Ganahl Lumber Company is the oldest lumberyard and hardware supply store in the State of California. The family- and employee-owned business has been in operation since 1884 and has grown to 10 locations throughout the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.
Ganahl Lumber relies primarily on Linde H-Series forklifts to handle its range of products which include building materials, millwork, doors and windows, in addition to tools and paint. Featuring Linde’s hydrostatic drive system, these forklifts put an end to the chronic problems experienced in heavy-duty, high-volume applications like the lumber industry.
The company first purchased Linde forklifts in 2011 from their local authorized dealer Select Equipment.
“Initially, most people involved were adverse to changing brands and remained skeptical,” said Jim Taft, special projects manager at Ganahl Lumber. “The quickest converts were the operators. The machine sold itself to them in just a matter of days.”
After the sale, Select Equipment has continued to provide service support. After the first year of use, the company’s mechanic praised sound design and reliability of the Linde forklifts. “Our yard foreman proclaims that the H80D-900 is the best lift we have ever had,” added Taft.
The hydrostatic drive system eliminates all brake system maintenance, eliminates transmission failures, eliminates truck overheating, reduces fuel expenses by as much as 50 percent and extends maintenance intervals while dramatically increasing productivity.
Taft’s role was to advise and coordinate the purchase of equipment. The hardest sell was to the company’s general managers who “came around in time after positive comments from the users in addition to knowing the cost to operate the unit was lower than in the past,” he said.
Has your company benefited from using a Linde (or Baoli) forklift? We’d love to hear about it. Submit your photos of our trucks at work to marketing.na(at)kiongroup.com
