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Yet Another Old Clark Forklift

Strostkovy

Titanium
Joined
Oct 29, 2017
I found this forum in my google searches to determine what forklift I just bought, and still can't find enough information on it.

A background: I bought a caterpillar T35D recently for $2000. I then found out (by getting it stuck twice) that it can't go on gravel roads. That was right after I found that metal delivery trucks will not go on gravel roads. So I planned on getting a replacement, more expensive, pneumatic tired forklift to replace it. But all of the ones I found under $6k were not nearly as fun to use. The Caterpillar has great hydraulic control, side shift, an automatic transmission, dual brake pedals, 3600 pound capacity, etc., and the more I test drove those other forklifts the less willing I was to part with it. So I found a cheap Clark forklift on Craigslist to supplement it.

The forklift in question:
https://i.imgur.com/1tLWkZV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/crE8Hts.jpg

(I'm new to the forum so I can't embed them properly)

I got it for $1450 because it was a "ran when parked" model that the hydraulic valves were missing from. I just drove over to it recently and brought a new battery, hydraulic fluid, and a propane tank. I was able to plug the return hole in the hydraulic tank (where the valve would dump into) and ran a hose from the pump into the fill port of the tank, so I could run it without killing the pump or dumping fluid everywhere. The sole reason I was there was to get it running so it would be cheaper to move the 120 miles to my shop. I had limited time before the seller had to leave, so I couldn't be as thorough as I would have liked to try and identify it.

Information I have that may be beneficial to identification:
-Clark Yardlift, Y20B
-Serial number 179-344-109
-Type G (It says that on the nameplate. No idea what it means)
-6V battery
-Engine cover comes off in several pieces, and does not hinge
-Side flaps hinge up
-Single lift cylinder
-Dual tilt cylinders
-2000 pound capacity at 24"
-Hi Lo and Forward Reverse levers, feels like a regular dry clutch
-Plastic shifter knobs, but I didn't pay enough attention to know what else may be plastic
-4 cylinder engine
-Propane, but there doesn't appear to be any way to mount a tank to it, except for cramming it between the seat and cover bars, which is actually pretty snug, but definitely not stock.
-Used to be painted blue, I think
-The cover is made out of tubing and expanded steel. It is attached to the mast and has pivots so that the whole thing shifts forwards and backwards with the mast. I've never seen one like this before.
-No power steering
-It has five gauges, a keystart, and a button or two I only just now thought about and never tried. Electric parking brake?


Some issues:
-No brakes. Pedal goes right to the floor.
-It seems to crank really, really slow, and that's with a brand new (6V) battery. When I turned the key I thought it had an electrical issue or the engine was hard to turn, but it actually started up and it has the best sounding engine I've ever heard on a forklift. Where my Caterpillar shakes and vibrates and the rattle drowns out everything, you can't even feel this thing running while you're sitting on it.
-Hydraulic valve is missing. Apparently they sent it out for a rebuild two years earlier and it got lost, so the forklift just sat until I started it up yesterday.

So if anyone has any information on this model, mainly the production date and where to get parts, I would love to hear about it.

EDIT: I have a couple of other pictures if they help: one of where the valves should be, the serial number plate, an operator's view of the controls, the tires, and the battery. I have a dismally slow internet connection and have a tough time uploading pictures, but may be able to get them. The two I posted are directly from the Craigslist ad.
 
"(I'm new to the forum so I can't embed them properly)"
Read the instructions..

I tried to embed them the normal way and got the "you aren't logged in or don't have permission" thing that pops up. It turns out after registering it doesn't keep you logged in, but I didn't realize that was the issue until the post. I'm not really sure why it lets you type out a whole thread without being logged in, but oh well.

If it helps anyone:

crE8Hts.jpg

1tLWkZV.jpg


So do you have any information about the forklift?
 
I got this lift home safely despite a dead battery, flat tire, and a moron on a bigger forklift.

I fixed both of those things and immediately sunk it in the gravel. It has 6.00-9 pneumatic tires in the front and 5.00-8 cushion tires in the rear. Does anyone think putting pneumatic tires in the rear would help? It'll only cost about $110 so I'll probably do it anyway, but I need to get this thing out to the main road for unloading sheet metal.
 
Say, could you please post a couple of pictures of the gas pedal and gas pedal bellcrank / linkage? I have the same lift and my pedal and linkage are missing. Thank you!
 
I drove one for awhile, and hit a door header....

When the forks go up, so does the mast.

Unlike newer models that don't extend the mast until the forks get to the upper
limit of the first mast, this one send the mast up right away.
 
I am going to toss the wrench in...

It's going to take a long while for that gravel to break down and pack in to a the point you can expect to drive a small wheeled forklift over it and not expect to sink. That lift shown has small wheels...for gravel. Yes pneumatic is better...larger wheels even much more better-er.
 
In my Clark ser# book it shows as a 1958 Mod. which makes it an antique that would be better left alone as to parts and finding them. They were good trucks but time has passed them by. That is only my opinion having worked for Clark for 35+ Years.
 
Say, could you please post a couple of pictures of the gas pedal and gas pedal bellcrank / linkage? I have the same lift and my pedal and linkage are missing. Thank you!

Woops, forgot about this thread and apparently don't get notifications. It's pretty dark out so I'll get you better pictures in the day if you need, and with the floor panel off. The gas pedal linkage is pretty crap in my opinion so anything you rig up there will be as good or better.

In my Clark ser# book it shows as a 1958 Mod. which makes it an antique that would be better left alone as to parts and finding them. They were good trucks but time has passed them by. That is only my opinion having worked for Clark for 35+ Years.

Too late, already picked it up. Boy did it take some work though. The tires were original to the forklift I think, and the valve stem broke off the inner tube on one side. I tried a lot of things to get the wheels off, but the only thing that worked was to loosen the lug nuts and do donuts. I had to take a running start in high gear and spin in circles about ten turns before it budged. The rims also function as the brakes so if anyone attempts this that may work against you, but the brakes on mine didn't work so there were no problems.

The next step was to get the brakes working. I ordered a new master cylinder from solidliftparts, but it was the wrong one. After a bit of back and forth they were able to find the correct part. I put it in and found out the banjo fitting was cracked, and had to order that. It now works but still has some brake fluid leaks.

The next step was hydraulics. This didn't come with any valve (was lost during remanufacturing) and the drain port is a face mount to the tank. A rebuilt one would cost me over $500. I somehow magically had a little o ring plug that fit perfectly in the hole to plug the tank, and I bought a $60 surplus stack valve and about $80 in fittings to put it in. The valve didn't come with levers, so I just rigged something up with parts I made on my lunch break at work. I need to swap lines so the tilt isn't backwards, and still need to set the relief valve. As for tying in the drain, I wasn't real comfortable welding to the tank so I pulled a section of steel tubing out of the pump supply line, welded a fitting to it, and put it back in place(I added a gauge to the mast so I know how much weight I'm lifting. Not totally sure on the bore of lift cylinder but it seems like ~1.2 psi per pound, so I need to set the relief valve to something like 2200 psi. (It's at 1500 psi, I'll lift some pallets of known weight and get a better idea of what I need).

I then tested out the mast and raised the forks all of the way up, with the result of hydraulic fluid covering the 18' ceiling of the shop. You can tell at some point there was some mess up with the ram, as the cylinder bushing is galled to hell and the shaft seal was pulled inside the cylinder and trashed. There's only minor pitting on the cylinder so I'm not totally sure what happened, but the bushing is good enough to reuse and I was able to order a new shaft seal. (The shaft side just goes to the tank to and doesn't really hold much pressure, but you could hear it sucking air while lifting so it wouldn't even seal to the 2 psi or whatever of suction head it had to deal with. The line to the tank is not obstructed)'

The gravel was pretty much mud with rocks in it, so the rain helped a lot and I can now get the lift where I need it. I only need to cross the loose gravel occasionally, while loading and unloading trucks is on a well packed road.

It's interesting that it's from 1958. I want to say I saw a date of 1972 on the engine, and it's running from a 1961 propane tank. Any chance of someone having replaced the engine at some point? It does run extremely well.

t1zm1d2.jpg

6N92B9t.jpg

2hya4fb.jpg


Oh, and one last thing, there are some really horrible welds on this things, and it has been painted yellow over the original blue paint. I don't know why any of the welds are there; everything is across bolted connections that look just fine.

The safety cage is absolutely and aftermarket addition, and tilts with the mast. It's pretty solid but could have been made a little bit better in terms of welding and fabrication ability. Also I think the blue would have looked much nicer than the yellow, which also make my other forklift look dingey orange.

And none of the gauges or the solenoid valve parking brake work. I replaced fuses to no avail, but it does have a constant 500mA draw so I have to disconnect the battery. I accidently let it go nearly flat a few times and when the battery is very low it cranks at about 30 rpm and the engine fires up in the first revolution. I have the skills to debug the electrical system, but this lift is only for loading and unloading trucks, so any work I do on forklifts is going to be on my warehouse lift that gets used daily.
 
Anybody know what the safety margin is on these before they tip over?

I had to replace the hydraulic valve and didn't know what pressure to set the relief valve to. I figured I would get it under the counterweight of my other forklift (whole lift weighs 6700 pounds)at 24" on the forks (where it's load rating is) and adjust the relief up to where the back end of this forklift just starts to lift.

When I actually tried it it lifted up the big forklift and didn't tip at all. There had to have been at least 4000 pounds at 24" on the forks, so that wasn't really the expected result. It took 1300 psi to do that so I just left the valve at 1500 as it was set from factory.
 
The engine isnt mentioned,but it will be a 4 cyl Continental SV....Hyster used to carry a full range of Continental spares ,even new made long motors for bot 4 and 6.....any motor car oil will be OK,15/40 or 10/30.
 








 
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