When I was I little boy, I thought the pallet trucks they used around the grocery store were the coolest toys. Now that I’m older and my dreams of being a stock boy have been crushed, I still think they’re pretty neat. You can buy your aspiring little stock boy or girl his or her very own pallet truck from Northern Tool for $190.
Whichever foreign manufacturer built this pallet truck made the forks of 11ga reinforced steel and welded all the joints — which means this pallet truck should stand up to it’s 4,400lb capacity rating. The forks extend 48″ and are spaced 27″ apart. The truck rolls on 6-5/16″ diameter rear wheels and 2-3/4″ polyurethane wheels under the forks.
The handle works in three positions: lifting, neutral, and lowering. It only pumps the forks three inches high, but you only need to lift a pallet enough to move it — stacking pallets is best left to fork lifts.
One final thought: You have to wonder how bad these things leak when they put a line like “reliable leak-proof oil hydraulic system” in the description.
Pallet Truck [Northern Tool]
Via Amazon(B000HD4M22) [What’s This?]
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5 Responses to Own Your Own Pallet Truck
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I prefer one with 4 wheel drive, and the ability to lift a bit higher.
http://www.jlg.com/en-US/Model.html?BaseProductLineNodeId=c662180a-b3fa-45f8-b066-07980981e2ba&ProductLineNodeId=1c1d646a-b121-4b9a-ae94-76d4cae85da4&GroupProductLineNodeId=80b5517a-0af7-479b-a3f3-9618d495523d&ModelId=d39ed982-9f74-42b2-81c3-5f63db0f01d2&ProductRootMenuId=d39badf6-70c2-4fa3-a03c-268cb1f085d7
although the small ones are handy for moving light stuff around the shop.
pallet jacks are usually easily found used on ebay, craigslist and bunches of other places. They do get beat up, but they rarely actually *break*, which makes them an excellent candidate for used purchasing, IMO. I don’t own one yet, but that’s mostly because I can just nip down the hallway and borrow someone else’s. Someday I will move out of that space however and this item will get bumped up the list from “nice to have” to “must have”!
We’ve owned an old beat up one for years (bought at an auction). It’s great for moving heavy equipment around the shop.
I have bought a few cheaper pallet trucks over the years and they have never last and so now I buy from a credible shop and brand, touch wood I’ve never had any other problems.
Northern will not deliver to Alaska period…bummer.