Lift Truck Parts in More Detail
There are hundreds of parts that make up a forklift. The lift truck's major components consist of the frame of the truck, the engine parts, the overhead guard, the tilt cylinders and the wheels. Furthermore, a lift truck consists of different types of attachments. All the components that make up a lift truck are all important as they work together to make the operation of the equipment possible. The subsequent paragraphs describe a few of the forklift components in detail.
The Overhead Guard - The overhead guard is actually the lift truck's metal roof, which sits atop the operator cab. It's job is to protect the operator while they are using the machinery. The overhead guard makes sure that nothing falling from above onto the truck will hurt the operator or damage the controls inside the cab. The overhead guard is essential to the frame assembly on several 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 enables the forks to move up and down. The interlocking rails can either have bushings or bushings as guides. There are two ways the mast can be operated: chain operated with motive power provided by a hydraulic motor or hydraulically by one or more hydraulic cylinders.
Lift Truck Carriage - the forks and other 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 be able to enable the forks to be lowered and raised, the carriage can have either rollers or bushings to guide it in the interlocking mast rails.
Load Back Rest - When the carriage is lifted to full height, there is a back rest made of metal which keeps a load from falling backwards. The back rest is either bolted or welded on to the carriage.
Lift Truck Attachments - There are many kinds of attachments that can be fixed directly to the forklifts carriage. Forks are the most common type of attachment. Also, there are L-shaped members, rollers, rotators, roll clamps, pole handlers and so on. These different kinds of attachments are really helpful for transporting different kinds of loads.