Neometrix / Pedestrian-Propelled Industrial Trucks / Hydraulic Pallet Truck and Manual Stacker / NMX-PTS-102

NMX-PTS-102 · ENGINEERED-TO-ORDER CLASS — DUTY · FORKS AND FRAME · PUMP AND VALVES · MAST AND LEGS · BUILD · PROVE

Pallet Truck. Up by the stroke, down by the valve.

Name: Hydraulic Pallet Truck and Manual Stacker
Brand: Neometrix
SKU: NMX-PTS-102

A hydraulic pallet truck slides two forks into a pallet, lifts it a short way by pumping a handle, and rolls it where it is wanted. A manual stacker adds a mast, so that the pallet can go up onto a rack. Neometrix engineers both as a system: the forks and the frame, the hydraulic circuit in the pump, the stability and the proof.

So the truck has to lift by the stroke, come down by the valve, and hold the load when nobody is pumping.

Discuss a pallet truck or stacker Capability note (PDF)

A hydraulic hand pallet truck on a plain white studio background: pale grey steel forks carrying a plain wooden pallet stacked with plain unprinted brown cartons, a pale grey pump housing at the heel of the forks with a bright steel ram, a long black handle sloping back to a black loop grip with a short hooked control lever, a pair of small black steering wheels under the housing, and no people

Fig · 01 — A hydraulic hand pallet truck: forks carrying a pallet, a pump housing with its ram, and a handle with a control lever, on steering wheels — illustrative render.

The lift

by the stroke of the handleeach stroke pushes a little oil into the ram

The descent

by a valve, never a falla metered release, set when the truck is built

The hold

a check valve between strokesthe load stays where it was put

The rating

given at a stated load centrea longer load is not the same load

Status

engineered to orderno delivery is claimed

ISO 9001ISO 14001ISO 3691-5 reference for pedestrian-propelled trucks

Overview

What a pallet truck has to get right, and what goes wrong when it does not.

Because the load is heavy, the operator is on foot beside it, and the only things between them are a pump and a valve.

The pump end of a hydraulic hand pallet truck on a plain white studio background: a pale grey pump housing with a bright steel ram rising from it, the lower part of a black handle with a black loop grip and a short hooked control lever, the heel of a pale grey fork with a bright steel linkage rod along it, a pair of small black steering wheels under the housing, and no people

Fig · 02 — The pump end: the housing with its ram, the handle and the control lever, the fork heel and the steering wheels — illustrative render.

Up by the stroke, down by the valve.

What the truck is for

It lifts a loaded pallet a short way off the floor and moves it by hand, in a store, a workshop, a hangar or a dispatch bay. A stacker lifts it higher, onto a rack or a stack. Both are pushed and pulled by an operator on foot.

How it lifts

The handle works a small pump. Each stroke pushes a little oil past a check valve into a ram, and the ram raises the forks. The check valve shuts behind the oil, so the load does not come back between strokes.

Why it is up by the stroke and down by the valve

Lifting takes many small strokes, and lowering takes one opened valve. The lowering valve lets the oil out through a small passage, so that the load comes down at a steady, slow pace and never falls. That is why the lever has a position for each job.

Why the lever has three positions

The lever has a raise, a neutral and a lower position. In neutral the pump is parted from the ram, so the handle can be pulled and pushed without moving the forks, and the pump is not knocked by shocks while the truck rolls.

Why the load stays up

A check valve and a lowering valve that seats keep the oil in the ram. A relief valve limits the pressure, so that a load heavier than the truck is meant for cannot burst a seal or a hose.

Why the forks are shaped as they are

The tips are tapered and carry small rollers, so that the forks enter a pallet without catching it. The load wheels sit under the load, and the steering wheels sit under the pump housing.

Why a stacker's rating needs a load centre

A stacker's rating is given for a load whose centre is a stated distance from the face of the forks. A longer load pulls the weight further from the mast and the legs, and the same weight then asks more of the truck. So the rating is read with the load centre, and not alone.

Why a stacker has legs that straddle the pallet

The legs reach forward on each side of the pallet, with a wheel at the tip of each, so that the load stays between them and the truck does not tip forward when the load is high.

Why it works on a level floor

A pedestrian-propelled truck is made for a smooth, level, hard floor. On a slope a loaded truck will run, and a hand cannot hold it.

The method

Duty, forks and frame, pump and valves, mast and legs, build and prove.

Six steps in a fixed order. The valves and the proof are the two that a quick job skips.

1 · Duty

The pallets and the loads, the floors and the aisles, the height the load has to reach, and whether the truck works indoors, outdoors or in a clean area are noted.

2 · Forks and frame

The forks, the frame and the wheels are matched to the pallets and the floor, with tapered tips and entry rollers, and stiff enough that the forks do not bend under the rating.

3 · Pump and valves

The pump, the ram and the check valve lift the load, a metered lowering valve brings it down, a relief valve limits the pressure, and the lever is set so that neutral is neutral.

4 · Mast and legs

For a stacker, the mast, the carriage and the straddle legs are matched to the pallet and the height, and the rating is given at a stated load centre.

5 · Build

The frame, the forks, the pump and the wheels are built and fitted, the oil is filled, and the air is bled out of the circuit.

6 · Prove

The truck lifts a proving load, holds it, and brings it down at the set pace; the lever positions and the relief valve are checked, and the record goes with it.

Which fault, which safeguard

What can go wrong	Why it happens	What the truck does about it
The forks do not rise	there is air in the oil, or the lever is not in raise	the circuit is bled when it is filled, and the lever positions are tested
The forks rise while the handle is pumped in neutral	the lever setting has drifted	neutral is set at the build and proved with the handle pumped
The load creeps down	a seal is worn, or the lowering valve does not seat	a check valve and a valve that seats, proved by holding a load
The load drops fast	the lowering valve opens wide	a metered release, so that the load comes down at a steady pace
The truck is overloaded	the load is heavier than the frame is made for	a relief valve set for the rating, and a rating that is read with the load centre
A stacker tips forward	the load is long, or it is held high	straddle legs, and a rating given at a stated load centre
The forks bend or the pallet is damaged	the load sits short on the forks, or on the tips only	forks long enough to carry the pallet, with tapered tips and entry rollers
The truck runs away	the floor is not level	a truck made for a smooth, level, hard floor, and a note to the customer when the floor is not

The step people underrate is the descent. Lifting a load is easy to see. What lets it down gently is a small passage in a valve.

Work content

What the truck contains, element by element.

Read it as a checklist: a truck missing a row will lift a pallet, but it will not tell you what it does when the handle is let go.

A manual hydraulic stacker on a plain white studio background: a pale grey upright mast of two vertical channels with a carriage, two pale grey forks holding a plain wooden pallet with plain unprinted brown cartons raised part-way up the mast, two pale grey straddle legs reaching forward with a small black wheel at the tip of each, a pump housing with a spring at the base of the mast, a black handle with a loop grip, and no people

Fig · 03 — A manual hydraulic stacker: a mast and a carriage, forks holding a pallet, straddle legs with a wheel at each tip, and a hand pump at the base — illustrative render.

Element	What it does	What matters
Forks and frame	carry the pallet	stiff forks with tapered tips and entry rollers, long enough to carry the pallet and joined to a frame that does not twist
Load wheels and steering wheels	carry and steer the truck	wheels chosen for the floor, so that the truck rolls easily and does not mark or break it
Pump	lifts the load a stroke at a time	a small pump worked by the handle, with a check valve that shuts behind each stroke
Ram	raises the forks	a bright steel ram and a seal that holds the oil without creeping
Lowering valve	lets the load down	a metered valve that seats when it is closed, and lets the oil out through a small passage when it is opened
Relief valve	limits the pressure	a valve set for the rating, so that an overload opens it and does not burst a seal
Control lever	chooses raise, neutral or lower	three positions that are felt and tested, with neutral that parts the pump from the ram
Handle and drawbar	work the pump and steer the truck	a handle that is comfortable to pump and to pull, and a drawbar that returns on its own
Mast, carriage and straddle legs	lift higher and keep the stacker upright	a stiff mast, a carriage on a chain, and legs that reach forward on each side of the pallet (stacker only)
Testing & documentation	prove the truck first	a proving load, a hold test, a check of the descent and the lever positions, a test of the relief valve, and a record the customer can inspect

The elements that decide the safety are the lowering valve and the check valve. The first lets the load down gently, and the second holds it where it is.

Full specification — expand

System	Forks and a frame; load wheels and steering wheels; a hand pump with a check valve, a ram, a metered lowering valve and a relief valve; a three-position control lever with raise, neutral and lower; a handle and a drawbar; on a stacker, a mast, a carriage and straddle legs; and a proving load, a hold test and documentation before handover
The One Idea	Up by the stroke, down by the valve.
Why The Descent Matters	Lifting takes many small strokes and lowering takes one opened valve, so the lowering valve is metered: it lets the oil out through a small passage, the load comes down at a steady pace, and a check valve holds it in between
Why The Rating Needs A Load Centre	A stacker's rating is given for a load whose centre is a stated distance from the face of the forks; a longer load pulls the weight further from the mast and the legs, so the rating is read with the load centre and not alone
Standards	ISO 3691-5 covers the safety requirements and verification for pedestrian-propelled industrial trucks. This page prints none of its requirements, and no edition year. Approval of a truck rests with the customer and the authority they name; none is claimed here
Configurations	A hand pallet truck, a manual hydraulic stacker, and a special-duty truck
Scope Boundary	This page is the hydraulic pallet truck and the manual stacker, which a person on foot pushes and pulls. It is not a platform truck, which carries a load on a flat deck (see platform truck and platform trolley), not a chain conveyor, which moves a load without carrying it (see mobile battery-operated chain conveyor, which lists hydraulic stackers only as one of its loading aids), not a hydraulic jack, which lifts a heavy load a short way and holds it (see hydraulic jacking system) and not a forklift, which is a powered truck that a driver rides or walks behind. It does not decide the pallet or the load, and it does not replace the operator's own judgement. No certification or accreditation is claimed here
Status	Neometrix has quoted against successive hydraulic pallet truck and manual stacker requirements, and no delivered pallet truck or stacker is claimed.

Configurations

One method, three ways to build the truck.

The method, the circuit and the proof are shared. What changes is how high the load has to go, and what the floor and the place ask of the truck.

Hand pallet truck

Forks, a pump housing and a handle, for a short lift

For moving loaded pallets along a floor: a low lift that clears the floor, a three-position lever, and a lowering valve that brings the load down gently.

Manual hydraulic stacker

A mast, a carriage and straddle legs, for a higher lift

For putting a pallet up onto a rack or a stack: a stiff mast and a carriage, legs that straddle the pallet, and a rating given at a stated load centre.

Special-duty truck

A build for a floor, a place or a load that is not usual

For a delicate floor, a wash-down area or a place where a spark matters: wheel materials, a galvanised or stainless build, or a non-sparking build, chosen with the customer.

And the part that is not equipment at all, yet decides all three: the floor and the pallet. They are taken from the customer's own place, not from the truck.

The drawings

A reference set, drawn as real CAD sheets.

Two sheets of one reference configuration: the arrangement of a hydraulic hand pallet truck and a manual stacker with three details, and the hydraulic circuit with its control lever. They show the forks and the wheels, the pump and the ram, the load centre, the pallet on the forks, the check valves, the lowering valve and the lever. They carry tags and letters only. Every capacity, load, height, speed and pressure is fixed by design for the customer's pallets.

Fig · 04 — Sheet 01, the arrangement: the truck and the stacker in elevation, the load centre and the rating, the pallet on the forks, and the fork tip. Reference configuration, letters only.

Reference drawing sheet two, the hydraulic circuit and the control lever of a hydraulic hand pallet truck. A reservoir feeds a hand pump through a check valve, and the pump delivers through a second check valve to a single-acting ram. A relief valve returns oil to the reservoir when the pressure is too high, and a lowering valve with an orifice returns it at a steady pace when the lever is in lower. A curve of the height of the forks against time climbs in steps with each stroke, holds, then falls as a steady ramp, against the fall that an unmetered valve would give. A detail of the control lever shows its three positions, raise, neutral and lower. A table of what each step does, and a title block stamped reference configuration, not for construction

Fig · 05 — Sheet 02, the hydraulic circuit and the control lever: the pump, the check valves, the lowering valve with its orifice, and the curve that shows up by the stroke and down by the valve. Reference configuration, tags only.

Every real truck is drawn for its own pallets, its own floor and its own loads. These sheets are the arrangement and the order of working that a project set starts from. Approval of any drawing rests with the customer and the authority they name; none is claimed here.

PDF · two sheets

Reference drawings — arrangement and hydraulic circuit and lever

PDF · capability sheet

hydraulic pallet truck and manual stacker — what Neometrix engineers

Where it is used

Wherever a loaded pallet moves on foot, and has to stay where it is put.

The common thread is a pallet, a floor, an operator walking beside it, and a load that must neither creep nor fall.

Stores and warehouses

Where pallets are received, moved to a rack and fetched again, all day, by people on foot.

Workshops and hangars

Where heavy assemblies and crates are moved between a bay and a bench, and a load that creeps is a hazard.

Factories and production lines

Where material is moved to a line and finished goods are moved away, in short runs over a smooth floor.

Receiving and dispatch bays

Where a pallet goes from a floor to a rack or a stack, and a wheel at the tip of a leg must clear the edge of the bay.

Watch

See it in motion.

A short walkthrough video of the Hydraulic Pallet Truck.

FAQ

Common questions.

Longer answers, for readers who want the reasoning.

Q · 01 What does a hydraulic pallet truck actually do?

It slides two forks into a pallet, lifts it a short way off the floor by pumping the handle, and rolls it where it is wanted. The handle works a small pump, each stroke pushes a little oil past a check valve into a ram, and the ram raises the forks. A control lever chooses raise, neutral or lower. A manual stacker is the same circuit on a mast, with straddle legs, so that the pallet can go up onto a rack. The truck does not decide which pallet is moved or where it goes. That comes from the customer's own place, and the truck is built, set and proved to do the job safely.

Q · 02 Why is it up by the stroke and down by the valve?

Because the two jobs are different. Lifting is done a little at a time: each stroke of the handle pushes a small volume of oil into the ram, and a check valve shuts behind it so that the load stays up between strokes. Lowering is done by opening a valve that lets the oil out through a small passage. That passage is what sets the pace, so the load comes down steadily and does not fall. If the valve opened wide, the load would drop, and if it did not seat, the load would creep. So the valve is metered, it seats when it is closed, and the descent is checked before the truck leaves the works.

Q · 03 Why does a stacker's rating need a load centre?

Because a stacker's rating is given for a load whose centre is a stated distance from the face of the forks. A longer load, or one that sits further out, pulls the weight away from the mast and the legs, and the same weight then asks more of the truck. The legs reach forward on each side of the pallet so that the load stays between them, but the truck still has a limit. So the rating is always read together with the load centre, and a rating on its own, without it, is not a rating that can be relied on.

Q · 04 Why does the lever have a neutral position, and what if the forks rise in neutral?

Because the handle has to be free to move without moving the forks. In neutral the pump is parted from the ram, so the handle can be pulled and pushed while the truck rolls, and the pump is not knocked by shocks. If the forks rise while the handle is pumped in neutral, the lever setting has drifted. It is a small adjustment, but it is a real fault, and it is the reason that neutral is set at the build and proved with the handle pumped. The same applies to a handle that pumps without lifting: air in the oil is the usual cause, and it is bled out when the circuit is filled.

Q · 05 Is this the same as a platform truck, a chain conveyor, a hydraulic jack or a forklift?

No, and the differences are worth stating precisely. The platform truck and platform trolley page covers carrying a load on a flat deck. The mobile battery-operated chain conveyor page covers moving a load without carrying it, and lists hydraulic stackers only as one of its loading aids. The hydraulic jacking system page covers lifting a heavy load a short way and holding it. A forklift is a powered truck that a driver rides or walks behind, and it is a different machine again. This page is the pallet truck and the manual stacker that a person on foot pushes and pulls. It does not replace any of them, and it does not claim what they claim a second time.

Q · 06 Has Neometrix built one of these?

We would rather answer this plainly than let a page imply otherwise. Neometrix has quoted against successive hydraulic pallet truck and manual stacker requirements, and no delivered pallet truck or stacker is claimed. What stands behind the offer is adjacent: Neometrix engineers a platform truck and platform trolley (see the platform truck and platform trolley page) and a hydraulic jacking system (see the hydraulic jacking system page). The wheels, the seals, the mast chain and the pump body are catalogue items, bought in, not invented. What Neometrix engineers is the truck around them: the forks and the frame, the circuit, the stability and the proof. So the honest position is that the truck is engineered to order, the neighbouring disciplines are in the building, and the first truck of this exact kind will be built around the customer's own pallets and floor rather than taken off a shelf.

Q · 07 Which standard applies, and what can the truck not do?

ISO 3691-5 covers the safety requirements and verification for pedestrian-propelled industrial trucks. This page prints none of its requirements, and no edition year: those come from the standard the customer names. The truck lifts and moves a pallet. It does not decide the pallet or the load, it does not work on a slope, and it does not replace the operator's own judgement. This page claims no certification or accreditation. No capacity, load, lift height, speed or pressure figure is printed here, and approval of a truck rests with the customer and the authority they name; none is claimed here.

Q · 08 What do you need from us to quote?

Six things, and most of them describe your pallets rather than the truck. First, the pallets: their size, and what they carry. Second, the load: the heaviest load, and how far its centre sits from the face of the forks. Third, the height: whether a short lift is enough or the load has to go up onto a rack. Fourth, the floor: its surface, its level and its edges. Fifth, the place: indoors or outdoors, wet or dry, clean or dirty, and whether a spark matters. Sixth, the quantity: how many trucks, and where they go. From that we come back with a truck concept, a proving plan you can check, and a budgetary price.

The neighbouring pages, and how they differ from this one.

Three neighbours: one carries a load on a deck, one moves a load without carrying it, one lifts a heavy load a short way.

↗ The platform truck

Platform Truck and Platform Trolley

Carries a load on a flat deck - where this page slides forks into a pallet and lifts it.

↗ The chain conveyor

Mobile Battery-Operated Chain Conveyor

Moves a load without carrying it, and lists stackers only as a loading aid - where this page is the stacker itself.

↗ The jacking system

Hydraulic Jacking System

Lifts a heavy load a short way and holds it - a different job from rolling a pallet to where it is wanted.

Browse all Neometrix product lines.

Get a quotation

Tell us the pallet,
and the floor it has to cross.

The projects desk replies within two working days with a truck concept, a proving plan you can check, and a budgetary quotation. Write to [email protected] or use the form.

Enquire — pallet truck and stacker Capability sheet (PDF) +91 7777 876 876

ISO 9001 / 14001 ENGINEERED-TO-ORDER CLASS — HYDRAULIC PALLET TRUCK AND MANUAL STACKER DUTY · FORKS AND FRAME · PUMP AND VALVES · MAST AND LEGS · BUILD · PROVE — UP BY THE STROKE, DOWN BY THE VALVE. ENGINEERED IN NOIDA · INDIA