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Need a New Forklift, What Should I Look For?

Arc-On

Aluminum
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Location
Holland, MI
I currently have a pretty wore out Mitsubishi FG20 from the early 90's.

We love the truck, but it has a zillion hours on it. It needs all the systems overhauled and its just shot. Its a ticking time bomb until something catastrophically fails, and its not worth rebuilding everything.

I am looking to replace it, hopefully before the snow flies. We're moving to a new shop in the next month, so I would like to get something on the floor before November preferably.

I have the typical machine shop fork truck needs, but here's my list.

  • I need 5k lift capacity. More is ok, but not too much more, as they begin to take up a ton of space.
  • LP power. I don't want to deal with batteries and chargers, and diesel/gasoline can't run indoors.
  • I would prefer a 3 stage mast, I have tall ceilings and like to take advantage of tall racking.
  • New driveway is partially gravel, so pneumatic tires would be of benefit, as well as loading or unloading in the snow.
  • I would prefer to not spend more than $10,000. I can't afford new, so I'm looking pretty exclusively at used lifts. I have dealers locally for all the usual suspects Mitsubishi/CAT, Hyster, Yale, Doosan, etc.

In your experience, what should I look for? Good/bad experiences? Favorite all time lifts? Horror stories?
 
second for Toyota. I've got a series 6 5K, love it. Super easy to maneuver inside the shop and great on rough ground.

Good ones at a decent price are hard to come by, you really have to bide your time and be ready to jump when the opportunity arises. I probably looked for a year before I found the right deal- and I barely beat out a local dealer who was trying to buy it out from under me.

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Those Mitsy FG series lifts were top notch. Maybe you can find a used FG25 or FG30 with lower hours in your budget.

Major brands late madels like MCF (mitsy/cat) hyster, toy, etc all seem well built and I’d say any of those that feel right to you will work ok.

As far as lesser known brands Doosan seem to be well designed and built.
You may find what they used to call jap/jap machines ( not built for export, forget about finding parts), I strongly advise against, it would have to be dirt cheap.

Happy hunting,
John
 
I looked at Doosans and a bunch of others in the 5K class. What I didn't like about them was their width. The rack on my Toyota is 38" wide, and the overall width at the fenders is 41". That's only an inch wider than my pallets.

Most of the 5K trucks I looked at were 42"-45" at the rack, and 48"-50" at the fenders.

The skinny trucks are so much nicer when you are maneuvering around machines, especially if you're turning around inside the shop. That was a big deal for me, and I wanted power steering and an automatic trans just to make it easier. :)
 
You say you don't want a lift that takes up too much space, but you would like a pneumatic tire lift. You can't have both, because a pneumatic tire lift will be twice the physical size compared to a solid tire lift of the same capacity.

I notice lost of people mention Toyota as the best, and I'm not so sure I don't agree with them. We picked up a 5K Toyota from a local manufacturer that just wanted us to haul it to the scrap yard, because it was very high hrs and worn completely out. The lift did run though, so I didn't have it in my heart to scrap it, figuring I'd just run it as long as it would run and scrap it then. That was 5 years ago, and that worn out lift is still going. Every thing on it is sloppy, but it gets the job done and will fire right up when needed.
 
You say you don't want a lift that takes up too much space, but you would like a pneumatic tire lift. You can't have both, because a pneumatic tire lift will be twice the physical size compared to a solid tire lift of the same capacity.
The 5K Toyota pneumatics aren't bad, but they're in high demand.

The compromise is what mine has- sometimes called "solid pneumatic". Not a foam filled air tire, but big solid tires with traction, and more ground clearance than warehouse tires.
 
I could probably get by with a cushion tire fine, really. I don't go outside much, and when I do, the gravel in the drive is fairly well compacted and firm. A "solid pneumatic" would work great.

The local industrial equipment dealer sent over some options in my price range. I am strongly considering a Mitsubishi FGC33N they have. It is a cushion tire lift, 200" reach, and has 6500 lb. capacity. It has pretty high hours though, about 10k hours. It was in their rental fleet though, and they service them regularly. I can't seem to find much below that in price that isn't totally hammered.

I would love a nice Toyota, but unfortunately, I can't justify the price they command. Even used with decent hours they're $15k and up.
 
I’m over on the west coast, Holland to be specific.

I didn’t really think to look over near Detroit on Craigslist. That 8k Toyota is really nice, probably a bit big though.
 
I dont know if it an option but we bought a new hyster and most everyone hates it.
Specifically the "brake/clutch"
It is very jerky and it makes you look like a bad operator.
I have not found a way to smoothly approach something.
The thing also automatically applies the brake so you cant coast.

Then the catalytic convertor plugged up and it wouldnt run.
 
I’m over on the west coast, Holland to be specific.

I didn’t really think to look over near Detroit on Craigslist. That 8k Toyota is really nice, probably a bit big though.
It's really a 7K, but it's a compact one. Look at the rear wheels compared to the end of the counterweight.

The extra cap comes from the tall counterweight, and it's probably something stupid like a 12" load center.

$12K is too much though- that's an $8-$9K truck at best (dealer price). My 5K- same truck otherwise- I gave $5700 for it. Private party- bought it from a local toy company.

I'd think your $10K budget should get you a pretty nice lift if you look around a little.

Here's a series 7 5K that would clean up nice, I think.

Toyota 5K LB. Pneumatic Forklift - heavy equipment - by owner - sale

nuther one. Series 8. Shit, I'm finding a bunch of good trucks near you! :willy_nilly:

5000lbs Pneumatic Toyota Forklift - farm & garden - by owner - sale

^^This one looks like a good deal if it's still there.
 
I ended up getting this Mitsubishi from the local lift truck dealer. It came out of their rental fleet, and should work great for us. Its a 2013 Mitsubishi FGC33N. 6500 pound capacity with 60" forks, 199" triple stage mast, plumbed for 4th hydraulic function (want fork spreaders bad) and is still fairly compact for its capacity.

I decided to go with cushion tire instead of pneumatic, as most of our forklift work is done on pavement anyway.

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