Caterpillar Forklift Trucks
69Caterpillar Class IV- Internal Combustion Cushion Tire Trucks are made in a joint manufacturing facility in Texas. Class IV-Internal Combustion Tire trucks come in various lift capacities ranging from 3,000 pounds on the small side all the way to 15,500 lb capacity forklifts. If you are looking to purchase a cat lift truck you can look on their website for a dealer, or you can call customer service for more information. The best phone number to reach the Cat lift truck dealer network is 800-Cat-Lift.
The term internal combustion means that is has diesel motor. Part of the reason you should consider a pneumatic tire forklift truck is because they have a greater over weight capacity compared to solid wheel forklift trucks. There are many different features which make Caterpillar trucks a good potential buy. If you are looking for a truck in the 7,000-15,5000 capacity LP gas cushion tire machine, there are many options available in the Caterpillar lineup.
Caterpillar pneumatic tire lift trucks have full power steering. This feature reduces driver fatigue while operating forklift trucks during long extended shifts. By reducing the amount of driving fatigue you can also mitigate the chances of accidents occurring from forklift rollovers, or issues which can result from the destruction of warehouse goods, or even bumping into pallet rack shelving which can cause an extreme amount of damage as well. There are other features in the Caterpillar forklift truck which can also reduce drive fatigue such as full suspension seats and a design which incorporates a full floating cab. This is important because it will isolate the forklift operator from having to feel excessive amounts of vibration while they are in the cabin of the lift truck.
Another greater feature of the Caterpillar forklift is how they mount the gauges in an easy to read cowl monted display panel. This panel has information such as your model number, service icons, etc. When Caterpillar designed their Class IV IC cushion trucks they also decided that they would mount the controls near your fingertips to reduce your reach for important featurs such as your horn and directional travel switch (i.e. turn signals).
This is a joint venture owned by Mitsubishi Caterpillar forklift America, Inc. They are consider to be a leader in the industry, and one of the largest makers of material handling equipment. The Houston MFCA facility is over 42 acres, and handles manufacturing (i.e. fabrication), shipping, distribution, final assembly along with the training center and headquarters as well. This joint facility makes forklifts for both the Caterpillar and Mitsubishi brand names.
Currently there are 178 forklift dealers (through the authorized channels). The total manufacturing capacity is 25,000 forklift units a year. MFCA makes various types of lifts which compete in the USA including large notable Forklift material handling machine makers such as Hyster, TCM, Yale, Clark, Crown, Toyota, Hyundai, Linde, Raymond, and Taylor (Big Red).
Caterpillar trucks are extremely reliable because of their design. They maximize efficiency by allowing two shifts with a single battery change. There are also five pre programmed performance settings which can let you adjust the machines to find your balance between battery life and over lift truck performance. Like all the other major competitors, Caterpillar forklift trucks have many different forklift part attachment options. This is extremely important depending on the type of warehouse environment which you may be working in. For example, having a side shifter is a great option because it allows you (the forklift operator) to be able to put loads in an optimal position without having to reposition the truck. Another great available option for the Caterpillar forklifts is known as the ground speed control. This option lets you limit the travel speed for safety and energy conversation while minimizing the impact on the overall machine performance. If you are going to use your truck on indoor flooring you may also want to purchase non-marking forklift wheels/tires.
There are many different financing options available when you are considering the purchase of a Caterpillar lift. For many companies it makes sense to acquire the equipment as an operating or capital equipment lease. You can do this with in-house forklift financing or you can also arrange financing through a third party provider.
The customer service and warranty for Caterpillar machines is pretty well set up for customer ease. One of the nice things about buying a Caterpillar lift truck is that they have an extremely wide USA dealer network, so that chances are you probably do not live very far away from a Caterpillar dealer. Larger dealers can also offer perks such as free forklift loaner trucks in certain scenarios. They offer your first two years of operation with an unlimited hours warranty. This is great if your forklift is being used in a heavy traffic environment. For the first 3 years there is also a 6000 operating hour powertrain warranty. This can be a good idea if you are considering the purchase of a diesel forklift truck. When you are buying your forklift, part of the way to control and contain your operating costs is by having a good forklift maintenance strategy in place. In smaller operations it will generally make sense to outsource all forklift MRO activities. In larger organizations it may be a better idea to perform your own maintenance. This gives you a wider flexibility of options especially if you need to obtain replacement parts. By purchasing used or refurbished parts you can save a great deal of money. Another great option is to also purchase non-oem forklift parts as well. In certain applications it is not going to really make a large difference if you purchase non original equipment forklift parts.
