Intella Parts Company searches for the oldest Hyster forklift

Posted on Aug 9, 2023 in Nuts & Bolts

Intella Parts Company, LLC recently conducted a contest on finding the oldest Hyster Forklift that included their customers, LinkedIn and Facebook followers.

They were encouraged to submit their entry if they felt they had the oldest Hyster.  The rules were that they must actually own the forklift.

Marcel VandenTop

Intella president Marcel VandenTop said they have quite a few Hyster parts inquiries and was curious on the oldest Hyster forklift out there.  The winner of the contest would receive $100 gift certificate from Intella, a Carhart sweatshirt and a $100 VISA gift certificate.

The winner of the oldest Hyster forklift was Public Steel, Inc. based in Amarillo, TX with a 1945 Hyster KD Krane.

Phillip DeLuna from Public Steel in Amarillo TX submitted their 1945 Hyster model KD KarryKrane.

Public Steel has been in business since 1948 and believe it or not has three of this model in their possession.  Phillip reports that it still runs and the machine is still used once in a while, they also have a few more modern forklifts they use on a regular basis.

ke-parts-manual-6BC344

The KD series from Hyster was likely built in their Peoria, IL factory (Learn more what Hyster was doing in the 1940s  here). This model of Hyster will look strange to most modern forklift operators and drivers, mainly because this forklift was built and designed in the era before the modern pallet was invented.  Back in the 1940s, pallets weren’t really universally used and the KarryKrane was a sort of pre-cursor to the modern forklift which lifts the omni-present 48×48 inch pallet.  “Forklifts” of this time were just used as universal “move stuff around the factory” pieces of equipment.

Here are some other images from Public Steel on the other Hyster forklifts from the 1940s they still have.

Check out some of our other entrants to our 2023 oldest Hyster forklift competition below:

“The only shocking thing to me was entries that were Hysters built in the 1970s.  I mean, come on, someone, I mean something born in the 80s isn’t exactly ancient!” said VandenTop.