A dead forklift stops the whole dock, not just itself.
One lift truck down and the trailer at the door waits, the pick list stops, and everybody stands around. We come to the warehouse and work on the unit where it sits, propane, electric or diesel.
- Open 24 hours, seven days
- No hourly minimum
- A real number before we roll
- Propane, electric and diesel units
Three power sources, three different repairs
People say forklift like it is one machine. It is three. A propane unit is a gasoline engine running on vapor, so its faults live in the regulator, the lock-off solenoid, the vaporizer and the tank fittings, and a hard-starting propane lift is usually one of those four rather than the engine itself. An electric lift is a battery pack, a set of contactors and a controller, and almost everything that goes wrong with one is a connection, a cell, or a charger that has been quietly underperforming for months. A diesel lift is a diesel engine in a small frame, with the fuel, glow and cooling problems that come with that.
Knowing which of the three is parked in your building changes what goes in the truck before we leave. That is why the first questions on the phone are the power source, the make, and what the unit does when you turn the key. A propane lift that cranks and dies wants different parts than an electric one that clicks and sits.
What stays the same across all three is the mast, the carriage, the chains and the hydraulics that lift and tilt them. That half of the machine does not care what powers it, and it is where a good share of our forklift work actually happens.
Worth a call todayA mast that drifts down under load, a chain that has gone slack on one side, forks that will not tilt level, a lift that cranks but will not catch, or a hydraulic weep you keep mopping up.
The numberYou hear a real number before we roll, and there is no hourly minimum, so a half-hour fix is billed as a half-hour fix.
ReachWarehouses and yards through Napa and Solano, with regular runs into Contra Costa, Alameda and Sonoma. Look at the counties we cover.
Working around a shift that is still running
A warehouse does not stop because a mechanic showed up. Pallets keep moving, other lifts keep driving past, and there is usually a truck at the door with a driver watching the clock. So the first thing we do on arrival is agree on space: where the unit can be pulled to, what gets coned off, and who on your side knows we are working there.
That matters more than it sounds. A forklift with the mast apart or the battery disconnected is not obviously broken to somebody walking by, and a lift truck that gets started while a tech is inside the mast is how people get hurt. Ten seconds of agreement at the start prevents it.
The other half is timing. Plenty of our forklift work happens before the shift starts, after it ends, or on a Saturday when the floor is quiet and the unit can be worked on properly instead of in twenty-minute snatches. We are open around the clock anyway, so picking the hour that costs you the least production is usually free.
Where lift trucks actually break
These overlap constantly. A mast that drifts and a cylinder that weeps are frequently the same fault seen from two ends, and a lift that will not start is as often a cable as a battery.
Mast, chain and carriage
Chains stretch unevenly, rollers wear, and the carriage starts to bind on the way up. Chain tension and wear get measured, not eyeballed, because a chain is the thing holding load over someone’s head.
Lift and tilt cylinders
A mast that sinks while parked with a load on it is a cylinder or a valve passing internally. Tilt cylinders that no longer hold the forks level are the same story on a different circuit.
Hoses and fittings
Hoses run up and down the mast and chafe where they are routed. A pinhole leak that sprays under pressure is a fire and slip hazard as much as a repair.
Electrical faults
Contactors, cables, corroded terminals and controllers on electric units. On propane and diesel lifts, starting and charging circuits that have been fed vibration for years.
Scheduled service
Oil, filters, hydraulic fluid, chain lubrication and a walk of the wear points. Cheap work that prevents the expensive kind.
The rest of the yard
Plenty of sites that run forklifts also run loaders, boom lifts and telehandlers. Telehandler work is the same trade: a boom, a hydraulic circuit and a diesel engine.
A lift truck carrying load overhead gets inspected, not bodged
There is a line in this trade that we do not cross. A forklift raises weight over a concrete floor that people walk on. When a mast, a chain, a carriage or a lift cylinder is the problem, the fix is the correct part installed correctly, and the unit does not go back to work until the lift function has been tested empty and then under load.
That occasionally means telling a warehouse manager something they did not want to hear on a Friday afternoon. A stretched chain does not get shimmed. A cylinder that passes does not get topped off and sent back to the dock. If a unit needs a part we do not carry, it gets tagged out and we schedule the return rather than leaving something half-safe in service.
The same applies to the daily inspection your operators are already supposed to be doing. If they are writing up the same fault every morning and nobody is acting on it, that paper trail becomes a problem the day something goes wrong. Fixing the small write-ups is much cheaper than explaining them later.
Show up quick, do the job right, and treat every customer like family. That is the whole business.
Patrick Freeman, owner
What warehouses ask before we come out
If your question is not below, calling is faster than typing it. Somebody answers at any hour.
Do you work on electric forklifts as well as propane?
Yes, all three power sources. Electric units are mostly batteries, cables, contactors and controllers, and a surprising number of no-start calls on them turn out to be a corroded connection or a charger that has been failing slowly. Propane lifts bring regulator, vaporizer and lock-off faults. Diesel units are a diesel engine in a small frame. Tell us which one you have when you call and the right parts come with us.
My mast sinks when it is loaded. Can that be fixed on site?
Usually yes. A mast that drifts down under load is normally a lift cylinder passing internally or a control valve that is no longer sealing, and both are diagnosable in your building. Whether the repair finishes the same visit depends on the part. Seals and hoses are often same day, while a cylinder that has to be rebuilt or replaced may mean tagging the unit out and returning.
Can you work while the warehouse is running?
We can, as long as we agree on a space to work in and your people know we are there. A lift with the mast apart or the battery disconnected does not look broken to somebody walking past, so it gets coned off and nobody starts it but us. Many customers prefer that we come before the shift, after it, or on a weekend, which is easy enough since we run around the clock.
Do you service telehandlers too?
Yes. A telehandler is the same trade from a mechanic’s point of view: a boom, a hydraulic circuit, a diesel engine and a set of wear points that want checking on a schedule. Sites that run lift trucks indoors and telehandlers in the yard generally get both looked at on the same visit rather than booking two.
How do you handle a unit that needs a part you do not carry?
You hear about it the same day. The truck carries hoses, fittings, fluid, filters and electrical stock, and we can make a hydraulic hose to length on site. Anything beyond that gets sourced and scheduled, and the forklift is tagged out rather than left in service in a half-repaired state. We will not leave a lift working when the reason it stopped is still in it.
Is there a call-out charge on top of the repair?
No. One figure covers coming to you and doing the work, and you hear it before we leave the shop. There is no hourly minimum either, which matters on forklift work because plenty of these calls are a twenty-minute cable or fitting rather than a half-day job.
Get the dock moving again.
Tell us the power source, the make, and what the lift does when you turn the key. That is usually enough for a real number and an arrival window on the same call. One phone number reaches the mechanic, any hour of any day.
HoursMonday to Sunday, 24 hours
Based inAmerican Canyon, CA
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