Lift Truck Components in More Detail
A lift truck is made of numerous components. The main components which make up a lift truck are the truck frame, the engine components, the overhead guard, the tilt cylinders and the wheels. Furthermore, a forklift consists of different kinds of attachments. All the parts making up a forklift are of equal importance since they work together to make the equipment's functions possible. The following paragraphs describe a few of the forklift parts in detail.
The Overhead Guard - this guard forms the forklift truck's metal roof. It sits over the cab area and protects the machine operator while he or she is sitting and driving. The overhead guard ensures that nothing falling from above onto the truck would damage the controls inside the cab or hurt the driver. The overhead guard is essential to the frame assembly on some models.
The Mast - the mast is a vertical assembly made of interlocking rails and mounted either to the forklift frame or the front axle. The mast provides lateral stability and enables the forks to move upwards and down. The interlocking rails could either have rollers or bushings as guides. There are a couple of ways the mast could be operated: chain operated with motive power provided by a hydraulic motor or hydraulically by one or more hydraulic cylinders.
Forklift Carriage - the forks and different other kinds of attachments are mounted to the carriage. The carriage is attached to the mast directly to the hydraulic cylinder or it is attached by chains. To allow the forks to be lowered and raised, the carriage may have either rollers or bushings to guide it in the interlocking mast rails.
Load Back Rest - When the carriage is raised to full height, there is a back rest made of metal which prevents a load from falling backwards. The back rest is either welded or bolted on to the carriage.
Forklift Attachments - a variety of attachments can be fixed to the front of the lift truck. The most common kind of attachment is forks. Furthermore, there are L-shaped members, rotators, rollers, roll clamps, pole handlers and so on. These various kinds of attachments are useful for moving various types of loads.