What Is a Pallet Truck | Different Types of Pallet Trucks
What Is a Pallet Truck?
Pallet trucks, often known as “pallet jacks” or “pallet pumps,” are trolleys for lifting and transporting pallets. The truck’s tapered forks fit under the pallet, allowing the pump handle to be utilised to raise and lower the weight.
They can help automate tedious, repetitive manual activities in warehouses, allowing a many-person operation to be reduced to a single person’s work.
However, there are numerous variants of pallet truck available, each with its own set of advantages and uses.
Types of Pallet Truck
There are many different types of pallet truck available to suit all sorts of different requirements, including: High lift pallet trucks, low profile pallet trucks, mini pallet trucks, and more. But all in all, they can be categorised into these main categories:
(1) Manual Pallet Truck
Manual pallet trucks are the most basic and most frequent kind of pallet truck. The typical fork dimensions of a manual pallet truck are 27″ X 48″.
A hand pallet truck, such as this heavy-duty hand pallet truck, is most often used to manually lift and transport loads of up to 2500 kg.
The handle is used to pump or hydraulically lift the forks once they are placed on a pallet, raising and transporting the pallet-loaded product to its intended destination.
(2) Electric Pallet Trucks
An electric pallet truck is commonly used for high-end constructions and automates much of the labour associated with transporting freight.
Electric pallet jacks, also known as electric pallet trucks, walkies, or power jack, are motorized to enable lifting and transporting of heavier and stacked pallets. The powered pallet jack is generally pushed by a throttle on the handle to move ahead or backwards, and it is steered using the handle.
(3) High-Lift pallet Trucks
A high-lift pallet truck is typically utilised to lift objects much higher than a standard pallet truck while also functioning as a lifting table and workbench.
Pallet trucks with a highlift feature can transport pallets and raise them to an ergonomic working height for manual loading or unloading of goods. When the pallet is raised to a working height, the clever design immobilizes the unit.
(4) Weigh-Scale Pallet Truck:
Weigh-scale pallet trucks that weigh-scale can be used to weigh anything up to a certain amount, as well as give the efficiency and function of a normal pallet truck.
These pallet trucks come with built-in weighing scales that you can use to identify the weight of the load you’re shifting.
How To Use a Pallet Truck
In order to move a load using a pallet truck, you must first place that load on a pallet and secure it using suitable load restraint products (e.g. lashing straps).
Once your load has been restrained, you can manoeuvre your pallet truck into place, sliding the forks into the gaps provided for this purpose. You can then use the truck’s pump-action handle to raise the pallet up off the ground – watch this video to see how that works.
Pallet pump trucks make it easy to move loads around your premises while eliminating many of the risks associated with heavy lifting. Remember, if you need to move pallets across rough terrains, there are special all-terrain pallet trucks available for this purpose.
Pallet trucks have a wide range of uses, and that for each position you may need a specific type of pallet truck. If you want to minimise the amount of labor in your job, you can purchase an electric pallet truck. You may contact us to learn more about our complete line of pallet trucks.