To celebrate 21 years of our involvement in the UK heavy lift market, we are running “Truck of the Month” a series of 12 features spread over 12 months with 12 machines that have shaped our history, our present and that also represent our future. We have reached quarter-distance and we focus on the strongest and most durable lift truck money can buy
March – SveTruck 16-1200 (the indestructible)
40 years ago, fork lift trucks were truly manufactured. Whilst engines, pumps and hoses were brought-in, the rest of the machine was fully manufactured in the premises of the manufacturer. The ceilings of welding shops fabricating masts and chassis were filled with welding smoke and there were thousands of square feet dedicated to machine shops with the background drone-like noise of lathes, milling machines and presses and the clink of steel as another component hit the lin-bin on route to its final destination on the assembly line.
In more recent times, manufacturing of forklifts has become more assembly plants with components being sourced in and the lure of low-cost-country manufacturing takes hold. The machine remains much the same as it did before, but the sourcing becomes fragmented to the point a customer will never know the true origin of the parts that make-up the machine.
SveTruck remain a total exception to this rule. Okay, they are expensive, but they remain the only true Swedish forklift made from Swedish steel, fabricated in-house on jigs that were specified by SveTruck themselves. They prefer to retain their machine shops and even make the hydraulic cylinders in their own factory in Ljungby, Sweden. The finished result is a hand-made forklift which is second-to-none, the strongest and most refined machine in its class.
The 16-1200 is the highest-volume machine SveTruck manufacture but it is widely recognised as the first-choice machine for the rigours of steel handling. This, one of the most arduous applications within the UK, will involve handling 20m lengths of steel over made-up, pot-holed ground bringing twists and turning over the mast structure. Only a SveTruck can withstand this duty over applications in excess of 4000 hours per year – year-in, year-out.
Some say the SveTruck 16-1200 is old-fashioned as it’s cab doesn’t have the pillar-less wrap-around glass at the front but, whilst this of course this is technically possible, the owners of SveTruck clearly state that if something were to accidentally fall on top of the cab, they would prefer the strength of steel pillars over the strength of glass to protect the driver.
SveTruck remain proud that the 16-1200 machine today remains the very same as the first machine they produced 42 years ago. Not much has changed, but of course as the saying goes, “if it is not broken, don’t fix it”. The cab as you would expect is generations apart with a quiet and modern Scandinavian environment with the latest fleet management interface.
SveTruck 16-1200 – The most Swedish of all of Sweden’s lift trucks: strong and indestructible
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