Pallet Jack Buying Guide

Buying your first hand pallet truck? Also commonly known as a pallet jack. Make the right choice to ensure the best bang for investment.  You only need to ask yourself a few simple questions to get the right one.  If it's your first time buying one and operating one. Spend 3 minutes to familiarise yourself with some hand pallet truck safety guidelines.

Once you know what you need, head on down to browse our hand pallet truck selection.

What is the typical weight of the load you are moving on the hand pallet truck?

Choose a hand pallet truck that can take on at least 15% more weight than your typical loads.  That means to say if you normally move 2,000kg (2T) of goods, you would want to get a hand pallet truck with maximum capacity greater than 2.3T, in this case our 3T hand pallet truck will do the trick.  If you move 3T loads frequently, it will be advisable to take a 5T capacity to ensure safety of your goods and a longer working life of your equipment.

For most typical applications and common use, a hand pallet truck capacity of 3T (3,000kg) is sufficient.

Do you need Nylon wheels or PU wheels?

Nylon wheels are the main workhorses and by far the most chosen option for its longevity , hardiness and are virtually maintenance free.

The drawback of nylon wheels is due to their hard material nature, they tend to generate more noise when in use and after some time of grinding on all sorts of road surfaces, they roughen up.  So remember if you are going to use a hand pallet truck with nylon wheels indoors where you have precious flooring installed, you will need to cover the floor with a layer of protection before rolling your hand pallet truck in.

PU wheels on the other hand are softer and give a better rolling feel as compared to nylon wheels, they provide quieter rolling operation and provides damping against vibrations when used on rough surfaces which might be essential when moving sensitive equipment.  Owing to it's softness, it doesn't roughen up easily and is suitable for indoor use creating too much noise and reduces the chance of scratching the floor.  Although the hand pallet truck's PU wheel itself does not  scratch the floor, be wary of small stones stuck on the wheel surface that becomes the culprit.

The main drawback of PU wheels are it's shorter lifespan, if left exposed to the elements, it might shorten it's lifespan.  Typical PU wheels will last about 3 years when used within it's recommended operation environment.

Do you require safety features like an overload protection?

Overload protection on the pallet jack means that if it was rated for a 3T load, the pallet truck will not lift any load on the pallet that is over 3T. This protects the user, your cargo and the environment.

What happens in normal pallet jacks without overloading protection is the hydraulic pump breaks down and drops the cargo usually halfway when moving. This sudden drop breaks the pallet most of the time and the cargo will fall off casuing damage or even injury to people. Once a hydraulic pump breaks, the pallet jack is useless and it will not lift anything at all. Hope you have a spare one!

We offer both types of pallet jacks to suit your needs. If you are certain that your goods will never pass the rated load then it would be fine to save a couple of bucks. Otherwise, we say it's a good investment.

Do you need a low profile pallet truck?

Our standard pallet trucks can lift loads with ground clearance of as low as 8.5cm which would fit most applications of moving loads on normal pallets.  However if you have special loads on low profile pallets, low clearance pallets or moving machinery, we have low profile pallet trucks that will go down to 6.5cm as well.

Still can't decide which pallet truck to buy? Don't worry give us a call or drop us at email, we'll help you choose the best hand pallet truck.