How to service a forklift

When it comes to servicing forklifts, it’s essential that you get a qualified person to carry out the service and any subsequent maintenance required. This not only ensures that everything is done correctly, but that you are in compliance with all insurance and regulations. At Fork Truck Direct, we have a highly experienced, qualified team who can carry out the service for you, giving you the peace of mind that everything is in order. Or, if you have qualified personnel who can safely carry out the service in-house, we can provide all the spare parts and advice you need.

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Important things to remember when servicing your forklift

If you decide to carry out the forklift service yourself, here are a few important things to remember:

1) It’s important that the person carrying out the service wears the correct PPE (personal protective equipment), e.g safety goggles, rubber boots and gloves are absolutely essential if you’re working with lead-acid batteries
2) Before you start, remember to:
a. Disconnect all batteries
b. Switch off the tank fuel valve
c. Run the engine until it halts
d. Detach the tank from the hose
e. Check the operator’s daily checklist
3) For safety, make sure the forklift is firmly blocked when detaching its wheels and remove the forklift’s hood before carrying out any work.
4) Before removing the counterweight from a forklift, attach it to a chain hoist
5) Inspect the bolts joining the counterweight and the body of the forklift, replacing any that appear to be damaged or absent.
6) The following should be inspected by magnetic particle inspection (MCI):
1. The mast welds and forks
2. All hoses, connections and fittings to cylinders and the tilt control system

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Remember not to:

• Start the engine if the forklift is on a lift hoist
• Work beneath elevated forks or trucks unless they are securely supported by blocks
• Run gas, LPG or diesel forklifts in unventilated areas

Remember to use quality parts

At Fork Truck Direct, we supply quality forklift parts at very competitive prices for most makes of forklift trucks such as Combilift, Doosan, Toyota, BT Rolatruc and Narrow Aisle Flexi. For any parts we don’t have in stock, we will receive 93% within only 24 hours of ordering, which means our valued customers have minimal delays in getting their forklifts fixed and up and running.

Let Fork Truck Direct do your service for you

If you decide servicing your forklift truck in-house isn’t for you, then our expert team is on hand to help. We carefully recruit our field service engineers for their technical ability, experience and communicative skills. This, together with complete product training, means you can be rest assured your equipment is in safe hands. And remember – we respond to all service calls within an average of less than 3 hours!

We record all service work we carry out electronically on our Service Management System. You will be given a unique username and password to access the system where you can view all of the service and job history for each forklift you have, whenever it suits you – giving complete transparency of everything we do!

With Health & Safety and compliance becoming ever more important in all business sectors, this system is the perfect way to provide all the data and support information necessary, at the click of a button.

So, whether you carry out the service yourself and require the right, quality parts, or you would like us to look after the full thing, get in touch today. Call us on 01245 322252 or email sales@forktruckdirect.ltd.uk