Capacity calculations
Residual capacity and load centre
Work out a planning figure before you ask for a quote. The server runs the forklift formula. A sentence is read for the plate figures, and a model can help read a harder sentence when ETEQ has connected one. The model does not choose the kilograms.
How the formula works
The truck is rated for a moment about the front axle. An attachment uses some of that moment before the load is added. The capacity that remains is:
Residual capacity = (Q × (D + LL) − W × (ET + LL)) ÷ (D1 + ET + LL)
- Q, rated capacity
- Kilograms on the capacity plate.
- D, rated load centre
- The centre that plate was rated at, in millimetres.
- LL, lost load
- Horizontal distance from the front-axle centreline to the carriage face.
- W, attachment weight
- The attachment, including its hoses and mounting, in kilograms.
- ET, effective thickness
- Carriage face to the face that touches the load.
- D1, actual load centre
- From that load face to the centre of gravity. For a uniform load it is half the length.
A worked check
A 2 500 kg truck rated at 500 mm, with 400 mm lost load, a 450 kg attachment, 120 mm effective thickness and a 600 mm load centre:
(2 500 × (500 + 400) − 450 × (120 + 400)) ÷ (600 + 120 + 400) = 1 800 kg.
The page rounds the headline to the nearest 10 kg. Without the lost load, a simple rated-centre ratio is only a rough check, and it is the wrong check once an attachment is fitted.
What this page does not guess
- Feeler model capacity. The quote names the model against the duty.
- Tyre-handler rating. The published Saur range covers tyres up to 16 000 kg, and the carrier still needs its own residual check.
- A re-plate. Only the capacity plate and the written quote from ETEQ set that.
The same arithmetic is explained in how attachments affect forklift capacity. To have the combination checked, send the truck and the load to sales.