Gas tank attachment for a truck mounted forklift

A TMFL comprising a u-shaped chassis having a pair of side bars bridged by a rear cross bar, a driver's station mounted on one of the side bars, a motive power unit mounted on the other side bar opposite the driver's station, and a lifting assembly mounted on the u-shaped chassis comprising a fork carriage and a pair of forks mounted on the fork carriage, means to extend and retract a reach of the forks, and in which there is provided a gas tank handling attachment comprising:

• a frame comprising a pair of spaced apart uprights bridged by at least one bracing cross-member therebetween, and means to releasably engage the fork carriage mounted on the frame;
• a pair of clamping arms pivotably mounted on the frame, one of which is mounted on the first of the pair of spaced apart uprights and the other of which is mounted on the second of the pair of spaced apart uprights, the pair of clamping arms being pivotable to and from a first stowed configuration in which the clamping arms are substantially parallel to and extend upwardly from the uprights and a second operating configuration in which the clamping arms are substantially orthogonal to and project forwardly from the uprights;
• a pair of pivoting rams mounted on the frame, one of the pivoting rams being operable to pivot the first clamping arm to and from the stowed configuration and the operating configuration, the other of the pivoting rams being operable to pivot the second clamping arm to and from the stowed configuration and the operating configuration, and in which the pair of clamping arms are configured to pivot upwardly into a stowed configuration to a position rearward of the front face of the fork carriage.