A pallet jack is designed to lift pallets off the ground while keeping them completely horizontal. Since it is equipped with wheels, the pallets and their contents can easily be moved around. It is the perfect tool for lifting pallets, but on the other hand, it can't be used for much else.
The pallet jack is simple to use, and in this article we will show how a pallet jack generally works as well as a few extra tips to avoid making costly mistakes.
1 General use of a pallet jack
The whole idea of the pallet jack is that it should easily be able to lift items (which are usually pallets) a few centimeters off the ground while keeping the item horizontal, so that it can then be moved around.
The lifting mechanism itself works by moving the handle down, which fills a cylinder with fluid, lifting the pallet jack's arms up a little. As shown below, the pallet jack's arms are kept horizontal because the wheels in the front lift the arms up at the same time as the back end is lifted.
The difference between the length of the long arm to the handle and the small lifting arm means that with relatively little force, you can lift heavy objects with the pallet jack's arms.
1.1 - Lifting items
Lifting items is done by placing the handle in the lowest position, after which the handle is moved up and down. Each time the handle is pushed down, the forks are lifted up a little, and the cylinder function ensures that the forks stay up each time the handle is raised again. Note that the handle remains down and you therefore do not need to hold it in when lifting items.
1.2 - Lowering items
The pallet can be set back down on the floor by pushing the handle up. Unlike when the handle is pressed down, the handle must be held up when in this position, as it automatically returns to the middle position when released.
1.3 - Moving
When the pallet is lifted off the floor, the handle can be released, and the pallet jack can now be moved freely around.
2 Tips
2.1 - Tip 1: Parking the pallet jack
The pallet jack can be secured by placing it under the pallet and turning the handle, and thus the wheels, 90 degrees. The angle of the wheels now ensures that the pallet jack does not move back and forth, and the pallet prevents the pallet jack from moving sideways.
