Propane cylinders take up little space and they can be kept either outside of a facility or inside of a storage area. It does take some time to switch out a propane cylinder, although, it still does require knowledge of safety standards like the OSHA or Occupational Health and Safety Administration and also needs operator training in order to be conducted safely.
Internal combustion lift trucks are faster and easier to refuel, than electric forklifts, but the internal combustion or IC engines create major air-polluting emissions and are extremely noisy.
NARROW-AISLE FORKLIFTS
The ITA's Class 2 trucks include a huge array of electric lift trucks and these are specifically designed to be utilized in narrow aisles. The standard storage aisles are 12 feet wide, and this easily allows a counterbalanced lift truck to turn in the aisle and put a load away. Usually, the very narrow aisles are around 5.5 to 6 feet wide, while narrow aisles are 8 feet wide. These narrow aisles need specialized lift trucks which are capable of putting away loads without any turning at all or which are small enough to turn on a tight radius.
Reach trucks, turret trucks and order pickers are 3 of the most common narrow-aisle trucks. The differences between these trucks are discussed below.
Narrow-Aisle Reach Trucks
The traditional reach truck is the original narrow-aisle forklift and these machines do not need a counterweight. They are also small enough to turn around in narrow aisles. Instead, stability is provided by the outrigger arms which extend in front of the forklifts. Nonetheless, these outrigger arms can prevent the trucks from getting close enough to the storage rack to deposit and retrieve cargo, depending on the storage configuration. In order to overcome this situation, a pantograph was designed. The pantograph is actually a reach truck which is made with a telescoping device. This enables forks to reach into storage locations concisely and easily.
The best environment for narrow aisle lift trucks is a place that has good lighting, clean floors and good traffic flow, well-maintained floor, along with sufficient turning space.
These types of machines have revolutionized the material handling industry. Toyota stands behind their commitment to offering excellent quality and extremely strong equipment. As the company changes, they continually strive to apply solutions so as to offer their diverse customer base with the best products available.