Which Forks?
Vetter (www.forks.com) produce a range of forks to suit various applications. We discovered them at IMHX 2016 and thought we would let you know about some of their products:
- Big Forks – Cross section up to 350 x 150mm, blade length up to 4,000 mm, back height up to 2,000 mm and capacity up to 120 tons per pair.
- Swan-Neck Forks – safety and efficiency during palletless transports! These protect the load, ensure a higher level of safety as the whole blade length is used an there are no overhanging goods and they make for quick and easy loading.
- Warning Bar – for use on a road. Protruding forks that cannot be seen from a distance cause many forklift truck accidents in road traffic. The red-white hatching on the warning bar is visible from a distance and provides a higher level of safety, especially in car parks, at exits and at night. They are fitted using magnetic entry pockets. When the warning bar is not in use it is attached to the truck using magnets.
- Manual Telescopic Forks – Fork and fork extension in one. This allows transport of 2or 3 pallets at the same time. The correct fork length must always be used to ensure a high level of safety. These forks save significant time and cost compared to fork extensions.
- Folding Forks – Whether in road traffic, off road or in a confined space, folding forks can be used for a wide range of applications.
Are your forks the correct length?
Forks should usually be at least 75% of the load/pallet but if you are using mainly standard pallets and placing them into standard racking then your forks don’t need to be any longer than 1 metre. 1 metre is the depth of a standard pallet (1.2 metres x 1 metre) when picked up correctly on the wide face thus giving you a load centre distance of 500mm.
We go to many places where they are using lift trucks with forks that are just too long for the job. This will make it harder for forklift drivers to manoeuvre in a racking system and can cause more damage to racking and product.
If you would like advice on which types of forks to use on your truck, please call us on 0800 024 8084 or e-mail info@stackerstraining.co.uk
