"Pallet lifter" and "pallet mover" are not product names. They are what people type when they have a loaded pallet on the floor, no forklift, and a job to do — move it across the yard, get it up to bench height, put it on a rack, or get it off a lorry. Each of those jobs is a different machine, and buying the wrong one is an expensive way to find that out. This guide walks through the four ways to lift and move pallets without a forklift, what each one can and cannot do, and what the equipment we stock actually costs, using the specifications from our product listings and nothing else.
What a "pallet lifter" or "pallet mover" usually means
In the UK trade the same machines go by several names, and the search results for pallet lifter mix all of them together. Sorting the vocabulary first saves a lot of confusion:
| What people say | What it usually is | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Pump truck, pallet jack, hand pallet truck, pallet mover | Manual pallet truck | Lifts a pallet a few centimetres clear of the floor and moves it by hand |
| Electric pump truck, powered pallet jack, pallet mover | Powered pallet truck | Same floor-level lift, but a motor does the travelling |
| High-lift pallet truck, scissor pallet truck, pallet lifter | High-lift pallet truck | Moves a pallet and then raises it to working height for picking or packing |
| Pallet lifter, hand forklift, stacker truck | Pallet stacker | Lifts a pallet up a mast — onto racking, a vehicle bed or a stack |
| Lift table, pallet lifting table | Scissor lift table | Raises a load placed on its platform; it does not drive under a pallet |
The dividing line is height. A pallet truck lifts to clear the floor. A high-lift truck lifts to a working height. A stacker lifts to a storage height. Decide which of the three you need before looking at any price.
Job 1: moving a pallet across the floor
If the pallet only ever needs to travel — from the loading bay to the racking aisle, from goods-in to the packing bench — a pallet truck is the whole answer. The forks slide into the pallet, the hydraulic pump lifts it just clear of the floor, and you pull it. The standard VULCAN hand pallet trucks we stock conform to EN 1757-2 and share the same basic geometry: 160 mm wide forks, an 85 mm lowered fork height and a 200 mm raised height, which is enough to clear a level warehouse floor and not much more.
The choice within the range is about the environment rather than the lift:
- Wet or washdown areas: the VULCAN stainless steel pallet truck (SSPT1554, 1150 × 540 mm forks) is corrosion resistant for wet and damp conditions and runs on black nylon wheels and rollers. £1,564.50.
- Weighing as you move: the premium weigh scale pallet truck weighs to ±0.1 % in 0.5 kg steps, is sealed to IP65 so it can be used outside or on lorries, and runs 70–80 hours between charges. From £1,589.88 for the 1150 mm truck; the 2,500 kg version is £1,609.56. We cover the choice in detail in how to choose a weighing pallet truck.
- Reels, rolls and cable drums: the reel handling pallet truck (RHPT1000, reel size 800/1200) is built for horizontal loads that a flat pallet truck cannot carry. £1,302.66.
- Yards and rough ground: the rough terrain pallet truck (GZR11N) is the one to use where a standard truck's small rollers would dig in. £1,855.26.
Once the distance grows, or the pallets are heavy and frequent, hand-pulling becomes the bottleneck. A powered pallet truck does the travelling for you. Our powered pallet trucks start at £1,468.44 for the 1,500 kg fully powered pallet truck with lithium battery (EN 1757-1, 1150 × 540 mm forks) and run to £2,590.30 for the 2,000 kg premium lithium model; at the top of the range a 5 tonne fully powered pallet truck with a 3 kW drive motor is £14,845.92. The decision between manual and powered is worked through in manual vs electric pallet trucks.
Job 2: lifting a pallet to working height
This is the job that generates most "pallet lifter" searches. A pallet of components arrives at a bench and someone has to pick from it all day, bending to floor level for each item. The fix is to raise the pallet, and there are two ways to do it.
High-lift pallet truck
An electric high-lift pallet truck moves the pallet like a normal truck, then powers the forks up so the load is presented at a comfortable height. The VULCAN electric high-lift pallet truck has 1170 mm long, 160 mm wide forks at an 85 mm lowered height, a 12 V/60 Ah battery and charger, a 0.8 kW lift motor, and both manual and electric lift and lower for precise positioning. Adjustable stabilising bars come into operation when the forks are raised, to stop the unit moving while it is loaded at height. It comes in 540 mm and 680 mm fork widths and 1,000 kg and 1,500 kg capacities, from £1,957.80 (PHL54H, 540 mm, 1,000 kg) to £2,201.46 (PHL70H, 680 mm, 1,500 kg). The listing does not publish the maximum raised fork height, so if you need the load at a specific bench height, ask us before ordering rather than assuming.
Two points of honesty about high-lift trucks. First, they are not stackers: they raise a pallet to a working height, not to a racking beam. Second, a raised pallet on a high-lift truck is a workstation, not a load to be driven around — lower it before you move it.
Scissor lift table
A scissor lift table does the same ergonomic job from the other direction: the load is placed on the platform and the platform rises. The VULCAN double scissor lift trolley (MLTD100Y) carries 1,000 kg, complies with EN 1570:2011, is raised by a foot pedal pump and lowered by a foot pedal, and runs on two fixed and two swivel braked castors. £1,512.24. The catch is loading it — a lift table has no forks, so a full pallet has to be put on it with a pallet truck or a stacker. Where it wins is anything that is not on a pallet: sub-assemblies, tooling, drums, boxes. Our guide to choosing a lift table goes further, and the broader ergonomics case is in designing the lift out of the job.
Job 3: lifting a pallet into racking or onto a vehicle
When the pallet has to go up — onto a beam level, onto a mezzanine edge, or onto a flatbed — you need a mast, which means a pallet stacker. A stacker is the closest thing to a forklift that does not need a forklift licence, although operators still need adequate training under PUWER 1998 and the employer needs to be able to show it.
- Hydraulic (manual) stackers lift by a hand-operated hydraulic pump. The VULCAN hydraulic stacker lifts 1,000 kg to 1,600 mm for £1,666.50 (STHI21Y), to 2,500 mm for £1,788.00 and to 3,000 mm for £1,884.96 — the extra 1,400 mm of lift costs £218.46. Hand pumping a full pallet to 3 m is hard work; these suit occasional lifts, not a shift of them.
- Fully powered stackers drive and lift electrically. The VULCAN fully powered stacker (EN 1757-1, duplex mast, 1,485 mm turning radius, built-in charger) runs from £3,351.12 at 1,600 mm to £3,700.80 at 3,200 mm. The listing says 1,500 kg and 2,000 kg models are available but does not state the rated capacity of the stocked variants, so confirm the plated capacity against your heaviest pallet before you buy.
- Mini lifters are the small end of the same idea: the VULCAN electric mini lifter lifts 400 kg to 1,200 mm, combines lifting, transporting and stacking in one compact unit, has adjustable forks with a removable platform, and is £1,890.00. Right for part-pallets, tote stacks and machine loading; wrong for a full 1,000 kg pallet.
Straddle, fixed-fork and counterbalance layouts, and which one fits your pallet type, are compared in how to choose a pallet stacker, and the truck-or-stacker question is settled in pallet stacker vs pallet truck.
Job 4: getting a pallet off a lorry or out of a container
Without a forklift, the pallet either comes down on the vehicle's tail-lift with a hand pallet truck riding on it, or the pallet truck or stacker goes up to the load. For a shipping container at ground level, a container access ramp gives a pallet truck or stacker a path in; for a dock, dockboards and dock plates bridge the gap to the trailer bed. Our guide to loading bay equipment without a dock covers the options, and choosing a ground-level loading ramp deals with the ramp itself. If deliveries arrive on curtain-siders without a tail-lift, be realistic: a stacker with enough mast height and the right capacity can lift a pallet from a trailer bed, but a pallet truck cannot, and neither works on soft or sloping ground.
Job 5: moving many pallets, or moving them a long way
Where a site is moving pallets in trains rather than one at a time — between buildings, along a production line, across a yard — an electric tug tows wheeled loads. Our GPC electric tugs are rated 1,000 kg (£4,423.14) and 1,500 kg (£5,329.20), and the premium electric tug is 1,500 kg at £7,690.68. A tug moves wheeled loads, not a bare pallet on the floor; the pallet needs to be on something with wheels first. How that works in practice is in how to choose a powered tug.
Which pallet lifter do you need? A quick decision table
| You need to… | Buy | Our range starts at |
|---|---|---|
| Move a pallet across a flat floor by hand | Manual pallet truck | £1,302.66 (reel) / £1,564.50 (stainless) |
| Move pallets all day, or over distance | Powered pallet truck | £1,468.44 |
| Raise a pallet to bench height for picking | Electric high-lift pallet truck | £1,957.80 |
| Raise a non-palletised load to working height | Scissor lift table | £1,512.24 |
| Put a pallet onto racking occasionally | Hydraulic stacker | £1,666.50 |
| Put pallets onto racking every shift | Fully powered stacker | £3,351.12 |
| Lift part-pallets and totes to 1.2 m | Electric mini lifter | £1,890.00 |
| Tow trains of wheeled loads | Electric tug | £4,423.14 |
All prices are as shown on each product page and inclusive of VAT.
Capacity, floors and training: the three things that go wrong
Capacity is the pallet plus its load, at the load centre on the plate. A 1,000 kg stacker lifting a 1,000 kg pallet is at its limit before anyone has put a box on top. Work from your heaviest realistic pallet, not your average one, and if a listing does not state a rated capacity for the variant you are buying, ask for it in writing. We explain the terms in load ratings explained.
Floors decide more than motors do. Small polyurethane or nylon rollers roll beautifully on smooth concrete and stop dead at a drainage channel, a threshold strip or gravel. If any part of the route is outside or uneven, that is the rough terrain truck's job, and it is why that truck costs more than the stainless one.
Every one of these machines is work equipment under PUWER 1998. The employer must ensure operators are adequately trained for the class of equipment and be able to show it — that applies to a hand pallet truck as much as a stacker. We supply the equipment; we do not provide operator training or hire, and we do not sell forklifts, used or refurbished trucks, or spare parts. How to use a pallet truck safely and how to use a pallet stacker safely cover the operating basics, and LOLER vs PUWER explains which inspection regime applies once the equipment lifts.
Where to go next
Start from the job, not the machine. If the pallet only has to travel, look at pallet trucks. If it has to come up to hand height, look at high-lift pallet trucks and lifters and loaders. If it has to go up onto a rack or a vehicle, look at stackers. If you are not sure which of the three you are in, the heaviest pallet, the highest point it needs to reach and the worst surface on the route are the three numbers that decide it — send us those and we will tell you which machine, and which one not to buy.