On Sat, 29 Oct 2011 22:37:47 -0500, Ignoramus22285
wrote:
On 2011-10-30, Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote:
Ignoramus22285 wrote:

Karl, try this link:
http://igor.chudov.com/misc/ebay/tmp...1/564.JPG.html
This is an outdoor forklift. Right?

Well, kinda sorta...

This:
http://blog.ringpower.com/post/Manit...Forklifts.aspx
is an outdoor forklift.

No, that is a rough terrain forklift.

An outdoor forklift with pneumatic tires can operate on gravel, which
is what I have.

A pneumatic tire forklift might be able to work outdoors, but it's
going to be a battle to do it, and the area needs to be scraped clean
first.

Like they said, the counterweight on the back is going to mess up
your traction with the drive axle under the forks, unless you find a
4-Wheel Drive forklift (not likely) or put a big weight behind the
snow-blower assembly. They have a hard time going creep slow for very
long. And the forklift hydraulic pump doesn't have the sheer GPM
volume to run a snow blower system

Unless that gravel is deep and well-packed the tire point loading on
that "outdoor" forklift is still far too high and the tractive effort
not enough to keep moving. That's why they make the Rough Surface
forklifts.

Not to mention you should NEVER snow-blow a gravel surface unless you
like paying off damage claims - Car paint jobs wrecked and window
glass blown out, broken windows on nearby buildings... Get the areas
you want to snow blow paved before you start flinging it around.

What you want for a gravel lot is some sort of a Wheel Loader or a
Backhoe Tractor with a nice loader bucket on the front. Or a regular
utility tractor with a Gannon box scraper on the back.

Tip the bucket forward and use it as a plow blade to scrape the snow
into a pile, or use the Gannon to scrape the layer of snow off the top
of the gravel surface. Scoop up the pile of collected snow (and
gravel) with the loader bucket and go dump it in the back corners of
the parking lot. Repeat as needed.

If it's a really deep snow storm, go get a tilt-bed Dump Trailer or a
real Dump Truck for the day. You load it with the tractor and your
assistant runs around back to the snow pile and dumps it. When it's
all back there, then you can take the tractor and stack it better.

After the spring thaw, you'll have a nice pile of gravel in the back
of the lot to spread around as needed.

When you get the parking lot all paved, THEN you can take the bucket
off the front of the tractor and mount a snow blower. They usually
have a large enough hydraulic system to run one, and low enough
forward gearing to make use of it.

But you need places to throw the snow TO - in an industrial situation
like yours there may not be a vacant lot next door to toss it into.

-- Bruce --