Folding forks are specified for two main reasons. The first is where a lift truck needs to manouvred into a position that would otherwise be prohibitive with full length blades. Secondly where a pair of folding forks are used with a pair of standard forks such as a double pallet handling, the folding forks , usually mounted both on the outer or inner side of the plain forks can be retracted to enable only the standard fork used for one pallet.

  Our folding fork design features a sturdy mechanism which has been specifically designed to fold without leaving a vulnerable mechanism on the underside of the blade. The mechanism used has been enclosed within the box section that forms the fork backleg, thereby leaving all components out of harms way. The sliding link system keeps the design compact which enables the fork to be mounted as a conventional fork without restriction.

  Hydraulically folding forks require a lockvalve to hold the fork up when not in use, with no lock in the down position to prevent impact damage to the mechanism when the tips are down.

  The actuation of the folding fork can be controlled with an additional hydraulic service, if this is not available a switchable solenoid valve can be used on a service shared with another attachment function. If neither an hydraulic or electronic function is prefered then sequencing can be offered.   This achieved by using end of stroke pressure rise on an existing attachments function. For example a brick sideshift attachment may lift the fork at the end of an open consolidation stroke, and lower the fork at the end of a close consolidation stroke.