Slightly upgraded Taylor forklift

[Frank S]

For the past 8 years I have sought to get my old Taylor forklift back in my possession.
As of today it is in front of my shop.
the forklift left the factory in September of 1968 with a 22,000lb lift cap, the drive tires were 14.00 x24 the steer tires were 12.00 x20.
hyd pressure setting at 1500PSI but with the 7" lift cylinder it could lift a lot more than it had counter weight for about 28,000 lbs to be exact.
These old lift trucks were designed to be upgraded as the user needed the mast and forks were capable of 45 to 60K out of the box.
Somewhere along the life of the little forklift I named Big Bertha someone had replaced the steer tires with 425/65-22.5 24 ply and the drive tires with 23x21s
In the 1980s it belonged to the Gooch Research and development company or G.R.A.N.D. while contract welding there I welded on a slab of 4 1/4" thick steel to increase the amount of counter weight by about 2000lbs, the hydraulic pressure setting had previously been reset to 2200PSI.
the lift cylinder had been replaced with a 7.5" diameter cylinder. With that cylinder and the pressure setting if you stacked another 10,000 lbs of weight on the back it could and has lifted over 48,000 lbs
I acquired the forklift the first time in 1992 had to replace the drive tires in 2000 but could not get the 23-21s as they were no longer produced so I up them to 24-21s the same tires used on the Airport fire service vehicles And had to replace 1 of those last week before the forklift could even be moved.
I've spent the past 8 years trying to re acquire the forklift and now here it sits ready to pickup and move time zones forget zip codes it is its own zip code