You just can't say no to a free forklift...

kaiser715

Doing hard time
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Location
7, Pocket, NC
I'd been looking for either a small forklift or a pallet stacker for a while, to make better use of the pallet racking and future loft in my shop. Last week, @Roughshod posted one up in the freebies section, and for once, I was faster than usual, and snagged it. You snooze, you lose. (Thanks again @Roughshod)

Got fresh batteries hooked to it and got it half working today. Uppitity-down works, motivation not so much. There is what appears to be a clutch type brake on top of the motor that is rusted together.

 
This is the part that I think is the culprit. 2 wires going in get power, but nothing moves. Rusted fairly well.

Anybody have any experience with something like this?

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Nothing useful to add other than the way that mast operates, I hope you have a tall ceiling and plenty of distance between your loft and roof.

yep...16.5' at the eaves, 22' at the peak. Loft plan is 9.5 to 10' of headroom underneath, floor system 12-16" depending on how I frame it (beams, lvl's, etc).

Lift height (forks) is 151'.
 
Like @Tacoma747 said, that's the brake assembly. Personally, I would coax it with a few light hammer taps to see if she'll free up. @Blkvoodoo might be willing to give you some pointers, he's the actual forklift/pallet jack guy.
 
Like @Tacoma747 said, that's the brake assembly. Personally, I would coax it with a few light hammer taps to see if she'll free up. @Blkvoodoo might be willing to give you some pointers, he's the actual forklift/pallet jack guy.
Thanks....I think....

Looks like a Crown and probably obsolete ( few if any parts available quickly)

that is a magnetic brake. The coil on top is the magnet, between the upper and lower there is a disc inside splined to to the motor shaft.
You’ll need to pull the top off and work your way down, watch for small springs or what’s left of them and sleeves over bolts, soaking it in penetrant might be helpful in getting things apart.

removing it is an option but I’d make damn sure the belly reverse button on the tiller worked before you did that.
That thing will roll over you with a load on it and probably even unloaded if there is no brake.

there are springs pushing the top plate into the bottom sandwiching the the brake disc, the magnet draws the top plate up to release the brake when energized. Just a slight air gap between all. They don’t like moisture. Some brake discs are fiber faced some are a metallic media.

pay attention to how that is wired, just because it has 4 batteries doesn’t make it 24v. I’ve run into some of the older machines that use dual 6v series to 12v, each 12v operated a different function, one lift, one travel. Verify on data tag if it’s still there.
 
Thanks....I think....

Looks like a Crown and probably obsolete ( few if any parts available quickly)

that is a magnetic brake. The coil on top is the magnet, between the upper and lower there is a disc inside splined to to the motor shaft.
You’ll need to pull the top off and work your way down, watch for small springs or what’s left of them and sleeves over bolts, soaking it in penetrant might be helpful in getting things apart.

removing it is an option but I’d make damn sure the belly reverse button on the tiller worked before you did that.
That thing will roll over you with a load on it and probably even unloaded if there is no brake.

there are springs pushing the top plate into the bottom sandwiching the the brake disc, the magnet draws the top plate up to release the brake when energized. Just a slight air gap between all. They don’t like moisture. Some brake discs are fiber faced some are a metallic media.

pay attention to how that is wired, just because it has 4 batteries doesn’t make it 24v. I’ve run into some of the older machines that use dual 6v series to 12v, each 12v operated a different function, one lift, one travel. Verify on data tag if it’s still there.

Thanks!

Lift is an ECOA - Equipment Company of America. It is old.

It has 2 6v batteries wired in series. Separate hydraulic power pack for the up/down that works fine. Will probably replace whatever hoses run between it and the cylinder.

It's going to be a pain getting to that brake, but I'll try tomorrow. You can see the bottom of a flat plate above it...on top of that plate is where all the solenoids and electric connectors are for the switches, etc....and the nuts to remove it are under half of that stuff.
 
Yup looks like a magnetic brake. Id replace it to be on the safe side. Im sure you can get a brake with the same bolt pattern. I used to deal with those types of brakes pretty regularly when I worked in automation. They stick those on the back of large stepper motors a lot of times. Might be able to get one from thomson in charlotte or something.
 
Got it unloaded today.

Don't mind the harbor freight web straps....it was almost balanced on the chains on the main crossbar. The straps might have a couple hundred pounds on both of them together.

A full ton of iron hanging 3 foot in the air will make you draw up a little.

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...and yer missing half the tiller handle, the belly reverse looks to be missing as well.

Yep...Can make a new handle OK. Belly switch is there (looks like it's missing a cover) but the switch is jammed and won't move. Easy fix.

90% chance this is just going to be stationary to get stuff up to my (future) storage loft.
 
Nice. I had a feeling that it might work out something like this...at least the business end of it works! I'd be way more concerned if it would drive but not lift. That said, I'd be tempted to pull that brake assembly off and give it a good sandblasting and see where that takes you.
 
Update...Finally got a chance today to dig into this.

Soaked the brake with PB, worked some thin wedges in, and finally got the plates moving. But, they won't release. There had been a nice mouse nest right on top of the control panel, and mouse piss ate up the control board for the brake.

Spent most of the time chasing wiring gremlins. Not simple, because all the control wires are white and unlabeled. Mostly all the safety switches were bad. The belly switch was stuck, got it freed up, but it always had continuity -- the leads were attached to the N.O. contacts, so I just disconnected the wire on one side. There was debris jamming the tilt switch on the control arm keeping it from working (the arm automatically returns to an upright position. If it's all the way upright, the safety switch locks out the controls.)

When I give it power, all the contactors (3 for the motor) click in, so I'm close.

I think tomorrow, time allowing, I will put power straight to the brake and see if it will release under power. If that works, I can just rig a manual control switch for the brake. If not, then pull the control and relay board off so I can pull the brake off the motor.
 
Change of directions.....decided to put in another conex container or two instead of building a loft, so I am not going to use this. Passing it along to whoever wants it. I got it Free, so putting as in freebies section.

@Roughshod
 
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