Lift Truck Components in More Detail
A lift truck is made of thousands of parts. The key components which make up a lift truck are the truck frame, the engine parts, the overhead guard, the tilt cylinders and the wheels. Additionally, a lift truck consists of various kinds of attachments. All the parts which make up a forklift are all important since they work together to make the operation of the machine possible. The following paragraphs describe several of the forklift components in detail.
The Overhead Guard - this guard forms the lift truck's metal roof. It sits over the cab area and protects the equipment operator while he or she is sitting and driving. The overhead guard ensures that nothing falling from above onto the truck will injure the operator or damage the controls inside the cab. The overhead guard is essential to the frame assembly on various models.
The Mast - the mast is a vertical assembly made of interlocking rails and mounted either to the front axle or the forklift frame. The mast provides lateral stability and allows the forks to move upwards and downwards. The interlocking rails can either have rollers or bushings as guides. There are a couple of ways the mast could be operated: hydraulically by one or more hydraulic cylinders or chain operated with motive power provided by a hydraulic motor.
Lift Truck Carriage - the forks and various other kinds of attachments are mounted to the carriage. The carriage is connected 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 could have either bushings or rollers to guide it in the interlocking mast rails.
Load Back Rest - a back rest is a metal rack which prevents a load from falling backwards while the carriage is lifted to its full height. The back rest is either bolted or welded on to the carriage.
Lift Truck Attachments - a variety of attachments may be fixed to the front of the lift truck. The most common attachment is forks. Furthermore, there are L-shaped members, rotators, rollers, roll clamps, pole handlers and so on. These various attachments are really handy for moving different kinds of loads.