After WW2 here ,a government body was formed ,to collect up each and every forklift ,own and operate them at very high hourly rates .....a government monopoly.......Forklifts were unobtainable new ,parts were unobtainable ,in the years immediately following WW2......To get around this ,people made their own forklifts from old truck pieces,and even car pieces .....the counterweights were nearly always concrete cast in moulds ,cast around the steel frame that came from a truck or car......A heavy hit on the counterweight would result in a big lump of concrete falling off.