Forklift Engines
Forklifts are classed as vehicles with small engines. Forklift engines all follow the principles of internal combustion, though the numerous makes and models of forklift would have a different design and layout. Forklifts are made more toward producing high torque than for speed. They normally are geared to low speeds. The engine powers the drive wheels of the forklift. The engine is also required to lower and lift the forks through a series of chain pulleys. Nearly all modern forklift engines are powered by propane because they would be utilized for indoor applications, where gasoline and diesel engines would be inappropriate because of the exhaust they make.
Typically, the lift truck is a four-cylinder engine-block. The engines of the forklift are similar to automobile engines because they contain pistons connecting to a camshaft. The head of each and every cylinder consists of an exhaust hatch, a spark plug and an exhaust hatch, each of them spring-loaded and one-way.
Engine Function
Propane passes through the opened throttle-plate in a fine spray, once the driver starts up the forklift engine. This fine spray mixes with air that comes from the mass air intake before moving into the head intake hatches of the cylinder. Every one of the four pistons is staggered to rise in a precise sequence, which compresses the mixture of propane and air as each piston rises to the top of the head. With timing that is very precise, the engine's alternator and battery produce an electrical current which passes through the spark plug. The fuel ignites resulting in an explosion which drives the piston back down to the bottom of the cylinder, resulting in a continuous turning of the camshaft. An air pressure imbalance in the cylinder causes the exhaust to be drawn out through the exhaust hatch when more fuel passes into the cylinder. Propane burns cleaner compared to gasoline and diesel and the exhaust is not as harmful.