Hello Forums -

Can my forklift lift my Mini Pooper?

I'm looking to hear from those with 1st hand experience... as I do not know the length of the forks, etc etc.. Mainly I am just curious if it is at all possible or completely out of the question. In my attempt to answer my query via "the google" (on the information super highway) I did not discover much... other than a mildly entertaining video of a Maserati falling off a poorly operated fork lift.

The lift I have access to is a Clark forklift, electric, with a lifting capacity of 5,000+lbs. It more or less looks like this:

 

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Oh my god that is awesome news. Any resource for instructions on how to do this safely? is the mini just resting on the right side of the chassis or is there some other undercarriage contact point?

 

The forks look to go all the way over....just go in between the plastic jack points and make sure you arent catching anything that hangs below the lowest part of the frame/body.

 

Forklifts can do anything!

 

It can be done but it is dangerous in the most extreme sense of the word. Forklifts have no secondary safety system that would prevent the forks from dropping if a hydraulic line ruptured or if one of the lift or tilt cylinders fail. Also consider that the forks themselves are generally polished as smooth as a baby's butt from sliding against wooden, plastic and metal pallets over God only knows how much time. One last thing to consider is that if someone accidentally bumps one of the forklift's control levers it will react immediately whether the machine is running/turned on or not. One last thing... If OSHA were to visit the place of business where your forklift is being used in such a manner, they would have a field day slapping you with fines.

 

Yes, you can. It is possible. But like the post above it isn't the recommended and safe method of lifting a car or you might see some garages use that method instead of using a standard car lift.

Just check the lifting capacity of the forklift and have an experienced lift truck operator do the actual lifting. There isn't a good way to ensure safety once the car is up so you have to ask yourself is it worth the risk?

Don't be like this-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC9SAqu0OhE

Or this-
http://www.zeromechanic.nl/uploads/i..._With_Bomb.jpg
Hey, it's a dud, what do you know? A heavy dud.

If you watch the video you will see that the car is stable up to a point. When raised to the limit of the lift truck mast you raise the center of gravity and risk upsetting the balance of the car at the top with the counter weight balance of the rear of the lift truck. The two will act like a seesaw and it is very very easy to upset it.

A smooth hand on the controls keeps things in balance but if the driver would to try and drive with the load at max height he would easily run into trouble. The car is very wide and shifting of weight is hard to minimize. If the ground is smooth then that helps but if there is an uneven surface to drive on it's difficult.

In my younger days I spent four summers driving lift truck and more than 1000 hours driving backwards. I have driven many types of lift trucks from those that will fold up the blades and fit into a large freight elevator to outdoor industrial hyster lift trucks of 22,000 gvw. We would routinely lift and stack 6000 lb loads up to 18 feet height forming walls of goods.

 

Why exactly do you need to lift your MINI?

 

The problem with the capacity limits on a Forklift is that the maximum capacity diminishes greatly as the weight proceeds out to the furthest edge of the fork. Its lift capacity drops dramatically out there. So the item lifted has to be adjusted for this. And the weight of a car is spread out all across its width. So what does this do to your 5K capacity when at least half of it exists on the outside half of the forks? Well it exceeds it most times.The size of your typical load will affect the capacity you need. Forklift capacity is usually based on a 24 inch "load center", meaning that the distance from the center of gravity to the sides of the load is 24".The easiest way to think about this is that a forklift can only lift its maximum weight if the load is a four-foot cube. If all the weight was within the first half of the forks it might be within spec but I would have to calculate it. I seriously doubt it. You should have a chart stuck right on that forklift with these capacities. Don't go by just the max. The max is best case scenario and includes being able to tilt to shift that weight. Your likely to no be able to do that without damaging the Mini's body either. I have used them to lift one wheel up to change a tire on a truck. But I doubt I would want to life a whole car with one.

 

Might be possible... the deciding factor would be if the forks will spread wide enough to catch both lifting blocks on each side... another issue is how a forklift handles lifting a heavy load like this (I have some experience using one) - you initially lift it off the ground, then tilt the lift back so the weight is against the back of the forks, then lift to the desired height... I'm not sure you'd want to do this with a car... The only way I'd consider lifting a car with a fork lift (at least one I planned on driving again...), would be to fashion some sort of carraige for the forks so they firmly cradled the lift pads of the car. Only use the forklift for lifting the car and NEVER for moving it. The weight distribution of a car (big heavy engine hanging off one end) is not what a forklift was designed to lift (pallets with fairly even weight distribution).

Like others have mentioned... lots of potential for disaster here...

 

You need a hobby! You have too much time on your hands.

 

this is an awesome thread...thats all that needs to be said.

 

The insomniac thread would be a much safer alternative!

 

IF and WHEN you MIGHT try this ( disclaimer I'm not advocating it) would you pls, pls take video!