Forklift Engines
Forklifts are classified as vehicles with small engines. Forklift engines all follow the principles of internal combustion, though the many makes and models of forklift would have a different design and layout. Forklifts are designed more toward generating high torque rather than for speed. They normally are geared to low speeds. The engine powers the drive wheels of the forklift. The engine is also needed to lower and raise the forks via a series of chain pulleys. Most forklift engines that are modern are fueled by propane because they will be used for indoor applications, where diesel and gasoline engines would be unsuitable because of the exhaust they create.
Normally, the lift truck is a four-cylinder engine-block. Forklift engines are like car engines because they hold pistons connecting to a camshaft. Every cylinder head consists of a spark plug, an intake hatch and an exhaust hatch, each of them one-way and spring-loaded.
Engine Function
Once the driver starts up the forklift engine, propane passes through the opened throttle-plate in a fine spray and mixes with air coming from the mass air intake before moving into the cylinder head intake hatches. Every one of the four pistons is staggered to rise in a precise sequence, that compresses the mixture of air and propane as each piston rises to the top of the head. With really precise timing, the engine's alternator and battery generate an electrical current which passes through the spark plug. The fuel ignites resulting in an explosion that drives the piston back down to the bottom of the cylinder, resulting in a continuous turning of the camshaft. In the cylinder, an air pressure imbalance causes the the exhaust hatch to draw out exhaust when more fuel passes into the cylinder. Propane burns much cleaner than gasoline and diesel and the exhaust is not as harmful.