Forklift attachments are a critical component in material handling; without them it would be impossible to move certain loads. However, attachments are often overlooked, leading to poorly planned operations and potential damage to goods, or worse still personal injury.
With there being so many different types of forklift attachments available, it’s vital you choose the correct type for your application as it can lead to safer handling, reduce product damage and increased productivity. We’ve put together a guide of some of the most common forklift attachments to help you make the right choice.
- Sideshifter
Side Shifters are one of the most common attachments used today. This attachment allows you to move a load from side to side, so you can make small adjustments to the alignment of the pallet, without manoeuvring the entire forklift.
Benefits:
– Reduced fuel and pallet damage
– Faster loading of pallet
– Improve Warehouse Space Utilisation
Typical Industries:
– Agriculture
– Paper handling
– Construction
– Food and beverage - Fork Positioner
Fork Positioners allows the forklift forks to be positioned hydraulically. They are particularly useful when the width of the load change constantly, allowing the operator to align forks with pallets faster for more effective handling.
Benefits:
– Increase productivity
– No manual adjustment of forks
– Reduced pallet damage
– Improved load handling times
Typical Industries:
– Distribution
– Warehousing
– Food manufacturing
– Pharmaceutical - Paper Clamps
Paper roll attachments enable you to increase productivity in your paper handling operations, whilst leaving your roll damage free. Designed with maximum efficiency in mind, these attachments are commonly used in the paper and printing handling industry and is suitable for different types of machines.
Benefits
– Reduces damage of paper rolls
– Increased handling times
– Paper handling 180° or 360° rotation
– Damage reduction systems available
Typical Industries:
– Paper - Push/Pull Attachment
The Push Pull attachment provides a cost-effective solution, whereby standard wooden or plastic pallets are substituted by an inexpensive slip sheet, increasing shipping volume. The attachment is connected to a conventional fork lift truck and can be swiftly disconnected to return to handling pallets.
Benefits:
– Fast removal and installation; with no need to remove forks
– Allows easy handling of goods with slip sheets
– Slip sheets reduce packaging weight
– Fork mounted units available – Can be removed in minutes to use as a conventional FLT
Typical Industries
– Beverage
– Bagged goods
– Food - Multiple Pallet Handler
Multiple Load Handlers are used to handle both a single pallet, or the forks can be spread hydraulically to lift, carry and side shift multiple pallets side by side. This versatile attachment can navigate through narrow aisles, whilst boosting material handling efficiency by taking fewer trips to get the job done.
Benefits:
– Doubles handling capacity of pallets
– Reduces loading & unloading times
– Reduces the amount of required truck manoeuvres
Typical Industries
– Bottling
– Brewing
– Warehouse
– Shipping - Fork Extensions
Need to get a little extra length on the forks of your lift truck? Fork extension sleeves are designed to provide a simple, but effective method of handling the occasional long and awkward load that extends past the tips of the parent fork arm.
Benefits
– Offers stability and safe handling of various loads
– Retain truck manoeuvrability in normal operating conditions
Typical Industries
– Warehouse
– Shops
– Shipping
– Factories - Rotators
This extremely useful attachment allows you to rotate the forks 360° in a revolving motion, safely and efficiently when moving loads. Best used for inverting and dumping loads, it helps to improve productivity and greatly limit downtime.
Benefits
– Quickly inverts a load and returns forks to upright position in one continuous motion
Typical Industries
– Waste / Recycling
– Food processing
– Agriculture
– Food and beverage
Fork Positioners
Allows operators to hydraulically move forklift carriage and tynes left to right to precisely align loads.
Forklift Extension Slippers
Slippers that are installed over a forklifts existing tynes to provide extra length to handle long loads.
Forklift Slip on Jib
Metal jib that fits over a forklifts tynes that allow safe and easy hook-up of non-palletised loads to be transported.
Bale Clamp
Hydraulically controlled clamp attachment that allows a forklift to safely and efficiently lift cylindrical bales of good including cotton, textiles, scrap metal and wool.
Paper Roll Clamp
Designed specifically for the paper industry this hydraulically controlled clamp allows the safe and efficient lifting and transport of bales of paper with minimal damage to product.
Rotating Clamp
Clamp attachment that allows forklifts to lift and rotate loads up to 360 degrees.
Forward Bin Tipper
Hydraulically controlled bin tipping attachment that allows a forklift to lift and transport loads whilst being able to safely empty bulk loads via tipping the bin forward.
180 degree Bin Tipper
Hydraulically controlled bin tipping attachment that allows a forklift to lift and transport loads whilst being able to safely empty bulk loads via tipping the bin forward.
180 and 360 Degree Rotators
Attachment that allows forklifts to safely pick-up, transport and rotate loads anywhere from 180 to 360 degrees.
Carpet Pole
Attachment specifically designed to allow lengths of carpet or other textiles to be wrapped around the central pole for safe transport via a forklift.
Push/Pull
Towbar attachment that when installed allows a forklift to move trailers or similar equipment safely.
Safety Cages
Safety cages that when fitted to a forklifts tynes can safely raise up one occupant, tools and supplies to complete work at height.
Huamai offer a wide range of high quality forklift attachments to greatly increase a unit’s versatility and productivity whilst also increasing safety.
