Forklift Engines
Forklifts are classed as vehicles with small engines. Forklift engines all follow the principles of internal combustion, though the many models and makes of lift truck would have a different layout and design. Forklifts are made more toward generating high torque than for speed. They usually are geared to low speeds. The engine runs the drive wheels of the forklift. The engine is also needed to raise and lower the forks through a series of chain pulleys. Nearly all modern forklift engines are powered by propane because they will be used indoors, where diesel and gasoline engines will be inappropriate because of the exhaust they generate.
Usually, the forklift is a four-cylinder engine-block. The engines of the forklift are like automobile engines because they contain pistons connecting to a camshaft. The head of each cylinder consists of an exhaust hatch, a spark plug and an exhaust hatch, each of them one-way and spring-loaded.
Engine Function
Once the operator 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 prior to moving into the cylinder head intake hatches. Every one of the four pistons is staggered to rise in a precise sequence, which compresses the mixture of air and propane as every piston rises to the top of the head. With timing which is really precise, the engine's alternator and battery create an electrical current which passes through the spark plug. The fuel ignites leading to an explosion which drives the piston back down to the bottom of the cylinder, causing 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.