Operating Procedures
General
Know Your Lift Truck
WARNING
ALWAYS make sure the parking brake is fully applied
before leaving the lift truck. If the parking brake is not
applied when the operator gets out of the seat or turns
the lift truck OFF, an alarm will sound for 60 seconds. If
the lift truck is left on a grade, without the parking
brake fully applied, the lift truck will freewheel down
the grade, possibly causing injury or property damage.
The fork lift truck is designed to pick up and move materi-
als. The basic lift truck has a lift mechanism with forks on
the front to engage the load. The lift mechanism lifts the
load so that it can be moved and stacked.
In order to understand how the fork lift truck can pick up a
load, you must first know some basic things about the lift
truck.
The lift truck is based on the
principle of two weights balanced
on opposite sides of a pivot (ful-
crum). This is the same principle
used for a seesaw.
In order for this principle to work
for a lift truck, the load on the
forks must be balanced by the
weight of the lift truck. The location of the center of gravity
of both the truck and the load is also a factor.
This basic principle is used for picking up a load. The ability
of the lift truck to handle a load is discussed in terms of
center of gravity and both forward and side stability.
Operating Procedures
79
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