Manual vs electronic hydraulic control

I'm replacing an aged forklift with a late model Hyster that just came off lease. The dealer says it is full electronic, all the controls are switches in the right arm rest. It looks pretty cool, but its a 4 hour drive one way to go test drive it. He says he also has the same model same year with traditional manual levers he can offer instead. We do a lot of delicate lifting and I really think having the mechanical "feel" of those manual valves is important. Dealer said he could adjust the switch sensitivity in the software, but I can't change it once he sets it with his computer. It's a somewhat major purchase, and I'm really concerned the electronics will not have the tactile feedback we are used to. Didn't help that I had a DT466e break a tiny pin in the ECM connector this week, tow bill and rebuilt ECM module cost $2500, so I'm kind of in a funk about electronics on heavy equipment in general. I know a lot of the newer tractors have electronic hydraulic controls, is there a noticeable difference in operator feel?

Used to set up hydraulic systems to feed stacked hay. set up one with electric controls. Was a nightmare for an operator used to manual valves. Need the versatility of manual valve. They might be more refined by now. One setting will not be satisfactory. Just my experience.

Ted

i have two large forklifts look into trade up and it had what you talked about i tried it, i did not like the feel. but sometimes we always don't like change. but no i did not go that route i stayed levers.

The first time the electric/electronic stuff doesn't work you will wish you had the manual valves.

Electronics do not belong on such a machine. Go for the one with manual controls. If needed, you can fix it yourself instead of waiting for the dealer to drive 4 hours to fix it.

Go price the parts for the manual levers (you may never wear them out) and then the electronic switches (sure to go bad). This may help with your decision. I work in parts and there is a trend of the electronic parts cost alot more and are a big source of machines being out of service.

Call me old-fashioned if you like, but I see no added value in electronic controls on a fork lift.

Even if the electronic model can be adjusted to make it do what you want, how much time does it take to adjust it to get desired results ? There is no "feel" to any electronic system on the tractors I have driven. Maybe fork lifts are different.

It just sounds like something else to break down to me, when the manual valve worked just as good or better(faster) all along.

Thanks for the quick replies, manual it is. One of my guys brought up a great point while we were gathering up this morning, we just completed OSHA forklift training a few weeks ago. We'll need to have everyone checked out on the new truck when it arrives next week, why add another variable. Thanks all.

On a fork truck... I'd go manual as much as possible. Electrics have their place... but if this is for farm use... and mabey occasional use... electrics are probably going to be a nightmare.

Rod

I don't know. If it is rocker switches, that would not be too handy I think. But on the other hand how about the difference between a straight hydraulic back hoe and an electric over hydraulic excavator. elec over hydraulic is soooo much easier.

I know I'm subject to a lot of ridicule and I don't care. If it's something you are going to use very often GO ELECTRIC. It is so much nicer and user friendly. As far as problem I highly doubt you ever see one. Nearly every piece of construction equipment the last 10 years have electric over hydraulic. Everyone acts like it's some complicated system or something new. Buying something without it that age is about like buying a tractor with no pto. It just doesn't make sense. The controls are better placed and much easier to do 2 functions at once. I know most everyone says stick with the old it works my answer to that in respectable terms...it also worked fine when we went to the bathroom outside but isn't having a warm seat and just flushing it away a lot nicer. I understand some new things aren't great. Take emissions for example. Lots to go wrong but that was something they were forced to do. Electric controls were not. They took their time done it right and is a good system and everyone is happy. I don't know of anyone that runs electric that would want to go back given the option

My 6530 Branson has several electric niceities. That and the Cummins B 3.3 NA and taking in 3 tractors in trade are the reasons I bought it in 2007. It has several niceties I really enjoy. One is the 3pt lift/drop function. Push a toggle it lifts, push it again it drops. You can set the drop height via a manual control in the cab as usual and out back adjacent to the 3 pt hookup....big aid in getting hooked up.

I used to think that cordless power tools would never catch on. It's getting harder and harder to find corded power tools. Funny how that works out. Semi tractors with automatic transmissions and power steering? Never happen!!! Yep, funny how things work out. I have a theory that all of these odd things that are out there originated because of the Edsel that had push buttons instead of levers and knobs...a space ship with tires that kind of looked like a car.

Mark

Funny... my experience with electric stuff on mobile equipment is that it's usually the electric stuff that fails, not the mechanical stuff... It's worse on stuff that sees limited use.
I do tend to agree with you that if it's running 8 hours a day, electrics are generally more ergonomic and generally fairly reliable. It's the stuff that sits, corroding... or catching rats and mice that give a lot of headaches... In those situations, I will take lever or lever/pilot controls.

Rod

Doug. We have a Hyster 60 and 65.
Great machines. They were bought as they can back from a lease about 6-8 years ago. Both have three leavers on the side down low... it was actually a bit tricky to get used to as out other forklifts had the controls up front. The short answer is we got used to them and you will likely get used to the electric controls too. Unless there is some other issue I would go for it...
Everything is expensive to fix and older parts are sometimes even harder to source parts. We have a few excavators. My older Hitachi EX 60 -1 just had some work done on the final drive... seals and brake piston, it was about $2700 for this little work. Some parts are no longer avalible and some used parts are hard to find for this machine now.
Alternatively our EX 120 is electric over hydraulic. It is even smoother to contro than the the other machines which are hydraulic over hydraulic. We were having some throttle control issues on one mechanic wanted to change a few parts. The guy who did my final drive suggested I just reset the computer codes... a total switch and the ignition on for 10 seconds. Instant fix.... note this is the first time for me that electric problems have been resolved so easy.

Good luck, you will like the Hyster either way, just make sure you have the right tires for your conditions. We have one that is a more "solid" pneumatic than the other, it tends to get stuck a little more often than the others.
Grant

A good friend runs a fertilizer/chemical supply business, He has eight Hyster fork lifts. The one with electric controls has cost him over $6500 in repairs in the last three years. The ones with mechanical controls have only cost him $10500 in total repairs for all seven of them in the same time period. There is a controller that runs that touch controls. When it fails it is $2500 for a remanufactured one or a new one at $4500.

He called me to come and look at it in December. It worked fine when they lifted a man basket up to check some lights out in the warehouse. The operator shut it off so he could talk to the fellow in the basket. When he restarted it to let the man down the electric controls would not work. I figured out what solenoid worked the mast and jumper wired it to lower the basket. The repair company came out and the controller was bad again for the second time in under 800 hours.

So you buy what you want. The electric controls are nice if your using the lift eight hours a day. There is less fatigue but the dependability is lower in an older machine. If it is new an under warranty then who cares. IF your an employee your not paying the repair bills so you would like the electric controls. LOL If your a dealer selling a machine you would like the built in service work.

(quoted from post at 19:11:47 03/10/17) I used to think that cordless power tools would never catch on. It's getting harder and harder to find corded power tools. Funny how that works out. Semi tractors with automatic transmissions and power steering? Never happen!!! Yep, funny how things work out. I have a theory that all of these odd things that are out there originated because of the Edsel that had push buttons instead of levers and knobs...a space ship with tires that kind of looked like a car.

Mark

Click to expand...

Yep - and I'm the guy who said that 'electric (electronic) watches would never last on the market!

I've operated Hyster with the electric switches (lift, tilt, sideshift), they were work perfectly fine and were less tiring to run all day than the manual levers. You had the same feel as the same lift truck in manual config.

Having said that, if it was in my yard and it was going to be used intermittently, manual levers can't mess up!

Pulsar with the red led display didn't. They now make electric but with a dial. I have one.