Hyster Lift Truck Series Earns Silver Product of the Year Award

Hyster Company’s Fortis S80-120FT lift truck series has won a 2014 Silver Product of the Year award from Plant Engineering in the material handling systems category. The series was selected for its ability to boost performance and reduce downtime in heavy duty applications. While Plant Engineering’s editorial staff oversees the nomination process, the final award recipients are determined based on voting from the magazine’s readers.

The Fortis S80-120FT lift truck series offers features designed to increase engine cooling capabilities and productivity, allowing customers extended runtimes and superior dependability. The optional on-demand cooling system helps boost performance and nearly eliminates the likelihood of engine overheating.

The series includes a Kubota 3.8L spark ignited LPG powertrain.

It matches cooling fan speed directly to engine temperatures, regardless of engine speed, while allowing more cooling at idle speed to maintain proper engine and transmission temperatures. When the need for cooling is low, the fan speed reduces significantly, even at wide-open engine throttle, allowing trucks to run an entire shift without having to stop and cool off.

The cooling fan significantly extends radiator cleaning intervals, and with proper truck and facility upkeep, can reduce the need to clean debris from the radiator and under hood areas. The cooling fan deploys automatic reversal cycles every 20 minutes, preventing radiator buildup and reducing cleaning frequency, which can result in higher productivity and a higher return on investment. To enhance oil flow, the on-demand hydraulic system featuring a variable displacement pump is available. This system supplies the right amount of oil as needed, reducing fuel consumption by up to 22%.

The series includes a Kubota 3.8L spark ignited LPG powertrain designed for tough applications with high load duty cycles. An advanced feature that comes standard with the engine is Hyster Variable Power Technology, which provides adjustable performance modes allowing customers to maximize productivity or fuel economy to fit their specific application requirements.

“At Hyster, we work closely with customers across a wide range of industries to address the need to increase performance and uptime while enhancing fuel economy and efficiency,” said Bill Pfleger, vice president of counterbalance solution. “This award is evidence of the market need this product fills and confirms the value end-users receive by choosing Hyster products.”

In its 27th year, the Plant Engineering Product of the Year award competition allows readers to select the outstanding new products that help them do their jobs smarter, safer, more efficiently and more productively.