Deal on a shop helper

[truck]

Okay, so I built the lofts in the shop see my build thread here: shop build and I've had a dilemma on how I was going to get heavy or bulky items up there. I didn't want to build a huge stair case taking valuable room in the shop. I thought about building a pallet dock platform for the lift and using it as an elevator. I may have been able to make that work but Bimmer's thread here got me thinking, "a cheap forklift would work and be mega useful". So searched CL with nothing under $2k. Finally last month I came across an ad "Air Compressors, Forkifts, Going out of Business". In it he had a large 12K Yale forklift for $4000, several IR Rotary compressors and one short line inside that said "TCM forklift needs work $800". I though I would go check it out. Turns out it is a propane TCM FCG25N6 rated at 5000#s with a triple mast that went up 240", standard up/down, tilt, and shuttle shift (side to side), service and parts manuals, and new forks. It was dirty, a little hard to start and ran a little rough and has small hydraulic leak and didn't include the propane tank. I told him I would have to think about it since it needed work and asked what else he had. He showed me around and I left to think about it. After a couple of days and a little research I went back to him with a package deal offer for $600.
Here is what I got, I think I did okay:
- the forklift as described above w/1247 hrs.
- a 38" shop floor fan
- industrial shelving (3x 14' uprights 2' deep, with many 8' cross bars)
- a panel saw (minus the saw)
- a bunch of standard steel shelving w/12", 18" & 24" shelves
- a 4'x8' white board and a 4'x5' white board
- a heavy duty 2 drawer filing cabinet
- an Okidata color laser printer
- a buttload of scrap steel (smaller stuff but good for skids plates on the jeep or smaller projects)


Local gas supply sold me a standard 33# steel propane tank full for $150. I ended up having to pay $100 for a rollback to deliver the forklift after 2 tries with 2 different trailers that couldn't hack it. Inside one of the manuals had written 1205.5hrs: checked rod bearings, honed cylinders, new rings, cut/seat/lapped valves, cleaned/adjusted points, adjusted carb, new muffler. So if it has been gone through fairly recently, hopefully it is a timing of propane feed issue not something serious.

Truck

 

[Zrexxer]

 

[rieferman]

yeah, totally.. you ****

 

[tatra]

good stuf pal......what kind of propane sytem is it first of all?......should say on the converter[ round thing ] that has a large diameter hose going to the carb......hopefully it is an impco sytem.........also make note of the model #..........connected to that with a hose or pipe will be the fuel lock........see if this has a vacuum line going to the engine.......if it does, connect a vc pump or give it a good **** [ you already are good at that cuz of the killer deal] and see if it holds vac........if not, exchange fuel locks or a rebuild kit is easy..........course check for spark and that there is no obstructions in the intake..........let us know how you make out..........

 

[A_Pmech]

Nice deal!

Most people have no idea how cheap cushion tire forklifts are. $500 - $1,000 is the norm for light lifts (under 6,000lbs capacity). I ran across tons and tons of them while looking for my Clark pneumatic tired forklift. Electric stackers are the same deal.

In about six months you'll never understand how you did without one.



If you need any help diagnosing the fault, post up. I have lots of practice with Propane industrial engines.

 

[djd99]

Nice deal!

Most people have no idea how cheap cushion tire forklifts are. $500 - $1,000 is the norm for light lifts (under 6,000lbs capacity). I ran across tons and tons of them while looking for my Clark pneumatic tired forklift. Electric stackers are the same deal.

In about six months you'll never understand how you did without one.



If you need any help diagnosing the fault, post up. I have lots of practice with Propane industrial engines.

Those are cheap almost worth looking to just have around. I would pay 600 to have 1....

 

[truck]

Here are pix of the other stuff...

Tatra/Pmech: I haven't really checked into it much yet. The service manual doesn't cover the propane system so any help would be great. I just went and looked and it is a Impco system (not sure where to find model #, wasn't obvious). Here are some pix. It is a nissan engine. In one of the pix you will see 2 hoses on the propane "head" that aren't connected to anything. I don't know if this has anything to do with it. Propane is all new to me.

Thanks for any help.

Truck

 

[A_Pmech]

Looks like an Impco Model J regulator / vaporizer with an Impco / Nolffs VFF-30 vacuum operated lock valve. The mixer looks to be an Impco CA-100 or CA-110.

It appears somebody has bypassed the lock valve and plumbed LPG directly to the regulator / vaporizer. This is a dangerous condition. Should the regulator fail, LPG will be dispensed until the bottle is empty. The lock valve is designed to shut off LPG flow to the regulator when the engine is stopped and also serves to filter the incoming LPG. That situation needs to be rectified.

Regardless, it's good practice to always turn off the propane bottle when not in use, just in case the lock valve or main hose fails.

Regarding your hard starting problem:

If an engine tune-up including timing, idle adjustment, plugs, intake and exhaust check, and valve adjustment (if applicable) does not solve the problem, I would point my finger at the vaporizer / regulator.

It is common for the primary seat to fail causing the regulator to partially lock up when the engine is stopped and dispense too much gas when running. Symptoms include hard starting and rich running mixtures. Symptoms get progressively worse until the engine fails to start and you get a wet/frozen regulator. (Condensation or frost on the regulator due to vaporizing WAY too much LPG)

You can test for primary seat failure by measuring the primary regulator pressure at the test port. It should be 1.5 PSI with the engine running. With the engine stopped, the primary pressure should not rise a noticeable amount in 5 minutes.

Everything you want to know about operating principles and servicing IMPCO products is available here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17379058/IMPCO-Training-Manual

That should give you a start. Don't worry, overhaul kits are readily available and inexpensive.

 

[tcianci]

It seems to me that the fork lift is taking up a lot more space than your stairs would have, but obviously it is more useful.

 

[truck]

Thanks PMech I'll check that out.

As to size and space the forklift is only 3.5' wide x 7.5' long, so it is actually taking up less space and I can move it around when necessary. An yes, tons more useful.

Truck

 

[rodm1]

I ended up doing the same thing. A forklift is grate I don't have to be creative unloading heavy items from my pickup truck.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Even if you can't get it to work, you could scrap it out and get a large amount of your money back

 

[jjkrjh]

I would guess that the lift has 11,247 hrs on it. The tires are very worn for only 1.200 hrs. The engine has been reringed already? A Nissan H20 can easily go 10,000hrs.We have a customer that has 39,000hrs. and it runs and is used for 7.5hrs. each day. These early H20's did have headgasket failures, and the brass oil galley plugs would leak at the back of the head above the bellhousing. Valves are adjusted to .015" and it has points, unless an igniter kit has been put in the distributor. The vaporizor on your lift has been replaced recently (no primer button). A_Pmech dead-on, the fuel system issues need to be repaired.

You'll be surprised how much use you'll get out of your lift. Let us know how you come out.

 

[hypnotoad]

Great score Truck. Keep the shop pics coming, looking great.

 

[Kevin54]

For that score.....yep, you definitely ****!!!!!!!!!