Garden Railway Forum

Fork lift trucks in anything resembling 1:19 scale can be very difficult to find and I don't have any other way of getting things that are on pallets from the Land Rover up onto the loading bay. Today I stumbled on a model from Joal that is 1:20. It is discontinued but there are examples on eBay.

There's a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soo0vYATZK8

If you search on eBay UK they are somewhat expensive at around £30 BUT there's a French seller got them at €12.99 and €9 shipping to the UK. he had eight and now only has seven!

It looks about the right size to take a sitting figure such as Motley Minatures' driver. I'll check this as soon as it arrives and feed back.

That looks like a well made model and it's metal.

Yes, looks it. I'll report back when it arrives.

This one is great - and was my benchmark, but unfortunately 1:14 (and it looks it too). It's also ten times the price!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuNd2EM ... gs=pl%2Cwn

Well it arrived today and doesn't disappoint! These are very well made and are to scale - I have managed to squeeze a Motley Minature's 'driver' into the cab. although to scale it should be noted that these are not a small beast - the prototype being a heavy duty, rough terrain lifter. The supplied pallet is not to scale (it's huge), but the fork tines are adjustable and easily fit into a more 'normal size of "coffee stirrer" pallet.

The cab separates from the body but unfortunately this does not allow access to the inside of the cab.The glazing is superb but the doors are fixed closed. After some thought I found a way in which is non-damaging (if you are careful) and I'll post a description of this tomorrow.

Bruder do a fork lift. Robust construction and looks good. They also do a couple of drivers available separately. They are 1:16 scale but as the ptototypes are quite small this isn't a problem. Reasonably priced as well. You can also find them in your local toy shop or on a number of uk based retailer's websites.

Hi Andy
I looked at the Bruder ones but found them a little on the large side for me. I've also looked at their Manitou (1:16) telescopic loader but that is really big! I don't have a great deal of space to play with.

Here's the Fork Lift Truck deconstructed. The Motley Minatures' driver doesn't require a double foot amputation to fit in the FLT - he needs this to fit in the Landie!

The external roof panel is removed using a credit card (or sharp nails) and then the holes need reaming to clean the paint away as it acts as an adhesive. Clear silicon sealant will hold it all in place on reconstruction.

Back to the pallet factory now...