Forklift Trucks

[SteelPE]

I know this is a long shot, but does anyone have some guidelines for the wheel dimensions and wheel loads for various capacities of forklifts? I occasionally get information in from clients that say "we are going to lift 2,250# + the weight of the truck..... oh, and we may rent a 8,000-10,1000 lbs truck every once in a while to do some heavy lifting... can our slab support this?"

 

[CANPRO]

I've always been able to find manuals specific to the forklift model fairly easily online. I just googled "typical forklift dimensions" and a bunch of info popped up - probably about as good as its going to get for just general guides.

If you have a client asking about a specific model forklift, I'd make sure to use the specific info. For a general check, I'd take the capacity of the forklift they need, a reasonable estimate on the weight of the forklift (check a couple manufacturers) and then take the total weight and put it on the front axle. From there you could assume a wheel spacing of 4' - or maybe tell them "you should be good provided the load + forklift is less than xxx lbs and the wheels are spaced min. xx' c/c - specifics to be confirmed"

 

[Guest262653]

In Europe, clause 6.3.2.3 of Eurocode 1 (EN 1991-1-1) establishes 6 forklift classes according to weight, dimensions and hoisting loads. I normally use that as reference.

You can find some information at Link

The standard is available with a simple google search.

 

[RaptorEIT]

Is this forklift information what you were looking for? See attached file.

For wheel loads, the assumption that 85% of the total forklift load acts on the front wheels and 15% acts on the rear wheels should be conservative.

 

[SteelPE]

I have a 2,250# lift and occasionally a 10,000# lift.

I did a web search and pulled out the first set of tables I could find that made sense. I used 3,000# forklift from a Nissan and a 10,000# forklift from CAT. I used 8,000# axle load for the Nissan and 24,000# for the CAT.

I always get these slab design questions with little to no backup information from the client.

 

[Ron247]

I just want to add that you need to at least confirm 3-wheeled versus 4-wheeled. Several places I have worked over the years had 3-wheeled forklifts. With the counterweights on a single rear tire, you get different slab requirements. Also, hard-tire versus soft-tire.

 

[JLNJ]

There is a fair amount of variance between manufacturers, so be conservative. Some have double tires in the front above a certain size. Some are hard wheeled (the worst) some have pneumatic tires. Electric and powered trucks are a little different from one another (don't forget that battery weight). Some are configured with special lifting devices (other than the typical forks) which can add quite significantly to the load. I had a contractor tell me just yesterday that on a recent job they had a forktruck front tire punch through the slab (where the wheel load was supposedly under the engineer's allowable number).

Your 10,000# lifted load will yield a front axle load something like a 22,000# for a diesel truck. That's pretty significant unless your supported slab is stout.

Many forktrucks have a placard right on them which gives the capacity and load distribution. I like to take photos of those when I find them.

As noted above, the web is of course a great resource. We had a case recently where the Owner was going to rent a bunch of 3 ton trucks of a model which went out of production 10 or 15 years ago. I was able to dig up the exact data for the model he was leasing in a matter of minutes.

 

[Ron]

I always get these slab design questions with little to no backup information from the client.

I'm shocked and appalled that a client would do such!!