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cownd
Arizona, United States

After thirty five years of turning wrenchs 95% on forklifts and 5% everything else and during our recent work slow down, I've had a chance to reflect on my career. Over the years forklift models have come and gone, some successful some not, even manufactures came and went, although some of the originals are still around. Forklift techniogies have improved dramatically to where were at today. Again some good and some not so good. Using this forum I would like to list some of the good and bad I've experianced. The #1 forklift on the good side for me is the Caterpillar V50B with the Continental 4 cylinder LP engine and either the wet clutch or power shift transmission. #2 on the good side is an old one, Automatic readi power, I'm not sure about the correct spelling. This machine had a Continental 4 cylinder gasoline engine connected direct drive to a DC generator which suppiled DC power to an electric DC drive motor. Both these machines were absolutly gernade proof. The bad side can be identified as a period of time, it seemed in the 80"s forklift manufactures were in transistion maybe because of the economy or the world transistioning into a "world economy" i'm not sure why but, during that time they produced some of the worst forklifts i've ever turned a wrench on. Manufactures were merging and buying out other manufactures, the end result was a parts nightnmare in some cases, service nightmares in others and warranty claims nightmares in others. Thru all that there we still had a light at the end of the tunnel, all of which brought us to where were at today. Although theres still alot to be accomplished, todays forklifts are again some of the best ever manufactured. Todays forklifts have efficent drive trains that have been well thought out. Todays forklifts have self diagnostics as standard equipment, diagnostic systems that are smart and in some cases have the problem pin pinted without the help of a technician. Reflecting from thirty five years ago to today I think forklifts have advanced more than most coulod have imagined. With approximently ten years before retirement, i'm looking forward to whats next, it will be interesting to say the least.

Posted 27 Jan 2009 06:22 AM

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justinm
New York, United States

ive been in the industry 11 years
was with a cat/mitsu/linde dealer until this summer when i went out on my own
oofa, I couldnt have picked a worse time to try this lol
thats ok though overhead is low
so even with somewhat less of a workload the bills are paid
my favorite of any age (ive seen almost everything from the LT35 and up lol) is the linde line
39X series are as bulletproof as anything autocad'd can be
old trucks are bullet proof due to the fact that they were designed with pen and paper
if they werent they would have never met their expected life span
hence when companies cut corners prior to autocad the result was shoddy products

as far as the future goes
i cant wait till i have to fix one of those load lifters from the movie Aliens lol (Caterpillar P-5000 Powered Work Loader, never realized these were branded Cat until i looked for the pic of 1 lol)
members.tripod DOT com/CORP_HICKS/loader.html

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New York, New York its a heluva town ..you know that The Bronx is up ..and im Brooklyn down

Posted 27 Jan 2009 08:31 AM

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proshadetree
Tennessee, United States

I miss the M40 Had one that every time I blew it off I broke a wire.This thing had the worst wires Iv seen.T50d runs forever like a tank,but the GC25 was so much better to work on.Hated the fan bearing though.Teir1 what were they thinking?Teir 2/3 man I like this.Ac drive Where did all the wires go?12 years here I still shiver when I hear Clark
those old enclosed disks stank.All brands have the what were they thinking moments.I started on farm trucks and tractors,Added cars then the money went out in the early 90s.Never quit just not main sorce of income.I sure dont mind working on a car after forklifts.I look forward to the new But I sure miss the simpelness of the old.

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"Work leads to profit, mere talk leads to poverty"

Modified 27 Jan 2009 09:42 PM
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cownd
Arizona, United States

We had two Linde H45 352's, perkins diesel, cabs, A/C, fire retardant fluid, foundry trucks. Did not have much luck keeping them on line. Between parts availiblity (for our model) not the best local dealer support and repeated failure of the same items, it just became to costly. We changed back to Cat DP50K machines. After that, life became much easier. I did have the opportunity to visit Linde in SC to take a look at there newest models a couple years back. I was impressed with there new models, although I thought there might be to much load on the engine along with being turbo charge, aluminum and dirt such as is found in foundry applications do not mix.

Posted 28 Jan 2009 11:00 AM

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