Most of the users find it difficult to know when to change the forklift. This could make harder for employees to be effective in their jobs hence low productivity and losses to the company. Forklift that is on constant need of repair can over budget the maintenance expenditure and could be unsafe for employees.
Maintaining your forklift
If you do not have a strict rule in servicing your forklift regularly you can end up causing your forklift age quickly. Business owners must be aware of forklift maintenance lack of this could lead to breakdown of machine every now and then and high maintenance cost which would lead to low productivity and loss in business. Several companies use forklift much longer hours than prescribed. When a forklifts is pushed too far pasts its lifespan, it can increase the chance of accidents. You would start getting signals from your forklift that the machine is tired like when forklifts breakdown more than 4 to 5 times a day due to moderate to important part failure.
Determine the Cost
Determine the cost of maintaining your forklift; if you find that you might spend more money in maintaining the old forklift than buying a new one, it’s time to trade in for a new forklift. If your company doesn’t have a budget for buying a new forklift then consider less hours worked fully furbished machine from a genuine dealer. (What points should be consider while buying used forklifts is mentioned in my previous blogs)
Some of the things you need to consider pertaining to forklift replacement include the following:
- Age of forklift and the brand’s estimated life expectancy, some brands go well for even a decade other just burn out in few years
- For brand new forklift choosing brand wisely is also important, research for some reviews on the internet.
- Availability of spare parts ( Most Important in country like India if you are considering buying an imported brand)
- Find out if your current maintenance team is up for the new machine
Brand of forklift has an impact on how long the forklift will last. An electric forklift generally last more than gasoline and diesel operated forklift as they have fewer parts making it cost effective to owners. Your application of forklift would also determine the life of the machine. If forklifts work on heavy loads continuously or have high exposure to heat, rain or dusty environment, it can cause additional burden on the machine, causing it to age sooner.
Signs of Replacement
- Look for signs of cracks in the chassis
- Back compressed engine
- Weak transmission
- Worn out forks , mast and carriage
- Broken hood
- Main hydraulics parts not functioning the way they should
- Burnt motor, short-circuited wires or a dead battery in case of electric forklifts
These problems could be individual or combined with each other. Get your machine scanned with an expert technician, urgency of change depends on your forklift application and overall cost of repairing.
By,
Hussain Khan ( Business Head )
Bharat Lifter