Finding The Best Forklift for Your Needs

Pulling off an expert job that achieves the result you’re looking for means that selecting the best equipment for your needs is a vital step. Finding the best forklift for your needs requires you to take into account several key elements such as cost, functionality, productivity, and safety. In this guide, we’ll be outlining a few tips and resources that are invaluable when choosing a forklift that’s right for you.  

Why Is It Important to Choose the Right Forklift?

A few factors to consider before making you choice:

Environment: Where your site is located will affect the type of terrain the forklift will be expected to traverse. The quality and topography of the ground will therefore influence which make and model of forklift will traverse the ground best. If intended for inside use, things like the roof height and width of doorways must also be considered.

Capacity and dimensions: Work out the maximum load weight and load width the forklift will need to handle, and also the maximum height that the fork will need to reach. Once you’ve generated these rough figures, it will be far easier to shop around and find the most suitable machine for you.

Fuel type: Three different fuel options are available to buyers. Electric forklifts have a higher initial cost, but are cheaper to upkeep, boast a greater longevity and produce zero emissions. Gas or diesel forklifts have a cheaper initial cost but have a higher fuel consumption, and will produce emissions.

Tyres: The sort of tyre you choose for your forklift will affect both the safety of operation and ease of handling. To get advice on which tyre is best for your needs, get in touch with an expert from a reputable company, such as East Midlands Forklifts.

New or used?: Answering this question will depend on how often your forklift will be used. If it will be in operation for just a few hours every day, you could go with the more economical choice of a used forklift. However, if your forklift is likely to undergo many hours of daily rigour, it will be far more beneficial to invest in a new model. Here at East Midlands Forklifts, we offer a range of both used and new machines for our customers to choose from.  

Try Our Buying Guide

For further help choosing the right forklift, check out our detailed Buying Guide. Here we cover a comprehensive list of forklift features that you should consider before making your purchase, including lights, steering, engine, test driving, inspections, and much more.

Browse Through Some of Our FAQs

If you still have burning questions, our specialists have also compiled an exhaustive list of the most frequently asked questions that we hear as a company.

Still Not Sure? Ask Us!

If you’re still not sure how to proceed, simply call our friendly team for some advice. Here at East Midlands Forklifts, we pride ourselves on offering a wide selection of machines to suit the needs of each and every customer. This tailored approach has earned us a strong reputation as premier providers of new and used forklifts across the East Midlands area, including Birmingham, Nottingham and Derby.