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If the Cat 5T Forklift has to be towed, WDID?

Cannonmn

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Jun 25, 2016
Tomorrow AM a truck is supposed to arrive with a used Cat 5T propane forklift for us. We were told it runs and was presumably driven onto truck after jumpstart with loaner propane tank, removed once loaded onto truck. We’ll have battery booster and propane bottle ready, but I like to plan for contingencies. If for whatever reason it won’t start, can we tow it backwards off the truck with our other forklift? If so how do the controls have to be set? No manual here, dunno if truck has one on it or not.

Then if we can’t tow it and have to rig it for lifting with two straps, where do they go underneath? This may be a moot point because there won’t be enough room overhead in the enclosed 53’ truck to do a vertical lift, best we could do is have a large wrecker hook up and pull it out at an angle, assuming it is near the truck tailgate as it should be. The Cat weighs about 14,000 lbs and we have long nylon straps rated way over that.

04BD039B-FFA8-409B-BCC9-7A928EB20867.jpg35659B6F-7DF5-4B68-A5BF-FAC218F9A837.jpg
 
Put vehicle dollies under it, and you can push/pull it anywhere.

Good idea, if I had those, which I don’t. Looks like they’d have to be good for about 2 tons ea. Maybe I’ll round up some steel that’ll work as rails and sliding shoes if it comes to that. I’ve seen those used by professional riggers moving 100-ton plus things. Interestingly they squirted STP oil treatment on the rails as lube. You want the rails level unless there’s some positive control like they do, multiple hydraulic cylinders pushing against ratchet-racks on the sides of the rails.
 
Just no. Common vehicle dollies are good for, at best, about a thousand a corner. Someone borrowed mine for this very purpose, and the first one was instantly crushed, breaking cast-iron casters. I don't even know how they lifted it, given their demonstrated smarts.

You would need a serious machine to lift it, if you're still considering that. Another forklift or truck or winch can drag it with parking brake off... but inclines will be a challenge.

If you coast it down an inclined trailer, give yourself a huge amount of run-out room, because you won't be stopping it if the brakes fail. Lay down multiple 1x2 strips on the flat to act as sequential brakes in the event of runaway.
 
Thanks, come to think of it every fork I’ve used can roll with parking brake off, and we’ll be unloading to flat floor at truck bed height so pulling with the 3T fork should work. I had just “designed” heavy-duty skates made from junkbox stuff but don’t really have time to make the eight 2-hole sideplates needed to hold the grade 8 bolts with a bearing on each end that act as axles and wheels. Will make up one skate like that to test when I get time.
 
The issue with towing is NOT stopping, brakes or parking brakes are enough. the issue is Steering, which will be zero. Mine ran out of gas, with even the emergency propane tank empty.(the clowns cut the chain for which I had the only key,(which was to prevent from being dead )
I used a automotive floor jack to lift the back end,and pull it with a truck.
 
Just no...
If you coast it down an inclined trailer, give yourself a huge amount of run-out room, because you won't be stopping it if the brakes fail. Lay down multiple 1x2 strips on the flat to act as sequential brakes in the event of runaway.

Exactly. Any well-equipped shop will have a solid tow bar for this very purpose, pick-up tow or tow-motor tow.
 
D6D9108F-FFED-4D09-B792-B522EE9B9B38.jpg4E11C6FF-FC40-40F3-BDC5-A562B2808604.jpgMakes sense, hopefully they shut it off with wheels straight. But anyway we’ll make every effort to get it running, have starting fluid, battery booster, etc. ready. Since they drove it onto the truck there’s a good chance it’ll run when it gets here.

This is as far as I got with the forklift-proof skate. 1”x10” grade 8 bolt with two bearing outers and a nut. Each skate will have two like that, plus of course some kind of chassis, maybe a couple of steel channels side-by-side, open side down. Why? Lots of those in the junk box.
 
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If it won't start, you may also have to deal with the mast all the way down and dragging on the trailer floor. Be prepared to manually jack and block or chain the mast up so you can drag it off the truck. If it's not going to be a straight offload, ie trailer to dock, you may end up needed a big rig wrecker to come unload it.
 
Just no. Common vehicle dollies are good for, at best, about a thousand a corner. Someone borrowed mine for this very purpose, and the first one was instantly crushed, breaking cast-iron casters. I don't even know how they lifted it, given their demonstrated smarts.

No. Dollies like come on a tow truck. Not casters.
 
If this is being delivered with a roll back truck, don't sweat it.

Operator will have it on the winch, to have control when letting it down.

A good operator can Mombo a smashed "Piece of hamburger"' vehicle
with no wheels down and off the truck.
 
E73B2846-6220-489B-9C86-43A68896AA51.jpgOffload went fine, the Cat was parked all the way at front of enclosed trailer, so was last off. We turned it over with the jump-start pack, but needed some starting fluid in the air filter housing to get started. Every propane fork I’ve owned needs that to start unless the temperature is about 80 deg. F. Or higher. It ran well and obviously had been well-maintained, all fluids full and clean, change dates marked on the filters, etc. It is a dual-fuel setup but last owner was apparently using it only indoors and disabled the gasoline system for safety; fine with me.
 
No way that thing weighs 14K.
At least this drama is put to bed finally...


----------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
No way that thing weighs 14K.
At least this drama is put to bed finally...


----------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

That’d be nice if it weighed less since I have to consider the actual weight when I need to trailer it somewhere. The place I bought it from weighs everything that comes in and listed 14k as the weight. Rule of thumb on forklifts is actual weight = lift capacity x 1.5 to 2 depending, and this one lifts 10k lbs., but I’ll look it up and report back.
 
Oh - that's a 10K?

It didn't look that big.
I thought it was a 5K. (may have been the $5000 you mentioned?)

If it's a 10K then it could weigh 14K.


edit:

Wait - no - the title of the thread says "5T".
Are you indicating that it is 5 ton cap?
I've never seen one rated that way.
A "5" is always 5000# that I have ever known. Cat's included.

???


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
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5T was my title abbreviation for 5 ton cap.=10k. Anyway I asked Matt Alexander at Alexander Equip. Co. In Bourbonnais, IL, who sold one of same model recently, he said that one weighed 13,700 lbs. Different options could account for 300 lbs, I didn’t bother to check what options each had. Maybe mine has more coats of paint or his has extensive corrosion.
 
Any chance of a better picture of the rating plate, now that its under your roof?

218976d1517157380t-if-cat-5t-forklift-has-towed-wdid-04bd039b-ffa8-409b-bcc9-7a928eb20867.jpg


Regards Phil.
 
Any chance of a better picture of the rating plate, now that its under your roof?

218976d1517157380t-if-cat-5t-forklift-has-towed-wdid-04bd039b-ffa8-409b-bcc9-7a928eb20867.jpg


Regards Phil.

Sure I should be able to get it soon. I did look at the adjacent plate which has specs and the weight of this machine 12780 lbs, not the 14000 the seller told me. Differences within the model seem to be largely in mast config. The one in IL had a multi-stage mast, so was heavier than my single-stage mast machine.
 
View attachment 219125Every propane fork I’ve owned needs that to start unless the temperature is about 80 deg. F. Or higher.

With most modern mixers, if you spray a shot of starting fluid into the intake, the propane mixer's seals and diaphragm will be ruined in such a way that you'll never be able to get it started without a shot of starting fluid again.

The propane fuel system has either an electric, or vacuum lockoff. If the lockoff is vacuum operated, then it will take some cranking, particularly with a well-worn engine (low compression) to get it started... AND... since it's a liquid-withdrawl propane system, it'll need a few moments for the evaporator to build pressure sufficient to make first stage pressure to the demand stage. At 80f, your tank pressure WILL BE 51.63 degrees- more than sufficient to start and run... and even if it was -7F, you'd still have 18psi of liquid pressure coming into the first stage, which is well beyond what's necessary to light the fire.

Try this instead: Make sure the tank hand-valve is open. Turn on the key. If it's an electric lockoff, give it fifteen seconds or so, then crank it. That will give the fuel controller a little time to build.

If that doesn't resolve it, check your fuel controller for a 'prime' button, or a solenoid feature to 'prime'. The PRIMER function forces the fuel controller's demand stage to open momentarily... but realize, the PRIME function isn't to provide additional fuel... gaseous fuel engines don't NEED enrichment like carbeurated engines do... the fuel is already evaporated, so dumping additional fuel in the intake simply displaces all the oxygen and prevents them from running. The PRIME function's job is to clear an atmospheric air from the fuel delivery system that back-flows IN after the system is shut off.

Essentially, you're dealing with the same situation as starting an engine where when you shut it down the day before, you ran all the gas out of the carb bowl, and are cranking while it re-fills.
 








 
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