Lift truck Engines
Forklifts are classified as small-engine vehicles. Forklift engines all follow the principles of internal combustion, while the numerous models and makes of lift truck will have a different design and layout. Forklifts are made more toward producing high torque than for speed. They normally are geared to low speeds. The engine powers the drive wheels of the forklift. The engine is also needed to lower and lift the forks through a series of chain pulleys. Most forklift engines that are modern are powered by propane as they will be used for indoor applications, where gasoline and diesel engines will be unsuitable due to the exhaust they make.
Typically, the lift truck is a four-cylinder engine-block. The engines of the forklift are like car engines as they contain pistons connecting to a camshaft. The head of each and every cylinder consists of an exhaust hatch, a spark plug and an exhaust hatch, each of them one-way and spring-loaded.
Engine Function
Propane passes through the opened throttle-plate in a fine spray, when the driver starts up the forklift engine. This fine spray mixes together with air coming from the mass air intake prior to moving into the head intake hatches of the cylinder. Each one of the four pistons is staggered to rise in a precise sequence, that compresses the mixture of air and propane as every piston rises to the top of the head. With extremely exact timing, the battery and alternator of the engine produce an electrical current which passes through the spark plug. The fuel ignites causing an explosion that drives the piston back down to the bottom of the cylinder, causing a continuous turning of the camshaft. An air pressure imbalance in the cylinder causes the exhaust to be drawn out through the exhaust hatch as more fuel passes into the cylinder. Propane burns a lot cleaner compared to diesel and gasoline and the exhaust is not as harmful.