OT Forklift Propane Conversion

Hawaii Machinist · Oct 18, 2008

Have a Baker F040 forklift with a continental engine. Anyone have a good source for a good propane conversion kit for this machine?
thanks in advance
Doug

Timw · Oct 18, 2008

Your best bet is find a dead forklift and remove the components. There are way more LP FL's made than other fuels. The hard part is trying to find a gasser.

GregSY · Oct 18, 2008

Why is this a thumbs down idea?

JoeFin · Oct 18, 2008

Here is a website to help you with the math

http://wps.com/LPG/

I used to perform start up testing of small Propane Gen sets (40 - 75 Kw) and all I can tell you is "regulation" is every thing

Pierce Butler · Oct 18, 2008

Why would you want to convert it?

matt_isserstedt · Oct 18, 2008

Pierce Butler said:
Why would you want to convert it?

Couple reasons: you can run it inside the shop without the CO genie creeping up on you. (It provides some nice heat inside the shop should you require that

) Also, provided the battery can be maintained, an LPG engine fires up immediately...no gumming of carbs or other fuel restriction problems you'd face with a gasoline engine which sits around for long periods in between uses.

Perry Harrington · Oct 18, 2008

I replaced the bendix propane system on my Continental engine. For $500 I bought a complete retrofit kit for an Impco system. Every part you need to convert the engine to propane is included, with the exception of the hose to the propane tank. Just go to your nearest forklift repair company and order the kit through them.

dkmc · Oct 18, 2008

Another vote for IMPCO.....

an LPG engine fires up immediately

I disagree....my Hyster has to crank and develop vacuum before the fuel valve opens....so there is extra cranking required.....annoying always.....

bob308 · Oct 18, 2008

lpg is not all it is crackedup to be a lot of work have to clean the system about every 2 months. they put oil in the gas and it gums up the works. i know i work on them at work.

bigais · Oct 19, 2008

IMO I always liked the systems with the diaphragms in the vertical position as they seemed to last longer between cleanings as they have more oil capacity without sagging to affect the adjustments. Most people also push the accelerator pedal when starting which is counter productive to starting as there is no accelerator pump per say and depends on vacuum to operate the system.Most systems , when properly set, will start by key only, no acc. pedal or VERY little.

Perry Harrington · Oct 19, 2008

Impco vaporizers have a primer button on them. If you depress this button for 10 seconds or so, it greatly speeds up the startup. The old bendix/zenith systems ran pressure all the way to the mixer, so there was no vacuum operated vaporizer. These had a fuel solenoid on the vaporizer (in the coolant outlet). I am very happy with the ease of the impco system, and because they only make a few models, nearly every forklift has the same parts, because the HP range is the same. This means any forklift dealer will have replacement parts in stock.

dkmc · Oct 19, 2008

I'm thinking the ole Beam(sp) systems like I got on my hyster wern't the best.... :rolleyes5:

gbent · Oct 19, 2008

No Impco vaporizer I have ever seen was vacuum operated. They maintain constant pressure to the carb. You can buy a electric primer coil for the Impco vaporizer that will allow you to mount a "choke" button on the dash for priming. This is handy if the vaporizer is mounted in an inaccessable location. The primer coil wires can also be hooked to the starter solenoid for automatic priming if your system can tolerate that much boost.

Perry Harrington · Oct 19, 2008

The fuel shutoff is vacuum operated from the mixer, the vaporizer has a primer button on it to allow a little gaseous LPG to the mixer, before the proper fuel flow is established. The vaporizer is a Model J and the vacuum fuel shutoff/filter is a VFF30. A remote primer button can be mounted to the Model J and it's operated much like a choke cable, except it's a push button.

Hawaii Machinist · Oct 19, 2008

Why do I want to convert it? As Matt said;
"Couple reasons: you can run it inside the shop without the CO genie creeping up on you. (It provides some nice heat inside the shop should you require that ) Also, provided the battery can be maintained, an LPG engine fires up immediately...no gumming of carbs or other fuel restriction problems you'd face with a gasoline engine which sits around for long periods in between uses."
It is owned by our Community College and we have the "clean out the carb" routine after every long break.
I need sorces for the conversion parts, or kit. My local forklift dearer wants almost 2 grand to supply the parts and do the conversion. He even quotes $100+ and labor to change a leaky water pump, how he got that notion about a leaky pump, I don't know as he hasn't even seen the machine. Now, know why I want to avoid him and do it myself?
I had several of my own forklifts that were propane and were trouble free.They were IMPCO units, but can I buy them other then from my dealer? I haven't been able to find a website for them yet.
Mahalo,
Doug

Perry Harrington · Oct 19, 2008

Call Eldorado Forklift and order the kit over the phone, they'll ship it to you (they did for me). There website is http://eldoradoforklift.com/

S_W_Bausch · Feb 3, 2010

Yep, this an OLD post, but nobody posted contact information for IMPCO:

Try www.altfuel.com/hyster
or
https://www.altfuel.com/yale.htm
or
https://www.altfuel.com/clark.htm
or
https://www.altfuel.com/baker.htm

just contact them and ask for a quote
https://www.altfuel.com/ordering.htm

tdmidget · Feb 4, 2010

What makes you think that there is no CO produced by LP gas?

DieselPower · Feb 4, 2010

I just pulled the propane system off my lift and installed a carb. I got tired of dealing with the propane system all the time and the hard starting. It start and runs a whole lot better now.

Milacron · Feb 4, 2010

DieselPower said:
I just pulled the propane system off my lift and installed a carb. I got tired of dealing with the propane system all the time and the hard starting. It start and runs a whole lot better now.

Wierd....in all the years I've been moving iron around I don't recall having but maybe one minor problem with a propane lift truck. Besides the reasons Matt lists, gasoline looses octane rather quickly...even with stabilizers best not to leave gas over a year in the tank.

My only annoyance with propane is I seem to use up tanks so quickly. My diesel CAT used to seem to go forever on a few gallons of fuel...but it was pretty tough to use inside the building even with all the exhaust fans on. Say what you will, there is good reason 99 percent of inside use folklifts are either propane or electric. But if you never need to go inside, diesel is the way to go.

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