A pallet truck is common piece of equipment found in factories, warehouses, offices, and anywhere else that has to handle the coming and going of goods on pallets. Pallet trucks facilitate the easy and safe lifting of heavy and cumbersome goods that arrive laden on wooden pallets. They are also a great way of moving mass stock around a warehouse or other similar storage facility. Very often goods and parts will arrive in bulk strapped to a wooden pallet. Companies will leave their stock on the pallet, as it makes for much easier handling and storage. Anything on a pallet can be quickly and easily transported by means of a pallet truck, and a high lift pallet truck does exactly the same thing with a higher lift height capacity.
High Lift Pallet Truck Details
So what exactly is a high lift pallet truck in comparison to a normal pallet truck. The difference is that a standard pallet truck has the capacity to lift pallets to a hight of around 7 inches off the floor. This specification is primarily for lifting the pallet load up to a height required in order to move the pallet around freely. It is not designed to lift the pallet high enough so that it can be laid down on something else like a rack or another pallet. That is where an industrial high lift pallet truck would come in. High lift pallet trucks have the capacity to lift pallets to heights of up to 2 metres above the ground, so they have an advantage over normal pallet trucks, but do come in at a higher price point because of this.
Configurations of Pallet Truck
There are actually several renditions that these pallet trucks come in, and each design has their own benefits and drawbacks. Most normal lift height pallet trucks come in are manual hight operated from, which means that you have to raise and lower the pallet load with the handle and roll the pallet trolley around by pulling it where you want to go. The lifting mechanism is done hydraulically, and the trolley usually comes with low resistance rolling wheels, so although some effort is involved, it is not considered too strenuous. There are also electrically operated pallet lifters. These control the lifting function of the trolley electronically, and more often than not they have an electric motor that drives the wheels, so they do not have to be dragged around. This can lighten the workload for the operator, leading to greater staff satisfaction levels.
How to Use a Pallet Truck
Here is a brief overview of how to use a standard hydraulic pallet truck safely and effectively:
- Check the pallet to ensure the load is securely stacked on the pallet.
- Carefully guide the pallet truck forks into the gaps of pallet.
- Set the lever on the handle to lift position and begin pumping the handle.
- Check you have the necessary clearance between the floor and the bottom of the pallet, put the lever to the neutral position.
- Move the pallet to where you need it to go, taking care not to hit anything or anyone
- Squeeze the level towards the lower mode, the pallet lift should smoothly and slowly lower the load.
- Once the pallet trolley is fully on the ground, pull it out from the pallet.