Forklifts are used in a wide range of areas with widely varying climates, harsh working environments, heavy dust, frequent changes in working conditions, and heavy loads. Therefore, the forklift engine should have good power and fuel economy, working reliability, long service life, good cold start performance and easy maintenance. At the same time, it is also required to have a compact structure, small size, and comply with the damage warranty indicators of standard regulations. Generally, a good forklift engine should have the following basic characteristics:

(1) It can adapt to continuous and long-lasting work and bear heavy loads, and the calibrated power is hourly power. The forklift gasoline engine should be equipped with a speed limiter.

(2) Forklift engines are often subject to large impacts and strong vibrations during operation, so the body and accessories should have sufficient stiffness and strength, and three-point supports are often used for installation and fixation.

(3) In order to ensure that it can work under rapidly changing load conditions, it is generally advisable to use a full-range speed regulator, whose instantaneous speed regulation should be less than 12%, and the stable speed regulation should be less than 8%.

(4) In order to adapt to the operating environment of ports and terminals, the engine is required to have greater torque adaptability, and usually the torque reserve coefficient should be greater than 12% (except for those with a torque converter).

(5) In order to meet the needs of hydraulic pumps and auxiliary equipment, the engine should have an auxiliary power output setting. For small and medium-sized forklifts, the hydraulic pump should be installed directly on the engine, and its auxiliary output power requirement is 50%-100% of the total power.

(6) Forklifts often operate on sloping ground, and the engine is required to work normally when tilted forward, backward, or left and right. The engine is usually required to work at a trim of 20o and a heel of 15o.

(7) Forklifts often operate in environments with a lot of dust in the air. A high-efficiency air filter is required, and the oil filler port, vent and pipe joints should all have dust-proof seals.

(8) In order to adapt to work in various climate environments of -40oC to +45oC, there are special requirements for fuel, lubricating oil, grease, coolant, batteries, etc., and their related systems must be modified. The cold start problem must be solved in cold areas, and overheating prevention devices must be installed in hot zone areas.

(9) In order to adapt to the needs of working in plateau areas, a supercharger should be installed to compensate for the reduction in plateau power. It is required to operate in areas with an altitude of 1000-2000m or even 3000m without reducing power.

(10) Forklifts operating in tunnels, ship cabins and other environments should have exhaust gas purification devices; for forklifts working with large wading depths, their electrical equipment must be sealed and protected; in places with gas Environmental operations require special explosion-proof facilities.

(11) It must have high reliability and long service life. The target value for newly developed forklift engines should be: the first failure period of the diesel engine is greater than 800 hours. The first overhaul period is 6000-10000h; the target value of the gasoline engine refers to the requirements of automobile engines.

(12) The environmental indicators such as exhaust gas emissions, smoke, and noise of forklift engines should meet the requirements of national standards or industry standards and be integrated with international standards as soon as possible.

(13) The engine’s volume power ratio, fuel and oil consumption rate, speed reserve coefficient, minimum working stable thinking speed and mechanical vibration technical performance indicators should meet the supporting requirements of the forklift.