What do you look for in a forklift?

Thanks, everyone. Lots of very helpful and informative advice given, as always. I ended up buying the old Hyster I looked at yesterday. It's a 1971 S40C-P, gasoline engine, 4,000lb capacity. Unfortunately, it's got solid tires, but my pockets aren't quite deep enough for a unit that has pneumatic tires. I think it'll do what I need it to do, and I can easily make my money back if and when I decide to upgrade.

The owner was a nice Asian man who didn’t speak much English, but we made due. He didn’t realize it’s a 2 stage — he indicated the lift height by drawing a line across his chest, and was amazed when I lifted the forks all the way up.

I think she’ll clean up nicely.