Are All Forklifts Created Equal ?

At the end of the day, forklifts are a tool.  They are generally used in businesses or in places where there is a need to pick up a load (pallet) and carry it from A to B.  But we wanted to compare forklifts and answer the question are they created equal?

So the question really is, are all forklifts created equal?  We’ve covered this a few times now, in the last 5 years in Australia, there has been a huge influx of Chinese-made forklifts in the Australian market.

So if you were looking at replacing an existing 2.5T forklift with a new 2.5T forklift, does it really matter what it is if they both lift 2500 kgs to 4 meters. ?

Well, there are certain things you need to consider when looking to purchase any forklift, that will make the world of difference.

Utilization of forklift

One of the first things to consider is How many hours a week are you doing with it.

If you’re only doing 5- 10 hours a week.  Would you spend top dollar and get a premium forklift like a Linde, which can cost north of $90 000 for Linde’s 392 series forklift?

Or would you consider a Chinese model that like a HC that you could purchase for $25 000 depending on the specifications?

Environment it’s working in

The environment is a crucial part of the decision-making process when you start thinking about forklifts.

• Is it dusty
• Is it clean
• Are there ramps
• Is it operating outside
• or inside, in a freezer?

The environment in which you operate your forklift can tell you a lot about what forklift you need to choose.

Application its working in

What’s the forklift doing, is it unloading trucks and carting a pallet into a warehouse and into racking?  Well, you might need to consider either a reach truck or a standard counterbalanced forklift.

How high is the racking, does it go through low doors,

Budget to spend

How much money do you really want to spend, are you looking to purchase it outright or rent it

The wash-up

Are all forklifts created equal, the simple answer is no, there is a forklift for every requirement you might have?

Additional things you might want to consider are things like :

Service intervals – They can range from 250 hours to 1000 hours on the same capacity forklift

Parts availability – With the Chinese forklift market developing in Australia, there are now plenty of places to buy parts from.  But it always pays to check before moving forward with a purchase, there are some brands on the market with no local backup or support.

Service cost – this really does hand in hand with the parts availability, How much does it cost to service? With a lot of the more modern forklifts, they now need trained technicians that can use a laptop for diagnosing any issue the unit might be having.