Lets talk forklifts

jeepinmatt

jeepinmatt

#1 WEBWHEELER
Moderator
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Location
Stanley, NC
The seal on the lift cylinder on my 40+ year old Cat T50C finally gave out, so its time to replace it. I got a quote for about $1500 to get it rebuilt (full service, they come and pick it up, fix it, drop it back off). It's been a solid machine, and required very little in the 15+ years I've owned it. Everything about it is a little rough around the edges, but I know what I have and what to expect. With that said, I've also been wanting to buy longer forks and better tires for it, the propane always seems to run out at the worst time, and I'd really like to add side shift, so instead of dumping $1500 into a machine that is probably only worth $2-3k and I want to do $4k worth of upgrades to, I'm wondering if I'd be better off making the jump and upgrading to something newer (and electric maybe). But my only experience has been with this old worn out Cat T50C, so I don't even know where to start. Whats the good/bad/ugly, brands to stay away from, things to look for, etc? Budget would ideally be about $5-7k.
 
We have electric Toyotas at work. 99% of our repairs are seats and seat belts. We have some larger employees and they are required to get on and off their lifts about 15 times an hour, it really wears on the seats. Other than that they run 24/7 and hardly ever break.
 
The best ones at work are Toyota propane the worst is a manitou diesel even though the manitou is like new with a cab/ac and bigger tires for leaving the loading pad into the dirt gravel it is constantly down for something small but creates a big PIA to fix it. No electric ones so no comment there. These all run 12 hrs a day in gritty sand and gravel plant conditions.
 
The way I see it is I can replace a propane tank in about 5 mins with a spare, but if the battery dies it will be a long time before youre back running. I bought a used TCM off a fellow member here from clayton, had 12k hours on it but has been absolutely flawless and done everything i needed it to. We will probably be looking into a newer one next year that has pneumatic tires and I want fork adjustment along with side shift.
 
LBZ_Duramax said:
The way I see it is I can replace a propane tank in about 5 mins with a spare, but if the battery dies it will be a long time before youre back running.
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This is very true. And I have 2 tanks. And the first one is always empty and second one is running on fumes and the forklift keeps dying when its about to be a severe thunderstorm and I need to move 2 mills and a lathe out of the way and get another mill I didn't really need off the trailer before it gets rain dumped on it. Not that that would ever happen or anything :rolleyes: Swapping a tank is definitely faster than charging a battery, but charging a battery can regularly be done at my shop whereas I have to go somewhere to get propane. I'm good about monitoring levels, I'm just not good about actually having to do shit like get a propane tank refilled or buy more brake parts cleaner.
 
If you are not using the machine several hours a week to where you are discharging and charging the battery regularly, an electric lift isn’t the way to go. Occasional light use it may last a long time but the battery will die when you need it most. A battery for 3-4k lift starts at $3000 for a reman….and that’s not getting you a lot, new are $6k +
LP machine would be your best option, the fuel doesn’t go bad, and in most cases they’re pretty reliable.
I’m partial to Toyota I’ve serviced and repaired them for the last 18yrs, honestly they’re easier to work on than most other brands, even other brand techs will tell you that. Parts for any of them can be expensive.

$1500 sounds like a great price for what you need, if it were a dealer shop I doubt you’d get that done for less than double.

Age is something you’re going to fight with any machine, its former life can dictate how well it will age after sale. The crappy the environment the worse it will age.

Just keep in mind, if a forklift is being sold cheap, expect to pay 3x in repairs to make it safely useable, i run into this a lot. eBay deal or Craigslist score for $1500, runs and drives, no brakes… adds up fast
 
Blkvoodoo said:
$1500 sounds like a great price for what you need, if it were a dealer shop I doubt you’d get that done for less than double.
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Agreed, the price seems fair. They said $350 for seal kit, $500 labor if I bring them the cylinder, $825 labor if I bring them the machine, and I figured another $300ish to have them come pick it up. The $825 price seems like a no brainer, only $325 more for them to pull the cylinder, deal with the spilled fluid, put it back in, and seal/fill it back up seems well worth the difference. Problem is, by the time they do all that, and replace the 4 hoses going to the mast/cylinder, and a few sliders, and who knows what else, it will end up being $2k all in.

That's what led me to do a bit more math:
$1500 I could get for my machine as is with leaking cylinder
$2000 spent on fixing cylinder
$1000 on 5ft forks
$1000 for wheels/tires with tread instead of completely smooth (no idea on the number here, just throwing something out)

$5500 in total value I could extract/avoid by getting something else

So basically if I spend $5-6k and it works and has longer forks and better tires, it's a breakeven in my book.
 
I put a $5000 battery in a $2000 forklift 2 yrs ago. That hurt my feelings a little bit. I prefer propane. I like being able to romp the gas and get a little more ump picking up things I shouldn't. Can't do that with the electrics. A $5000 forklift is still going to be a basket case these days. Id spend the money and fix what I had if that's the budget. Whatever you get is going to need hoses, a cylinder rebuild somewhere and brakes.

All that said, a forklift ain't worth a damn without sideshift.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Agreed, the price seems fair. They said $350 for seal kit, $500 labor if I bring them the cylinder, $825 labor if I bring them the machine, and I figured another $300ish to have them come pick it up. The $825 price seems like a no brainer, only $325 more for them to pull the cylinder, deal with the spilled fluid, put it back in, and seal/fill it back up seems well worth the difference. Problem is, by the time they do all that, and replace the 4 hoses going to the mast/cylinder, and a few sliders, and who knows what else, it will end up being $2k all in.

That's what led me to do a bit more math:
$1500 I could get for my machine as is with leaking cylinder
$2000 spent on fixing cylinder
$1000 on 5ft forks
$1000 for wheels/tires with tread instead of completely smooth (no idea on the number here, just throwing something out)

$5500 in total value I could extract/avoid by getting something else

So basically if I spend $5-6k and it works and has longer forks and better tires, it's a breakeven in my book.
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As for the tires, you’ve probably learned already that getting into gravel with your machine is not a good thing, and honestly, adding treaded tires will only make that worse, it will just dig faster. And tread won’t help much on wet pavement either
you have a “cushion tire” machine, it is designed for hard surfaces, period. The foot print of the tire is more concentrated on a smaller area. Unfortunately you cannot convert to pneumatic tires and gain much of anything, due to size constraint (and cost, you’d have to change wheels if they’re even available)

Tom@Hilltop_Machine said:
It seems good used forklifts are still commanding high prices. If you are not in a hurry and are patient you might get lucky and find a deal on one.
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used lifts are a premium because new lifts are way expensive and hard to get in a timely manner. One of the largest consumer driven merchandisers has place a HUGE order of equipment and it has sent a ripple thru the industry, they did the same for the delivery vehicles as well, smile. Took over 1.5 years to get simple motorized walk behind pallet jacks for one customer as a result.
Add to this a major player in the industry had some EPA issues and had to stop selling and manufacturing LP equipment for over a year, and still can’t sell diesel lifts. major order delays and back ups from all brands because of this.
dont piss of the epa, they fuck you and everyone around you.
awheelterd said:
All that said, a forklift ain't worth a damn without sideshift.
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Word

good seeing you today!
 
Mine is duel fuel....or should I say was. I deleted the propane.
To much hassle when a filling station selling pure gas is 3.5 miles away.
That said it is showing hose and cylinder wear. I've replaced or built roughly half. I have one now needing rebuilt.
My luck is to keep what I know and repair til it's dang near catastrophic. I prefer not to risk buying other folks problems at the price point I can afford.

The extra space required for a battery charger and the potential for battery fumes are a no go for me.
An old boss blew a brand hammer new electric lift up welding next to it. Everyone in the maintenance department shit their pants....the whole plant knew someone had messed up.
 
I'd like to go ahead and say that I'm impulsive and I don't listen...
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and I bought this today
1688153681336.png


Went and ran it at lunchtime and its nice, tight, and overall in great shape. I figure it will need batteries in the next couple years, but they are fine for now. It was at the very bottom of my budget, and came with a single phase charger. Its actually more compact than my current one, has a 6k capacity instead of 5k, larger tires, a 3 stage mast, and side shift. And a horn and lights that work! (My kids will love that, haha!) Hopefully its as solid and troublefree as my Cat has been.
 
jeepinmatt said:
I'd like to go ahead and say that I'm impulsive and I don't listen...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
and I bought this today
View attachment 399786

Went and ran it at lunchtime and its nice, tight, and overall in great shape. I figure it will need batteries in the next couple years, but they are fine for now. It was at the very bottom of my budget, and came with a single phase charger. Its actually more compact than my current one, has a 6k capacity instead of 5k, larger tires, a 3 stage mast, and side shift. And a horn and lights that work! (My kids will love that, haha!) Hopefully its as solid and troublefree as my Cat has been.
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Nice. I hope it stays on concrete for the most part.
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
Nice. I hope it stays on concrete for the most part.
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Yep. My current one has been off the concrete about a half dozen times in 15 years, for reasons...
1688155236687.png


(That area has packed down and is actually forklift driveable now, but it was still pretty fresh and new when this happened)
 
Water the battery, how often is something you need to watch. THAT can greatly effect battery life, use distilled if at all possible, avoid using well water especially if it has any iron content
 
Blkvoodoo said:
Water the battery, how often is something you need to watch. THAT can greatly effect battery life, use distilled if at all possible, avoid using well water especially if it has any iron content
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Thanks for the advice. I learned that the hard way maintaining the double 48v bank on my SXS. Our well water is slap full of iron, and even post filtering, it fouled a couple batteries. Fortunately they were already on their last leg and I was just buying some time. This one has a watering system installed, so that should make it a lot easier.
 
I have unstuck a few like the new one......and mine once or a few😜.

I did manage to roll one on its side but we want talk about that.😁😂😢😢

May or may not have had several fellas hanging on one for a little more steering contact.

The short is a hole lot of over worked and little osha in several places I worked.
 
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