Meet the New ‘Monster Truck’ of Heavy Duty Forklifts

A Finnish company has rolled out a super-duty forklift that has a lift capacity of more than 72,000 pounds.

The Kalmar DCG180-330 — which was unveiled last week by Kalmar, a forklift manufacturer based in Helsinki, Finland — was built based on recommendations from the heavy machinery maker’s own customers. It is designed for use in heavy cargo handling industrial applications, such as the steel industry, and for use at cargo ports.

Power and Comfort, Too

Besides its astonishing strength, the newly designed forklift also features a new type of cabin that gives operators improved visibility, reduced noise levels, and intelligent ergonomics.

The operator console is based on a new type of design that makes the vehicle’s controls a natural extension of the driver’s own arm.

Adjustable Power Settings

The forklift has three different driving modes that the driver can shift between based on the job at hand:

• Power — This setting maximizes performance by increase the number of tons moved per hour.
• Normal —  This setting balances power and economy to optimize profitability.
• Economy — This setting is used when total cost of operations outweighs the need for performance.

In all three settings, the Kalmar DCG180-330 consumers 15% less fuel than the standard forklift of a comparable size. But in the economy setting is used, this fuel savings is reduced by another 15%, according to a company news release.

More Power, Less Fuel

The new forklift gives operators power when they need it and fuel economy when they want it, according to Thomas Malmborg, Kalmar’s vice president for forklift trucks.

“Kalmar continues to set the standard for forklift productivity, safety and low ownership costs,” Malmborg said. “Purchase price is only one of many factors affecting total cost of ownership. In fact, price is a minor cost factor over the lifetime of a forklift. What truly matters in the long run is cost control and operational efficiency and they will show clearly on the customer’s bottom line.”

Faster Lift Speeds and Cycles

Another feature of the powerful new forklift is faster lift speeds, which have been boosted by use of a variable hydraulic system that senses the load in every operation and adjusts fuel flow accordingly.

Compared to previous versions of this particular forklift model, lifting cycles are 40% faster, preparing the machine faster for the next lift.

Kalmar — which is a subsidiary of Cargotec, a Finnish conglomerate — is one of the largest container handling companies in the world. The company claims that one in four containers being moved at any particular time anywhere in the world is being handled by a piece of Kalmar equipment.