The mast will not hold a load up
If the forks drift down on their own, the machine has lost the ability to hold height. Set the load on the ground, keep everyone out from under the forks, and stop using it.
Answered 24/7
Emergency Forklift Repair
Machine down and holding up work? Call 843-920-6959. Emergency calls are answered around the clock, and we come to the forklift wherever it sits.
Mobile service out of Pamplico, SC · Serving the Pee Dee and the Grand Strand.
Call First
A forklift down mid shift is a different problem than one down on a Tuesday morning.
When a machine quits with a trailer half loaded or a truck waiting, the cost is not the repair. It is the shift. That is why the phone gets answered at night and on weekends, and why the first thing we do is talk through the symptom rather than schedule a visit and hang up.
Some emergency calls get solved on the phone. A machine that will not start because of an interlock, a seat switch, or an empty tank does not need a truck rolling. We would rather tell you that in three minutes than drive out and bill you for it.
What we will not do is quote you an arrival time we cannot keep. How fast we get there depends on where you are and what else is down. Call and we will tell you straight where you sit.
Stop Work Now
Faults that mean park it, not push through.
A forklift that is limping is still a forklift carrying a load over people. These are the symptoms where the right move is to set the load down, shut it off, and call.
Brakes are soft, long, or gone
A loaded forklift on a dock plate with poor brakes is the worst version of this job. Park it somewhere flat, chock it, and call.
Steering has gone heavy or vague
Rear steer at speed with a load up front leaves very little margin. If the steering has changed, the machine should not be moving.
Fuel or hydraulic fluid is leaking
Fluid under pressure near a hot engine is a fire risk, and on the floor it is a slip risk. Shut it down where it is and do not run it out for one more pallet.
Something is cracked, bent, or hanging
Forks, mast channels, the carriage, the overhead guard. Structural damage does not get worse gradually. It holds and then it does not.
It is smoking, overheating, or smells burnt
Shut it off. Keep a machine running to finish a job and a repair turns into a replacement, or worse.
Make it safe before anything else
Get the load down and on the ground. Never leave a load in the air on a machine that is faulty, and never let anyone work under raised forks that are being held up by hydraulics.
Park it out of the traffic route if it will still move safely. If it will not, leave it where it is, chock the wheels, and put something around it so a truck or another lift does not find it the hard way. Take the key.
If the machine has been leaking fuel, get people back and do not restart it to reposition it. Moving a forklift to tidy the yard has caused more damage than most of the original faults.
Then work out what actually happened
Write down what the operator was doing when it quit. Loaded or empty, lifting or driving, cold start or four hours in. That single detail rules out half the possibilities before anyone looks at the machine.
Note any warning light, code, alarm, or noise, and whether it came on before or after the failure. Check the obvious things while you are there: fuel level, an LP tank that could be empty, whether the seat switch and parking brake are doing what they should.
Have the make, model, serial number, and hour meter reading ready if they can be reached safely. Do not climb on a damaged machine to find a data plate.
What we cannot promise
We will not give you an arrival window on the phone that we are not confident about. Distance, time of day, and what else is broken all decide it, and a number invented to sound good helps nobody at seven in the morning.
What you will get is a straight answer about where you stand, whether the fault sounds like something you can clear yourself, and what it will take to get the machine working.
When You Call
Have this ready and it moves faster.
Say it is down
Lead with the fact that the machine is stopping work. It changes how the call gets handled.
Where it is
The job address, which gate or door reaches the machine, and who to ask for on site. Mention any check in requirement.
What it is
Make, model, serial number, fuel type, and hours. If you cannot get to the plate safely, call anyway and describe the machine.
Where We Work
Emergency forklift repair across the Pee Dee and the Grand Strand.
We are mobile, so the repair comes to the machine. Pick your area for local detail.
A Few Straight Answers
Emergency questions
If the forklift is down right now, calling is faster than reading.
Call 843-920-6959Do you really answer the phone at night and on weekends?
Yes. Emergency calls are answered 24/7. Say straight away that the machine is down and holding up work.
How fast can you get here?
It depends on where you are and what else is down. We will tell you honestly where you stand when you call rather than quoting a window we cannot keep.
What counts as an emergency?
A machine that has stopped work, or one that has become unsafe to operate. A forklift blocking a loading bay, a mast that will not hold a load, brakes that have gone soft. If it is stopping the job or putting somebody at risk, treat it as one.
Can some of this be solved over the phone?
Sometimes, and we will try. Interlocks, seat switches, an empty LP tank, a tripped disconnect. If it is something you can clear yourself we would rather tell you than send a truck.
Should I keep using the forklift until you arrive?
If any of the symptoms on this page apply, no. Set the load down, park it safely, and take the key. A machine that is limping is still lifting weight over people.
Do you come to us or do we haul it in?
We come to the machine. Call before arranging any haul, because most of the time it is unnecessary and it costs you time you do not have.
What if it turns out to be a big repair?
You hear what is involved before the work starts. If the machine is not safe to operate we will say so plainly, and what happens next is your call.
Machine Down
Call now and tell us what stopped.
843-920-6959. Answered 24/7 for emergencies, and we come to the forklift.