The Wide Application and Principle Analysis of Manual Hydraulic Forklifts

1、 Application scenario: Covering core transportation needs across multiple industries

Manual hydraulic forklifts, with their low cost, high flexibility, and ease of use, have become core handling tools in fields such as warehousing and logistics, manufacturing, and retail stores

Warehouse logistics

In the warehouse, manual hydraulic forklifts can flexibly shuttle between shelves to complete cargo loading, unloading, stacking, and short distance handling. Its narrow channel operation capability (such as completing standard pallet turning within a 1.8-meter wide channel) significantly improves space utilization, and when combined with pallets, achieves modular transportation, reduces cargo collisions and stacking areas, and increases work efficiency by more than 30%.

Typical case: A certain e-commerce warehouse reduced the turnover time of goods from 15 minutes per pallet to 8 minutes by introducing manual hydraulic forklifts, resulting in a 40% reduction in labor costs.

Manufacturing

On the production line, manual hydraulic forklifts are used for inter process handling of raw materials, semi-finished products, and finished products. Its instant response capability (without the need for charging or preheating) ensures continuous operation of the production line, avoiding downtime losses caused by equipment failures.

Data support: According to statistics from a certain automotive parts factory, the delay rate of material handling on the production line has decreased from 12% to 3% after using manual hydraulic forklifts.

Supermarket Retail

In supermarkets and shopping malls, manual hydraulic forklifts are used for shelf restocking, product sorting, and transportation from back-end warehouses to sales areas. Its lightweight design (with a weight of only 82kg) and low noise characteristics (<65dB) are perfectly adapted to retail environments, while reducing cargo damage (reducing fragile item breakage rate by 50%).

User feedback: The manager of a certain chain supermarket said, "Manual hydraulic forklifts allow employees to operate with one hand, doubling the efficiency of handling large boxes of goods without the need for professional training

Special Scene

Fire and explosion prevention locations: Manual hydraulic forklifts produce no sparks or electromagnetic fields, suitable for flammable and explosive environments such as oil depots and chemical warehouses, with a safety factor three times higher than electric forklifts.

Low temperature environment: using antifreeze hydraulic oil and low temperature resistant materials (such as polyurethane tires), it can work normally in an environment of -30 ℃, meeting the needs of cold chain logistics.

Cleanroom: The all stainless steel chassis and enclosed fork tip design (such as the Junhengli AMX I15 series) prevent residual pollutants and comply with hygiene standards in the pharmaceutical and food processing industries.

2、 Working principle: Hydraulic transmission achieves power doubling

The core of a manual hydraulic forklift is the hydraulic system, which converts human labor into lifting force through a "liquid relay race":

power part

The operator drives the plunger pump or gear pump to work by reciprocating the handle up and down. The rotation of the plunger or gear inside the pump converts mechanical energy into hydraulic energy, producing high-pressure oil (pressure can reach 10-20MPa).

Comparative example: A manual pump can generate a force of about 500N once, while after amplification by the hydraulic system, the fork can lift 1.5 tons of cargo, with a force amplification factor of over 3000 times.

Executive part

High pressure oil enters the hydraulic cylinder through the oil pipe, pushing the piston to make linear motion. The piston is connected to the fork to achieve the lifting and lowering of goods (the lifting height is usually 85-205mm).

Structural optimization: Some models (such as AMX I15) adopt a single pump pressure full stroke lifting design, reducing the number of operations by 50% and labor intensity by 30%.

controller

Pressure control valve: When the system pressure exceeds the set value (such as 1.65MPa), it automatically releases pressure to prevent overload damage.

Flow control valve: regulates the oil flow rate, controls the lifting speed of the fork (such as 0.1-0.3m/s), and adapts to different operational needs.

Directional control valve: determines the direction of oil flow and switches the fork up, down, or at rest.

Auxiliary Section

Pipeline and oil tank: Transport and store hydraulic oil (usually 3-5L capacity) to ensure continuous operation of the system.

Filter: Filter impurities (particle size<10 μ m) in the oil to prevent wear on the valve body and cylinder, extending the service life to more than 5 years.

Sealing components: O-rings and dust seals are used to prevent oil leakage (leakage rate<0.1ml/min) and maintain system efficiency.

3、 Advantage analysis: a perfect balance between economy and practicality

Manual hydraulic forklifts demonstrate irreplaceable value in multiple dimensions:

cost advantage

The procurement cost is only 1/5-1/10 of that of electric forklifts (manual hydraulic forklifts cost about 2000-5000 yuan, electric forklifts cost about 20000 to 50000 yuan).

60% reduction in maintenance costs: No need to replace batteries, motors, or complex electronic components, only need to regularly replace hydraulic oil and seals (annual maintenance cost of about 200 yuan).

operating flexibility

The turning radius is small (minimum 1.2 meters), allowing for free operation in narrow spaces (such as shelf spacing of 1.5 meters).

No need for professional training: New employees can master basic operations in 10 minutes, and the training cost is close to zero.

Environmental protection and energy saving

Zero emissions: does not consume electricity or fuel, with an annual carbon reduction of approximately 0.5 tons (calculated based on working 4 hours per day).

Low noise: The operating noise is less than 65dB, meeting the environmental protection requirements for indoor operations.

reliability

Low failure rate: no electronic components, simple mechanical structure, mean time between failures (MTBF) exceeding 5000 hours.

Strong durability: using high-strength steel (such as Q345B) and heat treatment process, the service life can reach 8-10 years.

4、 Future Trends: Intelligent and Modular Upgrades

Despite the maturity of manual hydraulic forklift technology, it still maintains competitiveness through innovation:

Intelligent transformation

Integrated sensors and IoT modules, real-time monitoring of load, oil temperature, and operating status, preventive maintenance to reduce downtime risks.

Example: A certain brand has launched an intelligent manual forklift, which uses an APP to remind maintenance cycles and has a fault prediction accuracy rate of 90%.

Modular design

The forks, hydraulic cylinders, and wheels can be replaced to adapt to different cargo sizes (such as long forks used for transporting pipelines) and ground conditions (such as polyurethane wheels used for anti slip surfaces).

Data: Modular design increases equipment reuse by 40% and reduces enterprise equipment investment costs.

Lightweight materials

Using aluminum alloy and composite materials (such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic), the self weight is reduced by 30% (minimum up to 50kg) while maintaining the rated load (1.5-2 tons).

Benefit: The proportion of female operators has increased from 10% to 35%, and the manpower allocation is more flexible.

The main equipment produced by Hebei Makita: stage electric hoist, electric chian hoist, wire rope electric hoist，Hand chain hoist, lever hoist, pneumatic hoist and other lifting equipment