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Hug the opposite side of the aisle you intend to pick. If
you are getting a pallet from the right you must position the truck
to the far left side of the aisle and vice versa. Many people
wonder how the Flexi can operate in such a small aisle with no reach
pantograph. It's because of the positioning of the vehicle to
the opposite side of the aisle. Positioning to the opposite side of
the aisle allows the vehicle to reach through the aisle and into the
rack to get the pallet and pull it out of the rack back into the
aisle. |
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| Do not turn (steer) the front end too soon. Invariably a brand new operator will turn the Flexi too soon and undershoot the pallet when first attempting to pick a pallet. Why? Because they turn where they would normally turn when driving a conventional forklift or reach truck. But the Flexi has no rear end swing!!! When turning at that spot they will ALWAYS undershoot the pallet by about 18” because the front axle actually comes under the chassis of the truck much quicker than they expect. In order to understand this relationship, a new operator should drive straight ahead and stop when the leading edge of the front tire is even with the center stringer of the pallet to be picked. With the vehicle stopped, the operator should turn the front end 90 degrees. He will then be centered into the pallet to be picked. Training in this way will show a new operator when to turn. A seasoned operator will not stop the truck in this manner, but rather will continue on in one fluid movement into the rack. The speed with which the steering wheel is turned is a function of the vehicle’s forward or reverse speed. |
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| Pick a load from the 3rd or 4th level. These levels give you the best visibility and control of the load. Also at the higher levels, back tilt will allow you additional “shift” out of the rack, making it easier to remove the pallet. |
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| Use as short a fork as possible while still stabilizing the load. Longer forks may not hinder the effectiveness of a conventional forklift, but it can impact a Flexi. Remember that this is a very narrow aisle forklift. 39” forks are standard on the Flexi . |
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| Be sure to put the truck in a full 360 degree turn and drive it. The Flexi does not look like a narrow aisle forklift, but it acts much smaller than it looks. You must see the tremendous maneuverability this vehicle possesses to appreciated it. |
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| When operating in a very narrow 6’ to 6 ½’ aisle. In these really narrow aisles, the Flexi is working on minimum requirements which will, of course, slow it down to some degree. Short forks are VERY important in these smaller aisles. Also, more side clearance will help because you begin to use some of the side clearance within the rack itself in order to get the load out of the rack. Side shift also becomes more important. When picking a load on the right put all of your side shift to the left (and vise versa). With the side shift fully extended you now can “cheat” and get additional side shift stroke when needed to retrieve a load in minimum aisle clearance conditions. |
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| When operating in congested manufacturing areas. The Flexi can actually pick a load in about a 4’ aisle in this environment. How? Put your forks into a pallet, then lift it up over the obstructions without putting the Flexi into reverse (like you would in pallet rack). Now simply rotate back into the frontal position. Flexis work great in this congested environment. Also, no rear end swing really improves safety when there are pedestrians working on production machinery. |
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| The Flexi is built from conventional components. It is actually very similar to a conventional counterbalanced forklift, but with a different steering assembly. It has a conventional mast, conventional motors, conventional drive, conventional speed controller, conventional electronics, and conventional hydraulic system. A normal mechanic with little additional training can easily work on a Flexi . Flexi's maintenance and downtime characteristics can be favorably compared to a conventional counterbalanced forklift. Typical narrow aisle forklifts can not claim this. Most wearable parts are available from a variety of sources. Some examples are the GE-EV100LX speed controller, contactors and fuses, SAE standard hydraulic hoses and JIC fittings, tires, bearings, Advance DC drive, hydraulic and power steering motors,
our Lift Technology quad masts and 48 volt industrial batteries. Narrow Aisle Inc. maintains spare parts in
our 60,000 sq. ft. facility in Dallas. |
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| 3 year/3,000 hour truck warranty and the 5 year/5,000 hour warranty on the steering mechanism. This is the longest warranty on any VNA truck currently available. Customers are most often concerned about the steering assembly because it is the one component that appears unconventional on the truck. This assembly is overbuilt and rated at 20 tons capacity. |
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| The
Flexi has a straight in/straight out method of inserting and retrieving a load from rack: Because of this straight in/out action you can technically get away with no side clearance which is an important advantage when you have a variety of load sizes with a variety of overhang that reduces side clearance. This straight in/out action is a MUST when loading/unloading pushback or flow rack, a huge advantage over the swing mast trucks which come into the load at an extreme angle. |
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