Pallet jacks with tilted forks?

[Strouty]

I have two pallet jacks and both of them have forks that seem to have a tilt. I did not notice it when I bought them, but as soon as you pick something, it leans forward because the forks are at a downward angle. These were bought at auction and I just did not notice anything wrong when looking at them.

My old one (which I sold) was a cheapo Chinese one and these are both USA made. The cheapo one had adjustable linkage and neither one of the new ones have any adjustment. Is there something I maybe missing or will I need to cut and weld the linkage?

I will get some pictures tomorrow.

 

[Jim in Wis]

If you pump it up and then lay it on it's side and wiggle the load wheels, there will probably be a bunch of slop in the linkage. Most likely the pins and bushings are worn bad, some of the pins are just 5/8 or 3/4 steel pins which can be duplicated easily. Bushings might be a little harder, and if the holes in the frame are oblong it's worse yet.
This stuff happens to these jacks all the time.
A few drops of oil years ago would have helped, but that usually don't happen!

 

[Strouty]

If you pump it up and then lay it on it's side and wiggle the load wheels, there will probably be a bunch of slop in the linkage. Most likely the pins and bushings are worn bad, some of the pins are just 5/8 or 3/4 steel pins which can be duplicated easily. Bushings might be a little harder, and if the holes in the frame are oblong it's worse yet.
This stuff happens to these jacks all the time.
A few drops of oil years ago would have helped, but that usually don't happen!

I will take a look for sure, that makes sense. Hopefully they will only need bushings and pins. I am guessing the frames are a pain to fix. Would you fix them or just buy new at that point?

 

[rslaback]

I will take a look for sure, that makes sense. Hopefully they will only need bushings and pins. I am guessing the frames are a pain to fix. Would you fix them or just buy new at that point?

You'd just buy new ones and put the old ones on an auction somewhere.

 

[Strouty]

You'd just buy new ones and put the old ones on an auction somewhere.

That was my exact thought. Some sucker will buy them for sure.

 

[Jim in Wis]

If the frame was in good shape except for the holes being oblong, it wouldn't be so hard to weld inside the hole and file it to get the pin to fit again. If the frame is bent too, junk it. The trouble is, none of them are made very good. They are ment to be disposable I guess.
Most companies use electric jacks now, they aren't much bigger than a hand powered one. Pulling a heavy load with a hand one is ok on a level, up a little slope is not so easy.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

If the frame was in good shape except for the holes being oblong, it wouldn't be so hard to weld inside the hole and file it to get the pin to fit again. If the frame is bent too, junk it. The trouble is, none of them are made very good. They are ment to be disposable I guess.
Most companies use electric jacks now, they aren't much bigger than a hand powered one. Pulling a heavy load with a hand one is ok on a level, up a little slope is not so easy.

No doubt the fix isn't "hard" (not to me anyways) BUT...you gotta think about dumping money which you can find new or like new for 200 bucks. Few wear parts and a seal kit for the jack (if you needed one for example) would be the same as finding a like new one.

Your in ME too Strouty...plenty of them to be had cheap. I scored 2 of them dirt cheap, unloaded one of them on CL last fall. Both had been lightly run indoors to move clean goods. I just wiped them down with WD40 and they looked & worked new. The SunJournal this weekend had the latest HF Flyer...219.99 for the 2.5 Ton.

Jim in Wis is right, they are disposable now. My dad has an older one which is built like a tank. Probably could move 20 ton pallets with it, everything on it is ball bearing with grease fittings, huge jack, HEAVY and Old. One like that I'd rebuild..anything modern is use/abuse and replace.

 

[Strouty]

I did not get a chance to check out the pallet jacks today, I should be able to tomorrow. I just didn't want to let my thread drop off the face of the earth.

 

[Strouty]

So I spent a little quality time with one of the pallet jacks. It is a pallet mule, made in the USA 6000 pound capacity. It is very heavy duty and it is not worn out. Sitting fully lowered, it is about 3/4" higher at the rear of the forks. I am wondering if someone installed larger wheels on the rear? There was a very little bit of play through all the linkages, but no way would it make the 3/4" difference. It stays the same as the jack goes up as well. Would they make a pallet jack that was tilted like that?

Here are some pictures. I am going to call the manufacturer and ask some questions.













Rear of forks with jack all the way down.


Front of forks with jack all the way down.

 

[Strouty]

Tomorrow I will take some pictures of the other one, it is a different brand, but came from the same business.

 

[Jim in Wis]

Brings back old memories - I'm glad I'm retired!
3/4 inch isn't so bad, it will lift what you need and be handy to have. A little wear in each pivot point can add up - a little material off the load wheels maybe. The red ones were Falcon brand usually. The big wheels are right I think, 8 inch maybe?
Oil up those pins and bushings and use it!
For picking up pallets, having it a little low in the front is ok, makes it easier to ram it under there.
They work great for putting snow plows on and off pickup trucks

 

[Strouty]

I have 10' tall pallet racks that I move (loaded), 3/4" is a huge deal to me. There is no way that any part of this one is worn enough to create that much difference.

 

[May Pop]

They do not come that way. They have been overloaded on the small wheels. The ones at the company I worked for years ago were cheap ones and could be ruined quickly. We sometimes delivered ATMs that were over 5K. The dock hands would not put the pallet jack in completely and lift with the small wheels and completely ruin a jack. The arms that pull the bar that raises the small rollers bend.

 

[Strouty]

They do not come that way. They have been overloaded on the small wheels. The ones at the company I worked for years ago were cheap ones and could be ruined quickly. We sometimes delivered ATMs that were over 5K. The dock hands would not put the pallet jack in completely and lift with the small wheels and completely ruin a jack. The arms that pull the bar that raises the small rollers bend.

I will have to closely inspect all the linkage, it appears that it is all cast iron. I would think it would break rather than bent. There is obviously something funny going on. Since they both came from the same business you could be right, they may have just used the tips of the forks or not enough of them when picking something too heavy. I think it was a safe company that owned them, I would just look for new ones, but these are short ones that you don't see that often. They work much better in my shop and I can store them under my racking without having them stick out two feet.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Hmm...I'd just slap a piece of 3/4" board on the rear of the forks when moving your 12' racking to keep it level.
Mine are about 1/2" higher at the front then the rear when lifting. Just measured a set we have here in the office...+/- same thing, tad higher up front then the rear which makes sense to me...having it tilted like yours are sounds odd.

 

[Strouty]

Hmm...I'd just slap a piece of 3/4" board on the rear of the forks when moving your 12' racking to keep it level.
Mine are about 1/2" higher at the front then the rear when lifting. Just measured a set we have here in the office...+/- same thing, tad higher up front then the rear which makes sense to me...having it tilted like yours are sounds odd.

My POS Chinese one was perfectly level and if it ever needed adjusting the linkage was threaded like a turn buckle. I may have to get my lathe figured out and just make these linkages adjustable too. If it was only one fork, I could see there would be a serious issue, but both sides seem the same. I put a call into the "service engineer" as they called him. I had to leave a message, but I am going to see what he would think could be the issue, or at least where to look first. I am sure when I figure out what it is, it will be glaringly obvious, but right now I just can't see the trouble.

 

[Strouty]

The forks are bent right were the jack meets the forks. It is obvious now. I may try to heat straighten them. If I can't get them completely straightened, at least they should be better than now.