Load Centres: What You Need To Know
When operating a forklift, the forklift’s lift capacity is one of the most important aspects to understand to help ensure both product and employee safety. With each forklift only being able to lift a certain weight, it is important that all operators understand what that capacity is and the weight of the product they are lifting. Regarding these considerations, the term load centre is often associated with the two. In this article, we will examine what load centres are and what considerations need to be made regarding them.
What Are Load Centres?
A load centre, as the name suggests, is the central point of any product being lifted by a forklift. A load centre is the weight of the product being lifted at its central point. This weight is important to know as it will determine how heavy the product is at its central point and will determine whether a forklift can lift the product. While a forklift does have a designated lift capacity, this capacity will reduce as the tynes are raised. Most forklifts will lift the nominal capacity up to 3m without any loss of lifting capacity, although this is not valid for all forklifts. The higher the lift height, the lower the lift capacity of the forklift. Please refer to the manufacturer’s specification rating plate for the correct lift capacity at a nominal lift height as listed. How this relates to the load centre is that the customer needs to understand what height they will need to reach with their products so that they can ensure the forklift will have a large enough lift capacity to handle the load centre at that height. You can find more information on Forklift Lift Heights by following the highlighted link.
How Do Load Centres Affect My Forklift?
Every forklift has a counterbalance built into them, which helps to balance the forklift out as a load is picked up. This counterbalance weighs the forklift down so that once the tynes are raised and a product is lifted, the rest of the forklift will not just become top heavy and fall forwards with the load. The same can occur with the load centre of a product. If the load centre does not match the rated capacity of the forklift at a certain height, the load may begin to tip forward and fall off, or if heavy enough, may even cause the forklift to come with it as well. It is therefore important to understand the load centre of the forklift to reduce any chances of the forklift tipping over or product falling off.
It is important for customers to understand what lift heights and product weights they will be dealing with when looking to buy a forklift. As explained in this article, the load centre can cause damage to products and employees if not properly understood as it can cause the forklift to topple over or damage the product. As always, it is important to discuss what lift heights and lift capacities you will be needing with your salesman before committing to a sale. They will be able to run through what options are available to you and what capacity you will likely need to reach your goal.