Patent ID: 8376089

Claim:
A lift comprising: a carrier with a vertical mast; a carriage with a pair of forks projecting forward for engagement of a pallet or a skid, said carriage being movable up and down the vertical mast and each of said forks including a carriage rolling assembly movable between a retracted position and an extended position while the carriage is elevated within a range of lowered carriage positions, said carriage rolling assembly being in contact with an underlying surface as the carriage rolling assembly is moved between said retracted and extended positions; a pair of outriggers attached to a support frame of the carrier, said outriggers being movable between a stored position and a deployed position; and a frame rolling assembly attached to the support frame for transporting the lift over said underlying surface; wherein said outriggers are movable to said deployed position only when the carriage rolling assembly of each fork is substantially in said extended position; the outriggers do not bear on said underlying surface when in said stored position, or when in said deployed position while the carriage is operated within said range of lowered carriage positions; and the outriggers contact the underlying surface and begin supporting a front side of the lift only when the carriage moves up the vertical mast past said range of lowered carriage positions, when said carriage is at a transition point between said range of lowered carriage positions and a range of raised carriage positions.