A forklift model number is a compressed spec sheet. Read 62-8FD25 from the right, and it tells you it’s a 2.5-tonne machine, running on diesel, from Toyota’s 8 Series, with a torque converter and a 1DZ-II engine. Once you know the pattern, you can size up a machine from one line in a listing.
Most guides to forklift model numbers are written for the American market, where the same machine is badged 8FGU25. In Australia, we mostly see the Japanese-built format, 32-8FG25, and the prefix before the hyphen is where much of the useful information sits. This guide covers the brands we hire, sell and service.
What A Forklift Model Number Tells You
Nearly every manufacturer encodes four things:
- The series or generation the machine belongs to
- How it is powered, whether diesel, petrol, LPG or electric
- Its rated capacity
- A variant, covering tyres, chassis width or transmission
Capacity is the one to treat carefully. The number in the badge is a base rating at a standard load centre. Fit a longer mast, a side shift or a rotator, and the machine will lift less than the badge suggests. Confirm the rated capacity on the data plate, not the model number, every time.
How To Read A Toyota Forklift Model Number
Take the Toyota 62-8FD25 and work from the right:
| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 25 | 2.5 tonne base capacity |
| D | Diesel. A G here means petrol |
| F | Forklift |
| 8 | 8 Series |
| 62- | Engine family and transmission |
The prefix is the part that catches people out because it looks like a capacity but isn’t. The 30-8FG25, 32-8FG25, 60-8FD25, 62-8FD25, 70-8FD25, and 72-8FD25 are all 2.5-tonne machines with the same 3,000 mm lift height. What separates them is the engine and how the drive is put together. Toyota sets this out in its own 8 Series service manual:
| Prefix | Engine | Transmission |
|---|---|---|
| 30- | 4Y petrol | Manual |
| 32- | 4Y petrol | Torque converter |
| 60- | 1DZ-II diesel | Manual |
| 62- | 1DZ-II diesel | Torque converter |
| 70- | 2Z diesel | Manual |
| 72- | 2Z diesel | Torque converter |
So 62-8FD25 is a 2.5-tonne diesel with a 1DZ-II engine and a torque converter. The 32-8FG25 is the petrol equivalent, running a 4Y, also with a torque converter. If you are comparing two listings that look identical in capacity, the prefix is where the difference lies, and it matters for parts, servicing, and how the machine drives.
Extra letters appear in the heavier models. An 8FGJ35 and an 8FGK25 carry J and K chassis designations, which Toyota uses to distinguish its 3.5-tonne and compact 2- to 3-tonne series.
How To Read An EP Equipment Model Number
EP Equipment runs two naming systems under one badge, which is worth knowing before you compare an EP against anything else.
Counterbalance machines, such as CPCD18T8
The letters come from the Chinese naming standard, where each one is the first letter of a Chinese word:
| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| C | Forklift |
| P | Counterweight, meaning counterbalanced |
| C | Diesel. A Q here means petrol |
| D | Hydraulic transmission, meaning a torque converter |
| 18 | 1.8 tonne |
| T8 | T8 Series |
CPCD18T8 is a 1.8-tonne diesel counterbalance forklift from the T8 Series. CPQD18T8 is the petrol version of the same machine. On electric models, the fuel letter drops out, and you get CPD18, where the D stands for electric rather than transmission.
Suffixes such as -NE92, -S4Q, -F20 and -K21 identify the engine fitted. Two machines badged CPCD18T8 can carry different engines, so quote the full code when you order parts.
There is a neat parallel here with Toyota. Both makers use a character to flag a torque converter: Toyota does it with the prefix, EP does it with the D.
Warehouse equipment, such as EPL154
The warehouse range uses a Western-style code instead:
| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| EPL | Electric pallet truck |
| 15 | 1.5 tonne |
| 4 | Fourth generation, following the EPL153 |
An EPL185 is the 1.8-tonne machine in the same family. Read the last digit as the generation rather than part of the capacity, or you will misread the truck.
How To Read A Caterpillar Model Number
CAT leads with power and tyres. Take DP35NT:
| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| D | Diesel. G is petrol or LPG, E is electric |
| P | Pneumatic tyre. C is a cushion |
| 35 | 3.5 tonne |
| N | N Series |
| T | Variant suffix |
That gives you a quick read across the range. A GP25N is a 2.5-tonne petrol or LPG machine on pneumatic tyres. A GC25 is the cushion tyre version, built for smooth indoor floors. An EP20 is a 2-tonne electric.
CAT lift trucks and Mitsubishi forklifts are built by the same group, which is why a CAT and its Mitsubishi counterpart share much of their engineering and why parts often cross over. It also explains why a Mitsubishi code, such as FG25N, reads so similarly.
How To Read Hyster And Yale Model Numbers
Hyster and Yale sit under the same parent, Hyster-Yale. Their current trucks are nearly identical, differing mainly in paint and decals. We carry both, and the choice usually comes down to availability and price rather than engineering.
In the metric range, an H2.00XL is a 2-tonne machine with a 500 mm load centre. The H marks the truck type, the number is the capacity in tonnes, and the letters identify the design series. Those series of letters run A, B, C and onwards, skipping D, G, I and O to avoid confusion.
North American models quote capacity in pounds instead, so an H50XM is a 5,000 lb machine, near enough 2.3 tonnes. Yale follows the same logic from the other side of the badge: a GLP050VX reads as petrol, LPG, 5,000 lb, VX series.
How To Read A Crown Model Number
Crown leads with the family rather than the fuel:
| Code | Family |
|---|---|
| SC | Sit-down counterbalance |
| FC | Four-wheel counterbalance |
| RC | Stand-up counterbalance |
| RR | Reach truck |
| SP, TSP | Order picker and turret order picker |
| PE | Electric pallet truck |
| C-5, C-G, C-D | Engine-powered series |
After the family comes a series number, followed by a capacity suffix. An RC 5735-30 is a stand-up counterbalance from the 5700 Series rated at 3,000 lb. Note that Crown quotes capacity in pounds, so divide by roughly 2,200 to get tonnes before comparing it to a Toyota or an EP.
Why The Same Forklift Has More Than One Name
Model codes are set by the manufacturer, and manufacturers share more than most buyers realise.
Hyster and Yale build the same trucks under two badges. CAT and Mitsubishi are part of the same group. A number of machines sold in Australia are built in China and badged for the importer, which means the same forklift can arrive under several names with the underlying engineering unchanged.
Then there is the yard. Most sites end up with a nickname for each machine, and the nickname is what people actually say. That works fine internally. It stops working the moment you ring for parts, so it pays to have the real code written somewhere you can find it.
The Other Names People Use For Forklifts
The machine itself goes by several names. Forklift, forklift truck, lift truck and fork truck all describe the same thing. Counterbalance is the most common type, named for the weight at the back that offsets the load on the forks.
In Australia, you will also hear the licence classes used as shorthand. LF is the high-risk work licence for a forklift truck, and LO is the class for an order-picking forklift. If someone says they hold their LF, they mean the standard forklift ticket.
Capacity gets used as a name, too. A “two and a half” is a 2.5-tonne machine, which is why the 25 in 8FD25 and the 25 in CPCD25T8 both land in the same place.
On the machine itself, the forks are sometimes called tynes. The upright at the front is the mast, the plate the forks hang from is the carriage, the frame above the operator is the overhead guard, and the weight at the rear is the counterweight.
Still Not Sure What You Are Looking At?
Send us the code from the data plate, and we will tell you what the machine is, what it will lift and whether it suits your site. We hire, sell and service Toyota, EP Equipment, CAT, Royal, Yale, Hyster and Crown from our Nerang and Yatala workshops.
Explore our range of new and used forklifts, or call the team on 07 5596 5777.
