terbalanced products at The Raymond Corp.
▪ Attachment’s impact on truck capacity. The weight and
size of an attachment has a huge impact on safety and performance. As the attachment moves away from its original
position, the load center changes and the weight and
dimensions of the attachment will affect the lift truck’s stability, load capacity, and the way the driver should operate
it, MCFA’s Rogers explains. As a result, attachments must be
carefully matched to the size of the truck.
The truck manufacturer is responsible for the integrity
of the vehicle’s design, and federal regulations require it to
certify each truck’s lifting capacity at the time it is produced, says Clark Simpson, a sales engineer with Clark
Material Handling Co. “The user must make sure the combination of the [truck and attachment] is tested and
approved in advance for the rated capacity by the truck
manufacturer’s engineers. The user has an obligation to
obtain the prior written consent of the manufacturer
because the attachment will probably lower the truck’s
capacity,” he says.
After it approves the attachment/truck combination, the
lift truck manufacturer will provide a new data plate for the
vehicle with updated information on the attachment(s)
installed, as well as a “derated” or an
“as configured” capacity rating,
explains David Land, who oversees
the Design Engineering department
at Toyota Industrial Equipment
Manufacturing (TIEM).
▪ Hydraulic system pressure and
flow. Hydraulic fluid flow (measured
in gallons per minute) and pressure
(measured in pounds per square
inch) provide the speed and force
attachments need to manipulate
loads. It’s critical, then, that a truck’s
hydraulic system capacity be adequate and properly adjusted for the
needs of both the truck and the
attachment, says Matt Ranly, senior
product marketing manager for
Crown Equipment Corp. As for the
type of situation where a mismatch
might occur, Raymond Corp. sales
engineer Rick Woerter offers the
example of a paper industry customer’s request for walkie
stackers with rotating clamps. The stacker might have a
hydraulic flow of three to four gallons per minute, while
the rotator attachment would demand five to seven gallons
per minute, he says.
▪ Battery capacity. Some attachments are quite heavy, so if
you operate electric trucks, make sure the battery has sufficient capacity for the additional weight. You may need a
bigger battery with more amp hours.
▪ Ease of use. If attachments aren’t easy to use, drivers will
avoid them. That’s particularly true in operations where
drivers are inexperienced or turnover is high. Attachments
that require little or no decision-making or adjustment by
the driver are good choices for facilities where operators
will be using different trucks and attachments, says Cesar
Jimenez, national product planning manager for Toyota
Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc.
LISTEN TO THE ENGINEERS
Although you know your operation better than anyone, it’s
critical that you heed the recommendations of the lift truck
and attachment manufacturers’ engineers—even when
they’re unwilling to spec the job as you ask, say the experts
consulted for this article. NACCO’s Mayes notes, however,
that such instances are few and far between because the
dealers are very knowledgeable and typically have vetted the
buyer’s request before it ever reaches this stage.
Sometimes, the problem is a capacity mismatch between
an existing forklift and the desired attachment, and the
solution may be a higher-capacity
truck, he says. In other cases, the
problem arises because a buyer is
unaware of recent changes in attachment design and technology and is
basing a request on outdated information, says Cascade Corp. product
manager Rick Whiting.
When a manufacturer does say no
to a request, it’s because the request
would affect the safe operation of the
truck and put the safety of the driver
and other warehouse associates at
risk, says Simpson of Clark Material
Handling. Sometimes, a request for
an attachment can be accommodated
by tightly restricting the equipment
rating and the circumstances in which
the attachment can be used. In any
event, it’s critical that you make sure
the data plate reflects the capacity and
any other changes, he adds.
The attachments themselves are not the problem, adds
Crown’s Ranly. “They’re all safe,” he says. “They just have
to be spec’d to do what they’re supposed to do, and they
have to be attached in the way they’re designed to be
attached.”
Whether the issue is safety or efficiency, a lot is riding on
your choice of lift truck attachment. After all, says Toyota’s
Jimenez, “if you use the wrong attachment, then you’re not
going to accomplish the ultimate goal: moving product
more efficiently and at a higher level of productivity.”
