Forklift Engines
Forklifts are classified as vehicles with small engines, the same category wherein lawnmowers are classed. Forklift engines all follow the principles of internal combustion. Different forklift brand names and models would have varying engine design and layout. Forklifts are made more toward producing high torque rather than for speed. They normally are geared to low speeds. The engine powers the forklift's drive wheels. The engine is also required to lift and lower the forks through a series of chain pulleys. The majority of modern forklift engines are fueled by propane because they will be used indoors, where gasoline and diesel engines will be unsuitable due to the exhaust they create.
Typically, the lift truck is a four-cylinder engine-block. Forklift engines are like automobile engines as they contain pistons connecting to a camshaft. Every cylinder head consists of an intake hatch, an exhaust hatch and a spark plug, each of them spring-loaded and one-way.
Engine Function
When the operator starts up the forklift engine, propane passes through the opened throttle-plate in a fine spray and mixes with air that comes from the mass air intake before moving into the head intake hatches of the cylinder. Each and every one of the four pistons is staggered to rise in an exact sequence, compressing the mixture of air and propane as every piston rises to the top of the head. With really exact timing, the battery and alternator of the engine produce an electrical current which passes through the spark plug. The fuel ignites resulting in an explosion that drives the piston back down to the bottom of the cylinder, leading to a continuous turning of the camshaft. In the cylinder, an air pressure imbalance causes the the exhaust hatch to draw out exhaust when more fuel passes into the cylinder. Propane burns cleaner compared to gasoline and diesel and the exhaust is not as harmful.