Moving Mast Reach Trucks vs. Pantograph Reach Trucks
What is the difference in the two reach trucks? Do you know which of the two is safer, reliable and durable?
MOVING MAST REACH TRUCKS
A Moving Mast Reach Truck uses a hydraulic system; based on rails that allow the entire mast to move forward to extend the load without losing the load center. A moving mast reach truck’s key advantage is that it has less mechanical moving parts with the load center of gravity always being closest to the mast. As any mechanical engineer knows, fewer moving parts always mean less failure rate or and binding. These trucks come standard with larger-diameter wheels giving them greater ground clearance, often enabling them to operate dockside as well as in narrow aisles.
PANTOGRAPH REACH TRUCKS
A Pantograph Reach Truck uses a scissor design reach mechanism to extend the lifting forks forward and further away from the mast and center of gravity from the counterbalance of the equipment. These reach trucks are designed to drive into the racking to load pallets therefore racking configurations must be arranged to have no bar on the bottom level with bottom pallets being loaded directly onto the floor. It is also important to note that pantograph reach trucks have a more mechanical moving parts with higher rates of binding and failure.
Think about it for a second. What happens if your pantograph reach truck’s mechanism fails with a 2000lbs. load, lifted up at 15 feet high? Yikes, that is a catastrophe waiting to happen. I don’t believe the rest of the world could be wrong on the mechanics of the two.
Why the rest of the world uses Moving Mast Reach Trucks is evident from the above facts of being safer, with less failure rate, less mechanical moving parts and with more reliability. It’s fundamentals of physics.
Do the best thing for the safety of your employees, co-workers, friends, family and customers.