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WINERY & VINEYARD EQUIPMENT 48 WINES&VINES September 2018 Forklifts How wineries make do with older machines, and the latest models unveiled by vendors C ary Roulet, vice president of material handling for Holt of California, a company that provides forklifts for some of the largest wineries in the industry, says that regular maintenance and pre- season inspections are so important that Holt mechanics will run checks on machines regardless of where they were purchased. "Nothing takes the air out of a small startup winery than a machine that doesn't work," he said, adding that his crew will also pre-inspect any used machine a winery is considering purchasing. When asked about the latest forklift innovations, Roulet spoke highly about the expanding capability and efficiency of electric machines: The newest electric forklifts run on lithium-ion batteries, which are easily charged and require less input energy; they're easier to operate; they can per- form both inside and outside jobs; and they don't pollute or let off excess heat or fumes. "What we've discovered about the business is that the evolution of winemaking and storage is in a huge transi- tion," Roulet said. Without naming names, Roulet men- tioned one client who was struggling with storage space inside the winery. The Holt team was able to reconfigure the space by stacking materials higher and narrowing the aisles and provide a forklift that could reach higher and maneuver more tightly. "It saved them from having to invest in another storage facility," he said. Though Roulet said electric models are both more effi- cient and more versatile, he understands that some wine- makers still use propane machines — and Holt has an emissions expert on staff to assist those clients. For those who own, or are thinking of buying, a used propane ma- chine, Roulet cautioned that those machines need to meet the California Air Resources Board's emission requirements based on where the grower or winery operates. Roulet's advice to the wine industry is to lease forklifts instead of buy. "Leases on lift trucks are so inexpensive," he said, "and the technology is changing all the time." Yet many winemakers seem to inherit their lift trucks, holding on to older, used models way past their prime. Small-scale electric lift "We have a Yale forklift that is pretty old, and it's been at the winery longer than I have," said Tim Telli, winemaker and proprietor of Betwixt Wines in San Francisco. The 1979 Yale forklift is battery-operated, which Telli said is perfect for his small indoor workspace, as it "doesn't have any stinky exhaust fumes." Because Telli sources his grapes from vineyards through- out California, including Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties and Lodi, his forklift gets the most use during harvest season, as grapes are transferred from trucks and dumped from bins into their respective fermentation receptacles. Knowing that he uses the machine for only a small window of time every year, Telli said he conducts his own pre-har- vest inspection, ensuring that the battery is fully charged and all controls fully functional. So he doesn't know what happened during harvest 2017 when his forklift shut down on the wrong side of the ware- house's roll-up door. After trying in earnest to recharge the machine, Telli ultimately called Cromer Material Handling in Oakland, Calif., for a rental. "It's always hard to find a rental forklift with a rotator," Telli said. "Most businesses don't need it." Jason White, the corporate used and rental manager for Cromer, agreed and said he doesn't see a lot of requests PRODUCT FOCUS COURTESY OF NAPA VALLEY VINTNERS, PHOTO BY BOB MCCLENAHAN By Stacy Briscoe Experts say leasing forklifts can be an affordable way for a winery to stay up to date with improved lift truck technology.