Compared with specifying standard counterbalanced forklifts, choosing a sideloader for long loads requires much more thought and making the wrong choice is not uncommon and could even invite litigation because it could be argued that the user bought the wrong type of truck for the job.
Conventional sideloaders may be the first truck to spring to mind but some companies have eschewed them in favour of four-way reach trucks when clearly the sideloader would have been the better choice. In the past Germany, for example, never used reach trucks for long loads. But technology and design change. The new MaxX electric, multi-directional sideloader from the German manufacturer, Hubtex, looks and acts like a reach truck, with load lifts of up to 4.5 tonnes. A conventional electric or diesel sideloader always has the driver facing the forward direction of travel and usually rests the load on the vehicle deck when travelling. Electric four-way sideloaders have four-way steering with the driver facing the long loads. It is debateable, however, as to whether four-way reach trucks are unsuitable for really long loads, even when fitted with special, forkspreading attachments. But no matter how widely spread the forks may be, the truck’s relatively small wheel base remains the same, so any sharp directional changes or braking could destabilise the loads.
One rule of thumb when trying to decide between four-way reach trucks and four-way sideloaders is to consider the frequency of different load handling. If the truck is to handle standard pallets and only the occasional long load then a four-way directional reach truck would probably do. If handling mainly long loads then a four-directional sideloader would be a better proposition.
Both conventional and four-way sideloaders would be the natural choice for long loads in confined spaces. Their miserly use of space is remarkable, and specifically tailored can work in rail-guided aisles only 1.65 mt wide. By virtue of their deck space, conventional sideloaders can be made far more productive than four-way sideloaders and reach trucks, depending on the types of loads being carried. One cable producer, for example, had its conventional sideloader adapted with sliding decks and rotating forks to take three cable drums at a time, one resting on the forks and the other two on the decks either side.
Conventional sideloaders also score over four-way sideloaders and reach trucks in other ways. For example during travel the sideloader carries its load on a stable, flat platform so the forks and mast suffer less wear and tear and the load itself remains unstressed, undistorted and undamaged. Typical sideloaders with large wheels and high ground clearance also cope with outdoor work better if ground conditions are poor.
Truck purchase price is always a consideration but as with buying any forklift great care is needed when comparing costs and it should not just be the purchase price but also the true life costs of the trucks. Other factors governing the choice of truck will be the length, weight and load types, space limitations, ground conditions, motive power choice and health and safety legislation. The risks of making the wrong choice can be diminished if one goes to a manufacturer offering the widest range of sideloader applications and even software programs that tailor bespoke warehouse designs. A world leader in this respect is Combilift whose range covers pedestrian, stand-on and seated conventional sideloaders, multi-directional reach trucks and specials like its Combi–MG for handling over 100 ft-long wind turbine blades by an arrangement of two straddle-like carriers at the ends of each blade.
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