Forklifts

Counterbalance forklifts, reach trucks and stackers:

the counterbalance machine, with its weight at the back and the forks out front, does most of the work in Panama, loading trucks at the dock and stuffing containers. The 2.5 to 3-tonne size handles an ordinary loaded pallet with room to spare; heavier ones move steel and cement. Reach trucks and walk-behind stackers run on battery and lift high into racking, in aisles where a counterbalance machine cannot turn, but they want a smooth, level floor and never go outside. On a gravel yard or a farm, where a forklift’s small wheels dig in, a telescopic handler is often the better tool.

Gas, diesel or battery, and solid or pneumatic tyres:

the fuel follows the building. Battery forklifts give off no fumes and belong in enclosed warehouses and food storage; gas machines, many of them dual-fuel with gasoline, work in and out of the dock; diesel is for yards and open sheds. Tyres follow the floor: solid tyres cannot puncture and last on concrete strewn with glass and nails, while pneumatic tyres ride better over broken paving and bare ground. Then the mast. A triplex mast with full free lift is the container spec: the forks rise before the mast starts to extend, so you can stack a second pallet inside without hitting the roof. Measure the container door and your dock before you look at anything else. And read the rated capacity as a ceiling: it holds only at the load centre on the plate, and a long load, a high lift or an attachment such as a clamp all bring it down.

What a ten-year-old Japanese forklift fetches:

a 2.5-tonne Toyota, Komatsu or Nissan on gas or diesel, around ten years old with a few thousand hours, changes hands for around $11,000 to $15,000. Within that band the hour meter matters less than what the machine is about to need: mast chains and rollers, or a transmission that slips, take a real bite out of the price, and recent receipts for that work justify the top of it. A workshop-reconditioned machine costs more and should come with a list of what was done.

Mast chains, fork heels and hydraulic drift on a used forklift:

start at the mast. Raise it empty to full height and watch the chains: they should run evenly at the same tension, with no rust or stiff links, and the channels should not knock or rock sideways as they extend. Then look at the heel of each fork, the bend that rubs the floor. A heel worn visibly thinner than the upright, or a bent tip, means a fork for scrap. Next, raise a loaded pallet a metre and leave it there. If it creeps down or tilts forward over a few minutes, the cylinder seals are leaking inside. Drive forward and back: on an automatic the change of direction should be clean, with no clunk or pause, and a slipping inching pedal means transmission work. Blue smoke or a hard start on gas points to a tired engine. Set the hour meter against the pedal rubbers, the seat and the steering wheel; meters get swapped, wear does not lie. Chains, rollers and forks are the industrial parts worth pricing before you make an offer.

The capacity plate, mast heights and a lift on video:

photograph the capacity plate first, because it settles what the machine lifts, at which load centre and to what height. Then give the fuel, tyre type, hours, mast type, maximum lift and the height with the mast lowered, which tells a container user whether it fits. List what goes with it, such as a side shifter, a fork positioner or a clamp. Film it raising a full pallet to the top, holding it there, and driving forward and back. A forklift does not travel far on public roads, so say where it stands and whether there is a dock or ramp for the flatbed that will collect it: a buyer in Santiago will ask before sending a truck to Tocumen.