The Problem: A manufacturer of plastic drainage pipe used forklift probe attachments to handle products weighing up to 1500 LB. Various forklift probes were built in-house. These probes were mounted on to diesel-powered forklifts and were used to spear products in outdoor storage yards for moving and stacking operations. Due to the harsh yard conditions, the probes were under severe metal fatigue from bouncing and flexing during load handling. It was common for the attachments to break at the welds or bend under severe loads. The company was concerned about insurance liability in the event of a workplace injury and sought engineered products that were designed specifically for their applications.

The Solution: A variety of forklift attachments were sourced from Engineered Lifting Systems & Equipment Inc. Basis for the attachments’ designs include structural analysis factoring in deflection of the booms under load. An important feature was the probe mounting clamp design which removed the stress concentrations caused by welding and allowed for easy probe replacement. Other features include reinforced fork pockets and replaceable tie-back chains to forklift carriage.