Best quality manual pallet jack?

Standard manual pallet jack, not high reach or with onboard scale.

Was curious which brand was the best ? Also is a heavier build less desirable?

I've got two crown PTH pallet jacks. There very nice and not too expensive. I had a old BT and it was nice but not as nice as the crown. The BT needed a rebuild so I sprang for a couple new jacks instead.

https://cart.crown.com/cart/products/usa_electric_forklift/hand_pallet_trucks/pthHome.htm

We've got a older Crown around the shop. A plant we were at was going to throw it out because it leaked. We brought it in, put a seal kit in it, and it's good as new.

I don't know if it's the best as it's the only one I've used extensively, it has served us well though.

I like the ones with the double bogies. They roll better.

I've got an older Rol-Lift. I've had many others in here, and this one has outlasted them all, and is MUCH heavier built- to the point that the forks are a little thicker in section and sheet metal gauge. There are some out of spec pallets that you must give it a bit of a shove to get it in... It came with a back stop that inserted like a receiver hitch just above where the top of the ram is. The wheels are a little harder so they deform less and its easier to push. lifting and moving Bridgeports around is no problem with it, where others even with the same rating are not happy.

I have the Uline super-duper one, and it moves my 5,500# (with vises and etc.) Speedio around easily. Only had it a few months so can't speak to longevity.

Regards.

Mike

Quality, serviceability, customer support, capability. Crown, hands down. Regards, Clark

I have 3 right now. A 5K Pallet Mule, a 5k Lift-Rite and the below unknown brand.

Anyone recognize this brand? It is rather heavy, heavier than the other 2 Pallet-Jacks I have

Looks like a crown label on the side to me.

Spud said:

I have 3 right now. A 5K Pallet Mule, a 5k Lift-Rite and the below unknown brand.

Anyone recognize this brand? It is rather heavy, heavier than the other 2 Pallet-Jacks I have

Click to expand...

Looks like the original Stokvis/ Multiton that used to sell for $595.00 back in the 70's.Good heavy duty truck that was then made in Germany. Sold lots of them.

To me any pallet truck with which you can lower a maximum capacity load in a controlled manner is good
Most of the cheaper onces cannot do that

Peter

Peter from Holland said:

To me any pallet truck with which you can lower a maximum capacity load in a controlled manner is good
Most of the cheaper onces cannot do that

Click to expand...

I was about to say the same thing. I bought a Muliton 10,000 lb capacity manual pallet jack years ago brand new. Well, it would lift 10,000 lbs all right.... but it would not *lower* 10,000 lbs ! In other words, with that much weight you could not pull the lower lever at all....and even if you could it would have required so much force it would have not been controllable....the whole 10K would come crashing down at full speed. The only way to lower it was to tap the relief valve with a hammer, and even that was tricky to do.

I called Multiton about it and they sent me a different spool valve to install, which helped a lot but still not like it should be really. Most 5K pallet jacks are like that...you actually lift 5K but very difficult to lower that much in controlled manner.

These days I use electric pallet jacks for everything that is near capacity....just press a button to lower...built way more heavy duty....plus you have brakes* l But still use manual ones for light loads.....the best manual pallet jack ? Dunno....probably Crown or Rol-Lift, like others say....my manual ones have tended to be Jungheinrich or Multiton (same thing in some cases) and they are fine for about half their capacity but above that they suck.

=============

*Even better, the newer electrics have AC motors and regenerative brakes...so if going slightly downhill for example, the pallet jack stops when you let off the "throttle". ..and it stops in unison with the throttle....i.e. smooth and gradual

The older electrics with DC drive the only way to brake it is to raise the steer arm, i.e. sudden braking only....so if going downhill you have to constantly throttle it in reverse to slow it down....tricky to do, but is doable. Still, the regenerative brakes are sooooo much nicer.

Hmm... two weeks ago you could have used one with a scale.

Chip

Chip Chester said:

Hmm... two weeks ago you could have used one with a scale.

Click to expand...

Years ago I had a stand up electric forklift of 5K capacity (usually high capacity for a stand up...think how heavy that thing must have been !) that had a built in digital scale. Very cool feature but I couldn't justify keeping it due to it's value (late model with late battery) so sold it. Paid $500 for it at an auction in NC ! Even back then the battery alone would have cost $2,500....more like $5000 today.

Chip Chester said:

Hmm... two weeks ago you could have used one with a scale.

Chip

Click to expand...

I look out for those at nearby auctions , but the last one (about 3 weeks ago) went for over $500, so didn't get it.


The above pictured pallet jack takes forever to lower and I have to stand on the forks and jump to make it go down. It goes up just fine.

Still haven't found the brand despite checking the brands mentioned above.

Best one I ever used was a Bishamon. Smooth rolling either direction. A good handle. Real pleasure to use.

CatMan said:

Best one I ever used was a Bishamon. Smooth rolling either direction. A good handle. Real pleasure to use.

Click to expand...

That's not very meaningful without knowing what else you have used, and how much weight you typically pick up with one. The one pictured seems to have a more impressive handle grip than most but otherwise looks rather typical- mundane and light duty. Smooth rolling ?? How could any new pallet jack not be smooth rolling ? They only get less so as they age and chips and such get imbedded in the poly wheels, or the wheels get flat spots...... all in the wheels.

I have a Caterpillar 6K electric pallet jack (Jungheinrich really) with 8 foot forks that horribly rough moving when I bought it. The front wheels looked a little suspect but the rear drive wheel looked horrible. So I replaced the drive wheel and that helped some but still it wasn't smooth. So I replaced the front fork wheels and it was transformed completely..now smooth as silk. Just was surprising as the drive wheel looked so much worse, but turns out as bad as the drive wheel looked it was a flexible material of some sort (like a solid tire forklift) most of the problem was the inflexible material small fork wheels.

Never owned one myself but could see the one JC shows as being the best manual pallet jack for use in a box truck.. Even with oak floor those little wheels will depress the wood just enough to be very had to roll once you get beyond 1800 lbs or so. But with four wheels up front should be way better in that situation.

I have one exactly like JC's. Can confirm it rolls over small obstructions (chips mostly- why didn't I sweep the whole floor?!) well even with a 2ton load. I can also confirm the seals don't last long...

Lucky7

So I guess no one knows what that beat of a pallet jack I pictured above is? Still can't find its brand.

Spud said:

So I guess no one knows what that beat of a pallet jack I pictured above is? Still can't find its brand.

Click to expand...

Since there a number of different pallet jacks "pictured above" I will take a guess you mean the one JC shows with dual front wheels. If so, beats me what that one is but Toyota offers that feature as an option....... and at the following link they show one of unknown make for sale- Pallet Jacks – Pallet Jack Wheels | Industrial Caster & Wheel - Industrial Caster and Wheel