Which forklift and wrapper work reliably below −25 °C?
In short
A standard truck fails in a freezer: lubricants thicken, displays fog, seals harden and battery capacity collapses. iPack builds the SF-1400M-CS man-up VNA stacker with cold-chain electrics, low-temperature hydraulic oil and a heated sealed cabin, rated for continuous operation at −25 °C in aisles from 1.65 m.
Cold space is the most expensive floor area a business owns. Every square metre given to a turning circle is a square metre that cannot hold stock, and it is refrigerated around the clock.
At the same time the equipment has to survive the environment. Ordinary trucks lose battery capacity, fog up and become unreliable in the second half of a shift — which is when picking errors start.
Reviewed and updated by the iPack engineering team.
Top bay reached without a camera
The man-up platform rises with the forks, so the operator sees the pallet and the beam at every level — which is what keeps rack damage down.
The numbers that matter in this application
- Rated operating temperature
- −25 °C
- Guided aisle width
- 1.65 m
- Max lift height
- 12.5 m
- Battery capacity (80 V)
- 700 Ah
How iPack solves it
Cold-rated from the components up
Cold-chain electrical components, low-temperature hydraulic oil and freezer-rated seals — not a standard truck with a heater bolted on.
A cabin the operator can work in
Sealed and heated with anti-fog glazing and heated mirrors, so accuracy at 10 m in the second hour is the same as in the first.
Keep the cold store dense
A 1.65 m guided aisle keeps freezer layouts as tight as ambient ones, with lift heights to 12.5 m for the volume cold storage usually needs.
Moisture-proof wrapping
Where product leaves the freezer, the SW-1000D applies a PE cover sheet and welds it to the stretch film, giving five-side protection against condensation and ice.
Machines specified for this application
Each model below is quoted with the configuration that suits this application — mast height, fork spread, film width or conveyor arrangement set at order.
From installations in this application
Yard to aisle on one set of tyres
An articulated truck unloads the container outside, then articulates its mast 210° and stacks inside the aisle — no second machine, no double handling.
1.5 m guided aisle, both rack faces
A three-way stacker rotates its forks 180° instead of the truck, so a single 1.5 m guided aisle serves two rows of racking. Customers typically recover 30–40 % more pallet positions from the same building.
Cold chain — common questions
Can one truck work both inside the freezer and on the dock?
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It can, but condensation forms every time it leaves the cold zone and the battery drains faster on the warm side. Most operations keep a dedicated cold-store truck inside and use a separate articulated truck for the dock.
How long does the battery last at −25 °C?
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The SF-1400M-CS uses an 80 V / 700 Ah pack sized for a full freezer shift at −25 °C. A spare pack and a warm charging room is the usual belt-and-braces arrangement; lithium-ion is available where opportunity charging is preferred.
Does wrapping work in a freezer?
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The wrapper itself is normally installed in the chilled anteroom rather than the freezer, because film behaves better above 0 °C. The load is wrapped as it leaves the cold zone, which also traps the cold air and reduces condensation on the product.
Related applications
Send us the load, the aisle and the throughput
We reply with the model that fits, a budget price, the lead time and a layout drawing — usually within one working day.