Forklift alternatives

I am at the point of using Gaylord containers for stuff now and not having a forklift is a pain. I am not ready to spend the money on that yet though. What are some alternatives y'all are using?



I have thought about overhead hoists, tommy lift, engine hoists.

any other ideas?


Also what would a cheap forklift cost? is craigslist the best place to start looking?

thanks,
B

a pallet jack?

I got one at a scrap yard close to me for $28 total. Just let them know you want one an they will put it off to the side...just check it out an make sure it over all works. If the lift dose not lift...it could be just a simple thing as adding oil an or changing out some seales

Yes definitely need one of those, but how would you load gaylords on truck or trailer?

I was just looking into this myself because even a small forklift weighs a couple tons so its hard to transport and I have a pallet jack but its still not easy to load stuff onto the trailer.
I found this high lift pallet jack it lifts a ton about 2 1/2 ft and there are others that lift more but cost a lot more. http://www.amazon.com/HERCULES-Manua...1121459&sr=1-1 it only weighs about 400 lbs so it is easy to transport

The way we are doing it at this time is no fun but hey...it works.

We will load a gaylord into the trailer an then empty the one into the other an then push the pallet back into the trailer an so on until we are fully loaded.

To unload a gaylord takes a few mins but it works pretty good.

If you have the room or space. You can build a ramp an use a cable winch to pull the pallet onto the trailer. The ramp needs to be long for it to work. I know someone who dose just that to load a 18 wheeler with a pallet jack.

I bought a forklift from Frito Lay for $400 bucks. Came with 2 batteries, of which both were on their way out, but still usable. Didn't come with a charger though. Looked those up and they were more than I wanted to spend so I sold it.

dovebid.com is where you would look to find one if interested.

At the moment I am using dads skidsteer with a fork attachment. Only load it couldn't lift was one forklift battery.

I got lucky. For $200, I found a 4500# gas powered lift that needed a tune up and some steering work.

Originally Posted by c4f5

I got lucky. For $200, I found a 4500# gas powered lift that needed a tune up and some steering work.

Nice find.

Originally Posted by c4f5

I got lucky. For $200, I found a 4500# gas powered lift that needed a tune up and some steering work.

Yea, that's what I am looking for, I think.

What you can do is make a poor mans loading dock.. I just heard about this tip the the other day from a friend..

What you do is find someone who has an old box truck they are parting out - people often sell the boxes for storage and are left with the lift gate. Take that lift gate and weld together some bracing/frame for it so that it can sit on the ground and still operate (design the base so you can move it around with your pallet jack).. Now all you need is a 12v battery to operate it up and down. This way you can get pallets up and down onto the truck!

Would that be a lift gate off an F700 Box Truck, WoodmanYoel?

sounds like its time to put out a bunch of ads for fork lift recycling, cash paid you might get a call for one with a little cummins in it. i broke my axle on my sled trailer few yeas ago so i advertised tent trailer recycling and and two weeks went by and nothing then had 3 calls in one day. 3 sweet tent trailer frames cost me 100 bucks before fuel.

Something to look into for those that are interested...look at pallet stackers. These are not self propelled, and sometimes have width restrictions on pallet sizes, but there are ways to work around that.

I have a Big Joe pallet stacker, but only can lift 36" wide pallets. I use 4x4s as stands for pallets if I need to load from ground level. It has a capacity of 2000 lbs, 12 foot lift height, and is compact. You can find these if you're looking for $500-1000 usually.

Originally Posted by spinroch

Would that be a lift gate off an F700 Box Truck, WoodmanYoel?

Hahahaha maybe =P - Glad to see you made an appearance!