Truck mounted forklift

A truck mounted forklift comprising a U-shaped chassis having a pair of forwardly projecting side bars bridged by a rear crossbar, a driver's station mounted on the chassis, a motive power unit mounted on the chassis, and a lifting mechanism mounted on the chassis for engagement of a load between the side bars, and in which there is provided a skid steer drive mechanism comprising a pair of driven front wheels, one driven front wheel mounted adjacent the forwardmost end of one of the side bars and the other driven front wheel mounted adjacent the forwardmost end of the other of the side bars, and a dolly rear wheel mounted on the rear crossbar, the dolly rear wheel being rotatably mounted about a vertical axis offset from a central axis of the dolly rear wheel, and in which there is provided a releasable locking mechanism to releasably secure the dolly rear wheel in a fixed orientation about the vertical axis, the releasable locking mechanism comprising a hydraulically operated locking pin mounted on the chassis and a complementary locking pin receiver mounted on the dolly rear wheel;

• and in which there is provided a sensor on the hydraulically operated locking pin operable to detect when the locking pin is fully engaged in the locking pin receiver, and a locking pin indicator responsive to the sensor, the locking pin indicator being located in the driver's station operable to display whether the locking pin is in either a locked configuration engaging the locking pin receiver or a released configuration free of the locking pin receiver.

A truck mounted forklift comprising a U-shaped chassis having a pair of forwardly projecting side bars bridged by a rear crossbar, a driver's station mounted on the chassis, a motive power unit mounted on the chassis, and a lifting mechanism mounted on the chassis for engagement of a load between the side bars, and in which there is provided a skid steer drive mechanism comprising a pair of driven front wheels, one driven front wheel mounted adjacent the forwardmost end of one of the side bars and the other driven front wheel mounted adjacent the forwardmost end of the other of the side bars, and a dolly rear wheel mounted on the rear crossbar, the dolly rear wheel being rotatably mounted about a vertical axis offset from a central axis of the dolly rear wheel, and in which there is provided a releasable locking mechanism to releasably secure the dolly rear wheel in a fixed orientation about the vertical axis, the releasable locking mechanism comprising a hydraulically operated locking pin mounted on the chassis and a complementary locking pin receiver mounted on the dolly rear wheel;

• and in which the complementary locking pin receiver comprises a locking plate held in a fixed relationship relative to the dolly rear wheel, the locking plate defining a pair of locking pin receiving apertures;
• the locking pin receiving apertures being located on the locking plate to cause the dolly wheel to be aligned parallel to a longitudinal axis of the truck mounted forklift when the locking pin is engaged in either of the locking pin receiving apertures;
• and in which the central axis of the dolly rear wheel is forward of the vertical axis when the locking pin is engaged in the first locking pin receiving aperture, and the central axis of the dolly rear wheel is rearward of the vertical axis when the locking pin is engaged in the second locking pin receiving aperture;
• and in which when the locking pin is engaged in the first locking pin receiving aperture, the dolly rear wheel is stowed under the truck mounted forklift substantially forward of the aft-most point of the truck mounted forklift.