How Will My Forklift Tipping Bin Effect My Forklifts Lifting Capacity ?

You’ve identified your material handling requirements and researched the market to find the ideal tipping bin for your waste handling needs, now what? you buy your forklift skip bin, attach it onto your forklift and away to go, maybe, but there might be another question you’ll want to ask yourself before transforming your forklift into your very own waste-collecting machine, how will my forklifts lifting capacity be effected once I attach my forklift tipping bin?

To answer this question, we’ll need to explain a little bit about forklift ‘Load Centres’ and 'Residual Capacity' and how fitting any type of attachment to the front of the forklift can affect this.

Load Centre

The load centre on a forklift truck is the middle point of the forklift load, measured from front to back. The simplest way to calculate the load centre based on the intended forklift skip is to  measure the length of the tipping skip and then divide by two (The tipping skip would have to butt up to the upright of the forklift forks)

Forklift truck manufacturers tend to standardise their load centre for medium-sized forklifts at either 500mm or 600mm which is in line with standard shipping pallets.   You may notice your forklift truck has a rated capacity of ‘2000kg at 500mm load centre’.  

If you fit a forklift tipping bin to your truck that for example is 1750mm long, then this would have a load centre of 875mm.  How this affects your forklifts lifting capacity would be the same way as if you were asked to hold a weight in front of you at arms length as opposed to close to your chest.  The more your arms are extended the heavier the weight becomes.  This is the same principle for your forklift truck, the greater the load centre, the more lifting capacity is required from your forklift to handle the load.

This needs to be considered if you plan on fitting a large volumetric capacity forklift tipping bin to a relatively small forklift truck, as depending on the weight of the debris being loaded into the skip, your forklift truck may well not be big enough in terms of its lifting capacity.

Residual Capacity 

The Residual Capacity is how your forklift trucks stated lifting capacity is effected (reduced) once you've attached your tipping bin to the front 

There are several factors to consider when calculating your forklift residual capacity when a forklift skip bin is fitted. These factors relate to specific dimensions and weights of (a) the forklift truck (b) the tipping bin (c) the load being handled.

To calculate your forklifts residual capacity and to ensure your forklift & tipping bin combination falls within the safe operating limits of your forklift truck, it would be advised to consult your forklift manufacturer/supplier who can carry out this calculation for you.  

Your forklift manufacturer/supplier would need certain technical rating information of the forklift bin you intend to purchase, which should be readily available from the forklift bin attachment company you intend to purchase your tipping bin from. All forklift tipping bins supplied by The Forklift Skip Market, for example, come supplied with full rating details, which are clearly stated on the side of each bin

We hope this blog helps you to determine if your intended forklift tipping bin is suitable for use with the forklift truck, and as in most instances if in doubt, don't hesitate to ask your chosen supplier