The forklift carriage is the part of a forklift that holds things, like the prongs, the load backrest, and any other attachments. If you have a bumper on your forklift carriage, it is also attached to the carriage. The carriage is in between the forks and the mast of the forklift. It moves along the mast, which lets the forks and load go up and down.
The Industrial Truck Association (ITA) sets the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) specifications for forklift carriages. The ITA is a group of companies in North America that make and sell industrial trucks and the parts and equipment that go with them. It includes companies in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
ISO standards let manufacturers make carriages and forks that are the same size, so these parts can be utilized on forklift trucks made by different businesses. Standard ISO 2328 is the one that sets the rules for measuring carriage class.We’ll talk about the different classes of forklift carriages in this post. We’ll talk about their sizes and lifting capacities, and we’ll teach you how to figure out what class your forklift’s carriage is.
Forklift Carriage Classes
The height of your carriage, or the distance from the top edge to the bottom, is what separates each class of carriage. You can find out which class your forklift belongs to by measuring the height of its carriage. This will also help you figure out how much weight it can lift.
Here is a list of each type of carriage:
ITA Fork Classes
Forklift forks come in several classifications, much like forklift carriages do. There are classes for both forks and carriages.
The most prevalent type of forklift forks in the material handling business are ITA forks, which have a class number on them. A fork must meet the requirements set out in Standard ISO 2328 in order to be an ITA fork. Some people call these forks “clip” or “hook” forks because of how they attach to the forklift carriage.
There are two kinds of forklift arms: type A and type B. The distance between the ground and the carriage, which is measured when the forklift mast is all the way down, is what makes the two different. A is the most common sort of arm, and it can be utilized both indoors and outside. Most of the time, B arms are employed with outside lift trucks.
How to Measure Your Forklift Carriage
Measure the distance between the top and bottom of your carriage bars to find out how high your forklift carriage is. You can use the carriage classification table above to assist you figure out what class your forklift’s carriage is in.
The carriage class can give you a general sense of what your forklift can accomplish, but it’s always a good idea to check the data plate on your machine to see what it can and can’t perform. When you need to get the correct vehicle for a job, the data plate and accurate specs are the best things to look at.
What Parts Are Connected to the Forklift Carriage?
The fork carriage is a basic portion of a forklift that is needed for the machine to work. A forklift couldn’t lift anything without its support. This is how it works with some of the other important pieces of a forklift:
- Forks: The mast can move the forks on a forklift, but the carriage is what keeps them stable and attached to the vehicle.
- Load backrest: The load backrest goes on the sides of a forklift’s carriage. It keeps the load on the forklift from falling back toward the operator, which is a stabilizing part.
- Mast: The carriage on a forklift connects the mast and prongs. The carriage helps maintain the mast stable as loads flow up and down the mast channel by supporting it.
How Much Can a Forklift Carriage Lift?
The model of the forklift determines its specific lifting capacity, however most can handle approximately 25,000 pounds. In general, the size of the carriage determines how much weight it can raise. Choose a forklift with a bigger carriage if you need one that can lift a lot.
It’s also vital to know how much weight the forks can lift, as this may be different from how much weight the carriage can lift. Use the lower lifting capacity of the two to tell you how much to load.
