Truck Structure and Stability
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To safely operate the lift truck it is important to understand the structure and stability
of the lift truck.
Load and Truck Stability
The stability of the lift truck is like that of
a seesaw, where stacked load and rear
tire load are balanced while the front tire
works like a support point in a seesaw.
If the load center of the stack is far from the
front tires, the load that can be stacked will
decrease. Thus, always take care to the
center, and make sure that the balance is
not shifted. If a load exceeding the balance
is stacked, the safety of the work will be
obstructed.
Center of Gravity
The stability of the lift truck is determined by
the combined center of gravity position of the
lift truck’s center of gravity and load’s center
of gravity.
When there is no load, only the lift truck’s
center of gravity is used, and when a load is
stacked, the combined center of gravity of
the lift truck and load will be used.
The load’s center of gravity will differ accord-
ing to whether the mast is tilted forward or
backward, the mast is raised or lowered, and
thus, the combined center of gravity will also
change.
Front tire
Rear tire
Load weight
Support point
Rear tire weight
Load
Load CG
Load CG
Combined CG
Combined CG
Truck CG
Truck CG