don't get gassed by diesel fumes ...
LPG engines exhaust water and a breathable exhaust - i.e. it won't kill you.
much quieter too

I've had loads of both gas and diesel ... gas starts easier in the cold and doesn't fill yer w/shop with fumes .... or a confined space like a courtyard

as already said ..... if your ground is solid it'll be fine .... FLTs like we are talking about do not like soft ground - end of

 

[Rob65]

Have you thought about a small skid steer with forks on?

I have a Bobcat 463 that I use for this kind of work at my house. It can carry about 600kg so about 20 shovel fulls out of a bulk bag into a spare one and it can lift what’s left and off you go........ Simples.

It can lift to about 8 feet, so not perfect for a two story job but I have managed to put a jib on it and get lighter stuff up to 18 feet with a bit of care. It can also bring soil out and load skips if required.

Every household should have one in my opinion .

Rob

 

[pettsy]

Yes, had thought about a skid steer as there will be soil to load out from bottom of garden at some point, however I’m not sure if they have enough lift capacity to move pallets of breeze blocks? I’m not bothered about lift height really, just making life easy.

 

[mart1602]

get plenty of pallets and put them single band would manage them easy

 

[Rob65]

I have a few pallets that I cut down to half width. The 463 will carry them loaded with concrete paving bricks about 2ft high. Don’t think you would have a problem with blocks until you piled them so high you could not see over the top to drive forwards

Reversing long distances is not as easy as on a forklift but no real problem.

Rob

 

[pettsy]

Came across this while browsing....

Www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323849293779


Asked if the front duals can be removed and got the following reply....

Hi
yes
do you want to see more photos? send me your email to attach them or reply directly to:[email protected]

It doesn’t exactly look like a uk yard, one is lhd in pics.... scam?

 

[V8Druid]

Came across this while browsing....

Www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323849293779
View attachment 7538

Asked if the front duals can be removed and got the following reply....


It doesn’t exactly look like a uk yard, one is lhd in pics.... scam?

this un doesn't exactly look Kosher either
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thaler-2...m=352706981335&_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982

these bloody scammers are ruining a good source of gear

 

[V8Druid]

this is tidy ..... diesel (unusually for an S50) two speed tranny ; fwd/rev on the column, factory fitted side shift ... looks to be a 13-14 ft lift .. turn on a pin head ... bloody good, bombproof lil' truck .... had one and an S40 and they got about fine on properly compacted planings in me yard ... even better on concrete
no VAT and a cheap asking for one of these .... could do a lot worse

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HYSTER-DIESEL-FORKLIFT-SIDE-SHIFT-RORKLIFT-TRUCK-YARD-WORKSHOP/264374982133?_trkparms=aid=1110001&algo=SPLICE.SIM&ao=1&asc=20131231084308&meid=59c9c0e44bbb45f3b6c1e2254e413866&pid=100010&rk=1&rkt=12&sd=323849293779&itm=264374982133&_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109