We buy forklifts
Sell Your Forklift
Electric, LP and diesel — priced on capacity, mast, tyres and battery condition.
- Written offers
- Transport arranged
- Running or not
- California
On this page
MachineryBarn buys used forklifts — electric and internal combustion, cushion and pneumatic tyre, warehouse units and rough terrain machines. Forklifts are priced differently from earthmoving equipment: capacity, mast configuration and power type set the buyer pool before hours are even considered, and on an electric lift the battery can be worth more than the rest of the truck. The data plate is the single most important thing on the machine — without it, a forklift is very hard to sell legitimately.
What counts as a forklift
A forklift, or powered industrial truck, lifts and moves palletised loads on forks carried by a mast. The industry classifies them into seven ITA classes, and the class largely determines who buys a used one: Class I electric counterbalanced riders and Class IV and V internal combustion trucks are the general-purpose machines, Class II are narrow-aisle warehouse units, Class III are hand and walkie pallet trucks, and Class VII are rough terrain machines built for yards and construction sites.
Capacity is rated in pounds at a stated load centre, almost always 24 inches. A 5,000 lb truck is the volume segment of the used market. Capacity falls as the load moves further from the mast and falls again once an attachment is fitted, which is why the data plate lists the derated figures rather than a single number.
Where these machines usually come from
- Warehouse and distribution centre pallet handling
- Manufacturing and production line material movement
- Lumber yards, building supply and outdoor storage
- Loading and unloading trailers at dock height
- Construction sites and yards, on rough terrain machines
- Cold storage, where dedicated units are built for the environment
Forklifts we buy
Configuration changes who the next buyer is, so it changes the offer. These are the variants worth naming when you describe your machine.
- Electric counterbalanced (Class I)
- Indoor general purpose. Quiet, no emissions, and the battery and charger are a substantial part of the value.
- Narrow aisle and reach trucks (Class II)
- Order pickers, reach trucks, turret trucks. Specialist buyers, and value depends on whether the racking they suit is common.
- Internal combustion, cushion tyre (Class IV)
- Smooth solid tyres for finished indoor floors. LP is the usual fuel. The workhorse of light industry.
- Internal combustion, pneumatic tyre (Class V)
- Indoor and outdoor use on rougher surfaces. LP and diesel both common. The widest resale pool of any forklift type.
- Rough terrain (Class VII)
- Large flotation tyres, often four-wheel drive, built for construction sites and yards. Frequently confused with telehandlers — a telehandler has a telescopic boom, not a vertical mast.
What determines a used forklift's value
Roughly in order of how much each one moves the number.
- 1
Rated capacity and load centre
Capacity sets the buyer pool before anything else. A 5,000 lb truck fits most general warehouse work; going up to 8,000 or 15,000 lb narrows the buyers but raises the value of the right machine.
How to check it: Read it off the data plate, not off the model number — attachments and mast height change the rated figure.
- 2
Power type
LP, diesel and electric buy different markets. Electric suits indoor food and retail environments; diesel is outdoor and yard work; LP sits in between and is the most common in general industry. A machine wrong for a buyer's environment is not a cheaper option for them, it is unusable.
- 3
Battery age and condition, on electric trucks
On an older electric forklift the battery is frequently the most valuable component, and a tired one can make an otherwise sound truck hard to place. Industrial lead-acid batteries have a working life measured in charge cycles, and a battery near the end of it is a significant replacement cost for the next owner.
How to check it: Look for the manufacture date on the battery case, check for swelling, heavy sulphation or corroded connectors, and note whether a matching charger is included.
- 4
Mast configuration
Two-stage, three-stage and quad masts, and whether the truck has free lift, decide what buildings it can work in. Lowered height matters just as much as maximum fork height — a mast that will not clear a door or a trailer is a problem regardless of how high it reaches.
How to check it: Record maximum fork height and lowered mast height. Both are on the data plate.
- 5
Tyre type and condition
Cushion tyres suit smooth indoor floors; pneumatic tyres suit outdoor and rough surfaces. Tyres are a straightforward replacement cost but they signal how the truck was used.
How to check it: Solid tyres carry a moulded wear line — once worn to it they are done. Look for chunking and flat spots as well.
- 6
Mast, chain and fork wear
These are the safety-critical wear items and they are inspected closely. Fork blades are conventionally condemned at ten per cent loss of thickness at the heel, and lift chains at around three per cent elongation. Worn forks or stretched chains are a straightforward deduction.
How to check it: Compare fork blade thickness at the heel against the shank. Look for cracks at the fork hooks and heel, and for stiff or rusted chain links.
- 7
Attachments
Side shift is close to expected on a modern truck. Fork positioners, rotators, carton and paper roll clamps and drum handlers all add value, but they also derate capacity, so the data plate must reflect what is fitted.
- 8
The data plate itself
A forklift with a missing or illegible data plate is a genuine problem. It carries the capacity ratings that make the truck usable, and replacing it means going back to the manufacturer with the serial number. Buyers discount heavily for a missing plate.
How to check it: Photograph the plate early. If it is gone, find the serial number stamped on the frame — usually near the mast mount or on the cowl.
How usage is measured
Hours, but be careful which hours. Many forklifts record key-on hours and drive or deadman hours separately, and the two can differ enormously — a truck that idles all shift accumulates key hours without doing much work. Tell us both readings if the display shows them, and say which meter you are quoting.
What gets inspected on a forklift
Knowing what a buyer looks at lets you describe the machine accurately the first time, which avoids the offer changing later.
Mast and carriage
Channel wear, roller condition and play, bent or twisted uprights, and smooth staging through the full lift.
Forks
Blade thickness at the heel, cracks at the hooks, bent tips, and whether the pair is matched.
Lift chains
Elongation, seized or rusted links, even tension between the two chains, and anchor condition.
Hydraulics
Lift cylinder leak-down with a load held, tilt cylinder drift, hose condition inside the mast, and leaks at the valve bank.
Powertrain
On IC trucks, cold start, transmission engagement and smoke. On electric trucks, controller faults, motor brush wear where accessible, and charge behaviour.
Safety equipment
Overhead guard damage, seat belt and presence switch function, horn, lights, and legible capacity plate.
Wear items that dominate cost on this class
What we need to price your forklift
You do not need all of it to start. The more of it you have, the closer the first number is to the final one.
- Make, model and serial number, plus a photograph of the data plate if it is readable
- Rated capacity and load centre
- Power type — LP, diesel, gasoline, or electric with battery voltage
- Mast type, maximum fork height and lowered height
- Tyre type, cushion or pneumatic, and rough condition
- Hours, and which meter the reading came from
- Attachments fitted, including side shift
- For electric trucks: battery age, and whether a charger is included
- Whether it starts, drives and lifts
Common situations
The circumstances that come up most often when someone sells a forklift, and what each one actually means for the sale.
The battery is dead on an electric truck
Very common, and it does not make the truck worthless. A sound machine with a failed battery is still bought — the offer reflects a replacement battery rather than treating the whole unit as scrap. Say whether the charger is included, because a matched charger has value of its own.
The data plate is missing
Tell us up front. It is not a dealbreaker but it does change the number, because the next owner has to source a replacement plate from the manufacturer using the serial number before the truck can be put to work.
A warehouse is closing or relocating
Send the whole list at once — trucks, batteries, chargers, and any racking-specific units. A mixed group is easier to price as a package, and pickups can be scheduled around your move-out date rather than crammed into a single visit.
The truck has not run in years
Worth telling us how long, and whether it was stored indoors. A forklift parked inside for five years is a very different proposition from one that has sat outside — on the outdoor unit the mast, chains and hydraulics all need reassessment.
It is a lease return or fleet turnover
Check who actually holds title before agreeing anything. On leased trucks the leasing company owns the machine, and a well-intentioned sale by the operator causes real problems later.
Moving a forklift
Forklifts are among the easiest machines we collect. Most warehouse trucks travel on a deck-over or flatbed trailer, and only the larger capacity units need a lowboy. The usual complication is height: a three-stage mast may need to come down or come off to travel legally, and that is worth knowing before the truck arrives. Units that will not drive are winched on, which is routine as long as we know in advance. Transport is arranged and paid for by us and is inside the offer figure.
Ownership and paperwork
Forklifts are not titled in California. Ownership transfers by bill of sale against the serial number, so photograph the serial and the data plate early. Leased and financed trucks are the common complication — leasing is widespread in this category, so confirm you actually own the machine before selling it. Any finance normally appears as a UCC filing and is settled as part of the purchase.
Attachments and extras
Side shift, fork positioners, rotators, clamps, drum handlers and extended forks all count and all should be listed. Note that an attachment derates the truck's capacity, so the data plate should show the derated figures — if it does not, the attachment was probably fitted after the fact, which is worth mentioning.
Makes and model families we see most
We buy forklifts from manufacturers beyond this list. These are the ones that come up most often, with the series a seller is likely to recognise from the machine.
| Manufacturer | Model families |
|---|---|
| Toyota | 8-Series and Core IC, the volume brand in the US used market |
| Hyster | Fortis, XT and big-truck ranges |
| Yale | Veracitor and ERP electric series |
| Crown | Strong in Class II narrow aisle and Class III |
| Caterpillar | Cat lift truck range, built alongside Mitsubishi |
| Komatsu | FG and FD series |
| Nissan / Unicarriers | Common in older US warehouse fleets |
| Clark | One of the oldest names in the category |
| Mitsubishi | FG and FD ranges |
| JCB | Teletruk and rough terrain models |
Get a cash offer
Get an offer on your forklift
Tell us what you have and what shape it is in. We come back with a cash figure in writing.
- A written offer, not an estimate
- Transport arranged and priced into the offer
- Running or not, any make
Prefer to talk it through?
(916) 740-7755Get a Cash Offer
Any brand, any condition, any hours.
- Written offer
- Transport arranged
- No Spam
Where we buy forklifts
We buy across California. Our published town-level coverage is concentrated in these counties.
