Ring Power Corporation News

Facts and figures for Forklift Forks and Lift Chains

3 PERCENT
The normal maximum percentage of elongation of a forklift’s lift chain is only 3%.

5 PERCENT
Five Percent is the maximum edge wear allowed of a forklift’s lift chain.

1.5X
A forklift’s fork-length is only permitted to be extended by 1.5 times the length of the original fork.

4 TYPES
Standard, square, tapered and round are 4 typical types of fork tips

20 PERCENT
A forklift’s capacity is reduced by 20% when the fork’s wear is reduced by as little as 10%.

25 PERCENT
Nearly 25% of all forklift forks in operation fail to meet safety criteria

THREE
Three most common failures of forks are cracked heels, worn heels, and unauthorized welds performed on the forks.

Remember, "Repair by only the manufacturer of the fork or an expert of equal competence shall decide if a fork may be repaired for continual use, and the repairs shall be carried out by such parties. It is recommended that the surface cracks or wear be repaired by welding. When repairs necessitating resetting are required, the fork shall subsequently be subjected to an appropriate heat treatment, as necessary."

Call 1-888-699-7811, click or email to have your forklift's forks inspected by a trained Ring Power Lift Trucks’ representative and ensure safe operation of your material handling equipment.

Ring Power Lift Trucks is the material handling division of Ring Power Corporation, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. Additional offices service Pompano Beach, Miami, Daytona Beach, Orlando, Tampa, Ocala, Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Tallahassee. Ring Power Lift Trucks has parts for nearly any make forklift including Toyota, Hyster, Yale, Mitsubishi, Linde, Crown and many other models of forklifts. We also provide a guaranteed 4-hour response time on forklift service and forklift repair. Click to visit our website or email us for more information.

Ring Power's Pompano Beach branch held an open house late last week to give customers a chance to tour the new facility and learn more about all the services Ring Power can provide. 150 people from 60 different companies visited the facility, spoke with Ring Power and manufacturers reps, and had lunch. Below is a video walk-thru in case you missed it:

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  Construction began on the new facility, located at 2700 North Powerline Road, April 2008. Ring Power combined its Pompano Beach Lift Trucks branch (formerly located on Blount Road) and Crane division branch office at the new site. The new facility is located on approximately 5 acres, and features a 52,449-ft2 facility that includes 13,807-ft2 of office space plus an 8,671-ft2 parts warehouse. The service shops includes six lift truck bays and nine crane bays. Constructing the new facility required the demolition of the old Ring Power Crane building.

You put your multi-terrain loader through a workout every day. This takes a toll on your undercarriage. How much wear and how quickly wearing of the undercarriage occurs can be somewhat controlled by making just a few adjustments whenever possible. The first step is to understand what affects undercarriage wear.

Factors Affecting Undercarriage Wear

• Application Tough applications, like heavy digging and dozing, require high levels of torque and horsepower, pushing equipment to its fullest and will cause maximum wear to the undercarriage components.
  
• Material  Material has as much or more impact on the service life of undercarriage components than some applications.
  
• Terrain Sharp turns on slopes cause unnecessary wear on track lugs and can shove material between the track and roller wheels. In some cases, this could lead to track derailment and track damage.
  
• Operating and Turning Technique Counter-rotating may cause unnecessary wear of tracks and undercarriage components and quickly wears out tires.
  
• Working over Transitions Without the full support of the ground, the track and the roller wheels are subjected to side stress that can cause the wheels to ride up and over the drive lugs.

Simple preventive maintenance procedures will maximize service life and the value of the undercarriage components. For information on how to preserve the life of your undercarriage, contact your Ring Power product support sales representative.

With today’s demands on production equipment, safety is critical. One item that is often overlooked with forklifts are the forks themselves. ANSI B56.ie1993-6.2.8. requires that "Forks in use shall be inspected at intervals of not more than 12 months, for single shift operations, or whenever any defect or permanent deformation is detected. Sever applications will require more frequent inspections."

What To Look For

Daily visual checks are an easy way to identify potential problems. Visual inspections should include checking:

• Surface cracks 
• Straightens of blade and shank
• Fork angle, upper face of blade to load face of the shank
• Difference in height of fork tips
• Positioning locks
• Fork wear 

Fork Repair & Testing

ANSI B56.ie1993-6.2.8. states: "Repair by only the manufacturer of the fork or an expert of equal competence shall decide if a fork may be repaired for continual use, and the repairs shall be carried out by such parties. It is recommended that the surface cracks or wear be repaired by welding. When repairs necessitating resetting are required, the fork shall subsequently be subjected to an appropriate heat treatment, as necessary."

For more information or an inspection of your lift trucks' forks, contact Ring Power Lift Trucks or contact us at lifttrucks.ringpower.com.