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Are all Yale fork trucks worthless?

Cole2534

Diamond
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Location
Oklahoma City, OK
I've used maybe 4-5 in my life and even the new ones are clunky, lazy pieces of crap. I've used Clark, Nissan, Mitsu, Toyota and maybe some others and none in any sort of repair are so lacking in finesse as a Yale.

The combo brake/inching pedal feels like it was assembled with Legos (no offense, Lego) and ask them to lift anywhere near the rated pick and its like the thing is about to explode.

So is it just my luck or are they the worst lift truck on the planet?

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Lol! I've only had one Yale, my thoughts on it are not exactly good, but considering it still ran when I sold it is worth something.

It was in an auction, only 2 of us bid on it, I lost. The guy that bought it used it to haul lots of other stuff to the warehouse door, there was about a 2 ft drop outside door. The day came where he had to get forklift out of the warehouse, he "borrowed" the neighbors plywood and 2x4 ramp, the moment the rear wheels left the concrete the whole thing crashed thru the ramp and was trapped by it, he drove away. Neighbor showed up and saw the ramp and lit into auctioneer, he was not happy with the situation and told me if I could get it out, I could have it.

It was a rough machine, maybe 60's vintage, leaked oil from every orifice, god it was awful in every way. The (hard tire) drive wheels were worn down to the rims, what little rubber was left was quickly stripped away in my gravel yard, it got to the point the steel just spun in the gravel. The answer to that problem was getting the last scraps of rubber off and welding 1" angle to the rims, that gave her some traction! We used it for about a year as the backup lift, someone offered me $ for it one day so I said yes.
 
wow, dg61, sounds rough, wish you had some pics of that with the "tires"! those are mostly condition issues on a 50 year old machine, however. anyone have comments on new vs new? also, considering the millions of tons of stuff loaded with them over the years, that precludes the term worthless, pain in the ass or clunky POS, maybe..
 
Well that was back in the early 90's, and polaroid film was expensive, so I don't think there were any pics. It was one of the narrow models, had 1/2 turn of play in steering wheel and could not move in a straight line to save its life, mast was just slightly less effective at blocking view of the forks than a 4x8 sheet of plywood, it was a joy to run. No doubt some maintenance and new tires might have helped, but that would have just been the portal to the rathole of never ending repairs.
 
wow, dg61, sounds rough, wish you had some pics of that with the "tires"! those are mostly condition issues on a 50 year old machine, however. anyone have comments on new vs new? also, considering the millions of tons of stuff loaded with them over the years, that precludes the term worthless, pain in the ass or clunky POS, maybe..
Perhaps worthless was a bit dramatic, but damn are they lightyears behind the competition.

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Early 2000s I drove a brand new 30k Yale for a while and it was pretty nice, identical to the Hyster of the same size (H300 or so). Same assembly line, same parts from what I was told and it sure looked like that was true. No problems with it that summer.
 
We have 1 Yale, a 5,000 lb capacity. My Dad got this lift back in the late 1980s, he had the job of cleaning up a warehouse fire and this lift was in the fire. The lift was in part of the warehouse that didn't completely, it had the seat melted off of it, paint scorched a little, and some hoses and wires burnt. They ended up giving it to Dad, and he took it home and got it running. We still have the lift, and other than a leaking cylinder, hose, or other normal maintenance, we haven't spent a dime on the lift. We still have it and is used almost weekly. I can't speak for any other Yales, but ours has been bulletproof.
 
Yale and Hyster are made in the same factories or at least used to be.

Both are usually solid workhorses IF set up and maintained properly. The inching function requires careful adjustment and won't work properly if parts are very worn and haven't been replaced.

The brakes need to be properly bled and adjusted before adjusting the inching leakage. Done properly the brakes should release just as the transmission engages.

So no, Yale lift trucks are not crap although some models are better than others but improper or neglected maintenance can make them act like crap.
 
I hate the yales- weve got a bunch of new leases at work, no thanks. the stupid inching clutch brake is a PITA for areas with ramps, or doing delicate work- guys that are 'good' on them never ever release the throttle- sit on the governor and slip the clutch/brake as it slips smoother at high rpm...and the darn things STILL stall if turned to the steering stops like they did 2 years ago...

add a real brake pedal, add a relief valve to the steering, they would be fine. we had one runaway a few weeks ago, took out a i beam, luckily didnt bring the roof down...the servo throttle isnt very failsafe- driver said it was screaming rpm as he shot out of the trailer and into a wall...best trucks we ever had were mitsubishi fg25...a bunch of new trucks in the last year, everyone still prefers the 1990 mits...
 
Inching pedals on any brand of forklift can be a real pain. It's ok to have a inching pedal, but the lift needs to also have brake pedal also. You can also get by just fine without a inching pedal at all. Inching pedals are made for production work inside factories, but don't work very well when trying to move something slowly and with precision control. Anytime I own a forklift that has a inching pedal only, I disconnect the transmission linkage and turn it into a brake only. If you need to give throttle to raise the forks while the lift is sitting still, you can always just shift the trans into neutral and hold the brake.

The absolute worst lifts are the Hysters with the monotrol pedal. They don't work well at all for precision control, and they aren't easily converted to something else more user friendly. I know what Hyster was thinking, make it easy to change travel direction with just a twist of the foot, but they failed miserably with the application.
 
I hate the yales- weve got a bunch of new leases at work, no thanks. the stupid inching clutch brake is a PITA for areas with ramps, or doing delicate work- guys that are 'good' on them never ever release the throttle- sit on the governor and slip the clutch/brake as it slips smoother at high rpm...and the darn things STILL stall if turned to the steering stops like they did 2 years ago...

Inching pedals on any brand of forklift can be a real pain. It's ok to have a inching pedal, but the lift needs to also have brake pedal also. You can also get by just fine without a inching pedal at all. Inching pedals are made for production work inside factories, but don't work very well when trying to move something slowly and with precision control. Anytime I own a forklift that has a inching pedal only, I disconnect the transmission linkage and turn it into a brake only. If you need to give throttle to raise the forks while the lift is sitting still, you can always just shift the trans into neutral and hold the brake.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. If you're just smashin crates together in a huge warehouse the combo pedal is probably fine. If you need to use the lift truck for anything sensitive the combo brake is a hindrance and downright dangerous if you're on an incline.
 
Inching pedals on any brand of forklift can be a real pain. It's ok to have a inching pedal, but the lift needs to also have brake pedal also. You can also get by just fine without a inching pedal at all. Inching pedals are made for production work inside factories, but don't work very well when trying to move something slowly and with precision control. Anytime I own a forklift that has a inching pedal only, I disconnect the transmission linkage and turn it into a brake only. If you need to give throttle to raise the forks while the lift is sitting still, you can always just shift the trans into neutral and hold the brake.

The absolute worst lifts are the Hysters with the monotrol pedal. They don't work well at all for precision control, and they aren't easily converted to something else more user friendly. I know what Hyster was thinking, make it easy to change travel direction with just a twist of the foot, but they failed miserably with the application.

The Monotrol was designed to fill some customers' needs. I've actually had some time on them and while at first it seems very awkward you get used to it with practice. I'm not a fan of them but for some warehouse applications the drivers prefer them. Since new lift trucks can be ordered with all kinds of options it's obvious they didn't force them on anyone but simply supplied what the customer wanted.
 
The Monotrol was designed to fill some customers' needs. I've actually had some time on them and while at first it seems very awkward you get used to it with practice. I'm not a fan of them but for some warehouse applications the drivers prefer them. Since new lift trucks can be ordered with all kinds of options it's obvious they didn't force them on anyone but simply supplied what the customer wanted.

I agree, the monotrol probably works fine in a factory or warehouse setting, but I think most folks on here are looking for something that can also fill the role of precision lifting and are often traveling forklifts over less than ideal surfaces. Most warehouses and factories want speed, not necessarily precision work.
 








 
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