Forklift forks are available in a wide variety of styles, lengths, and "specific to application" types.
The basic inspection is pretty much the same across the board, you should be looking for:
- Cracks, bends, dents, etc. specifically at the weldments, the bend of the fork and the beginning of the taper - which in my experience is the usual point where breakage occurs.
- Gouges and bent tips - it takes surprisingly little to cause pallet loading/unloading issues with damaged fork tips.
- Check the adjustment pins, make sure the handles or knobs are in place and the pin securely locks the fork into place.
- On forklifts with fork positioners, check the mounting to the cylinder for tightness, check the carriage track and the fork hooks for smooth operation, alignment, etc.
- Check the underside of the forks for signs of dragging on the ground.
The number one cause of fork wear I have encountered is from dragging forks on the ground. This causes the forks to grind and loose thickness. OSHA standards only allow for 10% wear of the fork, measured against the thickness of the carriage side thickness (#1 measured against #2 in picture below, typical Industrial Truck Association "hook" style forks). Two ways to prevent this: Train operators to keep the forks up (4" - 6" off the floor) while operating the lift truck. In some cases, it is possible to adjust the carriage to ride higher at the full lower position, also check your drive (front) tires for wear vs. ride height.
Forks come in many sizes and tapers, also custom sizes are available from several manufacturers, so if your loading situation is not working an adjustment in length may help.
Remember the truck rating for load center applies regardless of fork length, also true for fork extensions - which I will cover next month with other attachments.
Thank you, as always I welcome any input on this topic!
Tom Kassen
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