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Rough terrain forklift vs all terrain?

Hobby_Man22

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I'm looking for a forklift to use to move some of my wood working tools around my little shop. They are around 800 pounds then also use it to move trailers around too. So I'm just looking for a standard 5-6k forklift. They make fork lifts with all terrain tires and then the rough terrain fork lifts are better large inflatable atv type tires. My property is either crushed concrete or grass. Can you use an all terrain forklift in the grass?
 
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matt_i

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There are pneumatic tired versions, I think Clark calls it a Yardlift in their nomenclature. In Hyster the model number starts with "H".

Imo you are asking for trouble in the grass, going to get ruts that are hard to climb out of when loaded and collect water when rainy and be slow to dry out.

In a packed crusher-run yard or driveway the pneumatic tired versions can work well.

Imo best and most widely available is one you didn't list: cushion tired, lay asphalt or pour concrete.

Keep in mind the ~5k that's ho-hum for a forklift is nearly max payload for a 1 ton dually rear axle.
 
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Hobby_Man22

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The cushion tire forklifts get stuck easy if it's not on even ground. Those are used for smooth concrete warehouses.
 

Strouty

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The masts can be pretty tall, but I think you should be able to find one with a shorter mast I have a weird clark forklift that I bought cheap, I know of a couple others (one on this forum). Search Clark Ranger 60, it has big truck tires and is 4 wheel drive.

The ones you posted a link to are probably fine for you, they may even be better since you will be driving on the grass.
 

infinkc

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I have a 5k forklift with pneumatic tires. It does get over dirt and gravel, but I have got it stuck a few times if the ground has any divots. I wouldn’t call it off road useable.

Those with the big tires are much better if you have uneven terrain, but also cost way more
 

matt_i

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Those are ~12,000 lb machines...need a way to get one to you, its not like you put it on a utility trailer and drive it across town.

Diesel is a downer when working indoors.

Must be very sure that the brakes and the parking brakes work very well. You mentioned moving machines which is essentially the job of a rigger = use the machine like a surgeon's scalpel and not like a butcher's cleaver. A 12,000 lb machine that drives like a golf cart can smash a lot of metal stuff into pretzels.

Any older machine will leak, just a matter of where and how bad.

A 2 stage mast is also a downer because it just keeps adding height as soon as you lift off the ground. A mast with "free lift" meaning the carriage/forks raise almost as high as the safety cage before the next stage starts extending upward is what you want, for going thru doors. Otherwise you are limited to using the forks down near the floor, and certain things deserve to be picked up from overhead to maintain gravity balance.
 

travisn1

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A 2 stage mast is also a downer because it just keeps adding height as soon as you lift off the ground. A mast with "free lift" meaning the carriage/forks raise almost as high as the safety cage before the next stage starts extending upward is what you want, for going thru doors. Otherwise you are limited to using the forks down near the floor, and certain things deserve to be picked up from overhead to maintain gravity balance.

I hope to buy a forklift someday and this is good information to store away for that time.
 

Busted_Knuckles

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I bought a nice used Hyster H20? It was a 3 wheeler. Gave $1750 for it from a forklift dealer !!! (mostly because of its age, he was just blowing down the road, it was a trade in ) with almost brand new rubber, new paint and new seat. I was sure something was wrong with it, but I had 8yrs of reliable years of service out of it. It was very old and very worn, but did more than I ever needed.

I think it might be rated for 2,000, its a light " truck " also used it remotely at auctions, buying shop equipment ( removing it from sellers palce ), I moved some lathes/mills, ect.

Its light enough I could transport with my one ton on my car trailer.

Pneumatic tires, so its happy inside and out. Auto trans with a treadle pedal.

The big win here is, its got 3 wheels, a triangle will put up with all kinds of crazy uneven ground, you cant even talk about running a regular 4 wheel pneumatic tire forklift on.

I lost the hyster in a life re-ordering event...:(

Now I have a compact Kubota tractor ( with forks ) outside and a really Nissan Forklift in the shop.

If your dedicated to moving stuff around outside, you cant be a skid loader... or a Case off road forklift...
 

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plout99

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800lbs and moving trailers, sounds like an excuse to buy a decent skidsteer!

^^^^ Get a skid loader they have so much more versatility than a forklift even if it’s all terrain. No you can’t lift 5 000 lb with the skid steer but you can do so much more. They are awesome for moving trailers around and visibility with forks is better than a forklift.
 

Bert_

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Grass is a no go with regular fork lift. Sink down in a second. Unloaded is the worst, all the weight is on the steer tires not much on the drives. Packed gravel is fine.
 

3rdgendslmech

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I work with around 250 forklifts. Most of our yard is paved now but the one place it isnt is where we usually put the big parts of equipment when we're working on it. ALL THE FORKLIFTS get stuck in there...smooth or treaded tires. The forklift I use is rated for 6000lb but weighs about 11K. Something else to think about, when it breaks....and its going to, depending on what needs to be done, that counterweight or mast will have to come off, and that my friend is the 2 heaviest pieces of the whole machine.
If I was you I'd look for a small rough terrain lift or a decent sized skid steer with a boom attachment.
 

hefnerconstructionlc

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I agree you may want to look at a skid steer instead of a forklift would give you other capabilities but obviously not the five to six thousand k lift capacity. At least not in a small footprint.
 

Firebrick43

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I'm looking for a forklift to use to move some of my wood working tools around my little shop. They are around 800 pounds then also use it to move trailers around too. So I'm just looking for a standard 5-6k forklift. They make fork lifts with all terrain tires and then the rough terrain fork lifts are better large inflatable atv type tires. My property is either crushed concrete or grass. Can you use an all terrain forklift in the grass?

What are you calling all terrain forklift??? Ie a link to a picture as I have never seen atv tires on a forklift nor would they have any useful load.

Rough terrain forklifts started out as ag tractors with the diff flipped and the operator station turned 180. Most today have more in common with loader backhoes but still use either R4 tires that work better in packed dirt or gravel or R1 AG tires that work better on softer dirt or grass but will leave indents in it if soft.

Most rough terrain forklifts **** in a building. They don’t have the turning radius that a warehouse style tow-motor has. As others mentioned that tow motors with pneumatic tires, even duals **** off pavement or deep packed gravel, it’s not the drive wheels but the steer tires with the counterweight over them unloaded.

Where I used to work at least once a month I would have to rescue a forklift driver that got his steers off the pavement. If it was a larger 15k truck even the 25k truck wouldn’t pull them out at times, had to get the 966 cat loader out. Thank god they never ran the 50k or 80k truck off the pavement.

The best off road forklift imho that won’t tear up sod is a mini articulating loader with a SSQA plate and forks. Some call them an integrated tool carrier if they can trade attachments. I would only recommend a skid steer with fork to my enemies.

Dad and I tried it with our 743 bobcat to pick hay out off the fields with a hay grapple. Lasted two days and we were back to using a tractor with a front end loader. Tore up to much, and the pitching moment going over bumps and such was miserable not to mention the complete lack of visibility to the rear or sides.
 
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Strouty

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This is what I consider a rough terrain forklift. I did add the wider tires, makes for a very capable forklift. I paid $3500 for it and another $450 for the tires. You need a heavy trailer and truck to haul it, 13k pounds, it is 4x4 with steering rear axle and articulated center.

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Jlarson

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You need something like a Cat R80 or one of the other lifts in that series. I service quite a few of those and use those at customers places and there aren't many places you can't take one. Those are real yard forklifts
 

Zmann

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here is my all terrain forklift

actually I needed a tractor for building some fences , digging a pool and moving things in the shop and my company needed an occasional forklift to unload fixtures from a semi , we would rent a forklift at 500 per day now I rent the company my tractor for 300 per day


IMG_6542.JPG
 

Strouty

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That's neat. What brand is that? Diesel engine?


Like me I said originally, it is a Clark Ranger 60, gasoline engine, standard transmission, you can select front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, neutral, or four wheel drive. They are out there, but not as common.
 

Plastikosmd

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Same Clark as strouty

I have kept the split rim road tires on it.
I use it on the dry lawn, trails in the woods getting sawmill stuff etc.
The center articulation is nice to keep things from tipping
I think I was in at for 5k plus a few $ for delivery. At 10yrs of ownership, we are nearly at 500$ a year. Money well spent.

Not me: but about what I am like in the woods!



Lawn was wet in this pic, still not much damage




 
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Plastikosmd

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In respect to hauling, mine came out of NH. A company had used it to load heavy.
History of mine:

“A quick bit of the lifts' history for you. It was purchased new by Newman Lumber Company in Woodsville, New Hampshire. When the mill was sold to a Canadian Firm, the owner (Walter Young) kept this particular forklift for his personal use at his home. He had the gas engine rebuilt at that time by a reputable firm - he told me that's why the roof had been cut off and welded back on. I bought it from him and we only used it occasionally to lift heavy loads.”

It was delivered via truck (that I wish I owned!)
 
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Hobby_Man22

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here is my all terrain forklift

actually I needed a tractor for building some fences , digging a pool and moving things in the shop and my company needed an occasional forklift to unload fixtures from a semi , we would rent a forklift at 500 per day now I rent the company my tractor for 300 per day


IMG_6542.JPG

I looked at these and supposedly they can't lift much like my 800 pound wood working tools would be the max it would lift and then it would not be able to lift it very high.
 

Busted_Knuckles

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I looked at these and supposedly they can't lift much like my 800 pound wood working tools would be the max it would lift and then it would not be able to lift it very high.

I have the same L series Kubota, I move up to 1200lbs with regularity. Mostly it moves 350 gallon totes of split and stacked hardwoods around ( have acres that I collect the firewood off of, some of it, is up to a 1/2 mile of wood trails behind the house ).

Im guessing you looked at a (smaller ) BX model, to the untrained eye, all the Kubotas look alike, kinda. I think the L-series ( shown ) is rated at 1100 at 24" but Im working from memory ( not safe ).

Like everything, right tool for the right job, a tractor by design is not a really a good loader, but will function as one clearly. As an example, I didnt buy mine to move things around, I bought for a rototiller/brush hog/mower/trailer mover/box blade-gravel mover/firewood mover/pulling trees out of the back 40, its a utility tool, just happen to have purchased forks for it.

As it turns out, I use a root rake/grapple on the front of it more than anything else, that is I pickup and move tree canopies and brush to burn more than any other use. I use it to get the mail ( 1/2 mile haul to the mailbox ), stuff like that.

Problem with a tractor and forks, is maneuverability, just a like a full size skid loader, its worthless, due to size inside a building ( unless you have a 20k sqft shop ).

For maneuverability, I included a pic of what Im running now in the shop, the tractor brings it in the door, the Nissan takes it from there.
 

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Plastikosmd

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Lifting low and slow, tractors are great. Agree w above, a “Swiss army knife” of a machine

4k+ log on a little 33hp machine



I prefer forks over grapple



But it doesn’t have the stability, strength or maneuvering of my Clark.
Agree different tools for different jobs
 

86turbodsl

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For lifting only 800lbs, i think i would look at a compact tractor with a FEL. You don't need the capability of a forklift at 800lbs.
 

Firebrick43

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Lifting low and slow, tractors are great. Agree w above, a “Swiss army knife” of a machine

4k+ log on a little 33hp machine

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Sorry have to wave the bs flag on that one. My 50 hp john deere that weights twice that tractor wont lift 4k

The 300cx has a 2,125 max capacity at the pins, and you are approx 12" cg of load or so from the pivot pins.

plus if you had the heavy 6 ply tires they would have twice the allowable weight on them and would be completely flat or popped.

If you have the long 48" forks i would estimate a 24" log 8-9' long. If a very dense wood like white oak that calculates out to 1850lbs.
 

zkdiesel

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Sorry have to wave the bs flag on that one. My 50 hp john deere that weights twice that tractor wont lift 4k

The 300cx has a 2,125 max capacity at the pins, and you are approx 12" cg of load or so from the pivot pins.

plus if you had the heavy 6 ply tires they would have twice the allowable weight on them and would be completely flat or popped.

If you have the long 48" forks i would estimate a 24" log 8-9' long. If a very dense wood like white oak that calculates out to 1850lbs.

Agree!
 

XJSuperman

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Sorry have to wave the bs flag on that one. My 50 hp john deere that weights twice that tractor wont lift 4k

The 300cx has a 2,125 max capacity at the pins, and you are approx 12" cg of load or so from the pivot pins.

plus if you had the heavy 6 ply tires they would have twice the allowable weight on them and would be completely flat or popped.

If you have the long 48" forks i would estimate a 24" log 8-9' long. If a very dense wood like white oak that calculates out to 1850lbs.

Glad someone called that out lol. I had a good chuckle before reading this ^ and typing my response. A fullsize backhoe (John Deere 410D) has a max lifting capacity of ~4800lbs with the backhoe, and I know the limit, we've done it moving wet logs. The loader is over 7k cap. but anyhow, this is an 85hp industrial machine. That compact won't come close. It will however, handle the 800lb machines easy enough.

Lots of options for forklifts for moving stuff. The real questions are what kinds of ground are you moving over and how much manueverability do you need? Something small that will turn on a dime inside, or something big with reach and offroad abilities. Budget is the next factor becuase that will rule out the stuff like telehandlers, backhoes, new skidsteers, or articulated loaders. Some consumer tractors are easily in that expensive category as well.
 

Plastikosmd

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It is ok.
I’m not saying I lifted it more than a foot or so.
Lifting to full height vs curling it to the back of the forks are 2 different things

39” at big end, 33” at the small x8’
Maybe online calculator is wrong
It is “seasoned” so maybe a bit lighter than full wet
So call it 2500, 3500lb? deere did fine
(But agree that it is heavy)

I also use the ranger also, or the boom truck



 
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Plastikosmd

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Update:
I used another calculator 37xx something, so not more than 4k
I bet as it is dry, maybe under 3500
I stand corrected
 
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