Nearly every forklift specification sheet you will be sent follows the same standard, VDI 2198, published by the Association of German Engineers. Once you know the layout, sheets from different manufacturers become directly comparable – which is the whole point of the standard, and the reason the data on this site is organised the way it is.
The numbering is the standard
The row numbers are not each manufacturer’s invention. They are fixed by VDI 2198, which is why row 4.35 means turning radius on a Hyster sheet and on a Linde sheet alike. The groups run:
- Group 1 – identification. Manufacturer, model, power type, operator type, rated capacity, load centre, wheelbase.
- Group 2 – weights. Service weight, and axle loading laden and unladen.
- Group 3 – wheels and tyres. Type, sizes, how many and which are driven.
- Group 4 – dimensions. Every height, length and width, plus the aisle widths and the turning radius.
- Group 5 – performance. Travel, lift and lowering speeds, gradeability, brakes.
- Group 6 – the power unit. Engine or motor ratings, battery voltage and capacity.
- Group 8 and 10 – everything else. Hydraulic pressure, sound level.
The rows that decide a purchase
Most of the sheet is reference. These are the rows that change the answer:
- 1.5 with 1.6 – capacity with load centre. Never read one without the other. Our load centre guide explains why the two conventions in circulation make headline capacity untrustworthy on its own.
- 4.4 – lift. The fork height, which is what you compare with your top beam. Do not use 4.5, height with mast extended: that includes the mast above the forks.
- 4.2 – height of mast lowered. If the truck has to pass under a door, a sprinkler or into a container, this row is a hard limit.
- 4.21 – overall width and 4.34 – aisle width for right-angle stacking. Together these decide whether the truck fits your building.
- 4.35 – turning radius. Manoeuvring in the space you have, as opposed to stacking in it.
- 2.1 – service weight. Floor loading, and whether the truck can go on a mezzanine or a lorry.
Reading the sheet critically
Every sheet describes one configuration. The figures are for a specific mast, specific forks, specific tyres and often the base trim. Change the mast and the heights, the weights and sometimes the capacity all change with it. That is why the descriptions on this site state which configuration a row came from, rather than presenting a figure as if it were the whole model range.
Bracketed values are usually options. Where a performance row shows a second figure in brackets, it is normally the optional package, not the truck you were quoted.
The axle loads are a check you can run. Unladen front plus rear should equal the service weight; laden front plus rear should equal service weight plus rated load. If they do not, you have misread a column, which on a multi-model sheet is easy to do.
Engine kW and motor kW are not comparable. An internal-combustion power figure and an electric drive motor rating are measured under different conditions and describe different things. Compare them with gradeability and travel speed, not with each other.
“Not specified” is information. Where a manufacturer does not publish a figure, we leave it blank and say so rather than filling the gap with an estimate. A sheet that publishes every row is not necessarily more honest than one that does not.
Where our data comes from
Every figure on this site is transcribed from a published manufacturer document, and each model page names that document with its part number and date. If a figure here disagrees with the manufacturer’s current documentation, the manufacturer is right and we would like to know.