Moving a forklift

[amarr]

Spent a while searching the forums, and couldn't find anything on transporting a forklift. I'm looking to purchase a forklift, and the means to transport one, and I wanted to find the least expensive solution. Right now I'm thinking that involves buying a deuce and getting a trailer. I'm thinking a M353 may do the trick, it's rated capacity is 7k, but I'm guessing it could be made to handle 8k to 10k... anyone have any experience with this?

Would prefer to tow such a rig (11k to 13k) with a bobbed deuce, but thinking I may have to stick with 10 wheels for braking power. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

If you're wondering, I'm leaning towards the 353, because it's pretty low to the ground. Pretty much a necessity for loading and unloading, and not having a completely unstable load.

 

[m16ty]

I move forklifts almost daily. Everthing from 5,000lb lifts to 100,000lb lift. How big of forklift are you looking to haul? Air tire or solid tire?

How are you planning on loading/unloading it? Most forklifts don't have alot of power to climb a steep loading ramp. They also have low ground clearance and will hang up on steep angles. It takes a pretty good trailer to hold up under a forklift. Mainly because there's alot of weight in a small area ( 75% or more of the total weight is on the steering tires).

 

[XanRa]

what kind of forklift? one of those big*** rough terrain forklifts or what?

 

[mslogr]

What kind of lift you talking about. The type of lift will dictate your requirements for transport.

 

[amarr]

pneumatic tire... figured I would need to use something to assist the fork into the trailer. Something in the 3k to 4k lift capacity range. That's where I came up with the 7k to 11k weight range for the fork.

m16ty,
You're clearly experienced at this. I run events, and I'm constantly renting forks. I want to own one, and my 3/4 ton won't tow a 3k lb trailer with a 8k to 11k lb fork on it. I can pick up a fork trailer for $2.5k, but then I'd have to add a hitch to the deuce. Would that be a wiser move? This is exactly why I asked this here, only on steel soldiers could I ask a question like this and immediately hear from someone that is an expert.

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[m16ty]

When you say "8K to 11K" are you talking about the weight or the lift capacity? The reason I ask is because a 11K cap lift (air tire) is going to weigh in the neighborhood of 18K-20K.

If you're set on using the deuce the ideal setup would be a deuce with a rollback bed on it or a tilt pintle hitch trailer. Of course, both of these options are pretty pricey and you can get by with less. You can more than likely get by with a civilain pentle hitch trailer with a dove tail and some heavy ramps.

The more I think about it, the military made a trailer that is low to the ground and you drive between the wheels to load. Best I remember it's not very wide between the wheels but most forklifts aren't very wide either. Sorry, I don't remember the M number but there are pics around here somewhere.

 

[amarr]

I was talking about weight of the forklift. I just need a 3k to 4k lb lift capacity. I doubt I ever have pallets that weigh more than 1k lbs. So I'd only need to drag around a forklift that weighed around 8k to 11k.

I'll keep looking for a trailer like you're describing. Closest I've found so far is the M353. Figured if I could find some heavy ramps it would probably work nicely. Can't find anything rated for the weight of a forklift though. I've found lots of ramps that say, "not recommended for use with a forklift" though.

I am concerned about safety though, price takes a back seat to that.

 

[fasttruck]

And height ? Mast trucks are higher than telescoping models. I haved a 6k military rtfl which must be moved on an rgn trailer unless you want to take the ropes off for every move. As m16ty observed, they will go through the floor with the concentrated weight on small tires if your deck is not strong enough. Tie downs ? Do you have enough d rings in the right places to tie the load down ?

 

[73m819]

get a ditch witch trailer, they are built like described above, a WW2 bomb trailer is also built this way

 

[Ferroequinologist]

I owned a 3k Clark propane lift for a long time, hauled it home on a 10k equipment trailer. I looked at making a 353 trailer into a trailer for it, and it would fit just right between the wheels with a little room left over. The lift weighed 6800lbs. Problem then was I could't really pull it with my dodge diesel, as the pintle for the 353 is so high. I sold the lift before I could build the trailer. I've seen pictures of a forklift on a m353 somewhere before...

I agree, a ditch witch trailer would be ideal, small, and heavy duty.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Have you considered a "selfloading forklift"? The kind that Home Depot, Lowe's, and roofing material suppliers use to deliver their goods to job sites.

Do a Google Search for selfloading forklift and you're sure to find many used units that would be priced about the same as a forklift AND trailer would cost.

The back-end of the Deuce should be adequate for carrying one, otherwise, an upgrade to a 5-Ton would work, too.

Just some thoughts.