From my understanding when I had a '73 Honda CB50 mini-bike which came equipped with a hydrodynamic transmission is that you do NOT need a clutch pedal/hand lever to change gears.
My CB50 did not have a hand lever on the handle bars to operate the clutch but it did have a foot peg to change gears, it was just a matter of using my toe to either push down or up on the peg depending on which gear I wanted to go into. I think the clutch pulls in automatically thru the fluid immediately before the gear change.
I imagine that it is the same for the forklifts.
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It has a large torque converter with hydraulic controls regulating pressures. Which helps to increase torque in a small hp engine over the changing load conditions which a fork truck experiences.
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I believe most modern fork trucks use a torque converter and transmission that is electronic over hydraulically controlled. The power passes from the engine thru the torque converter to hydraulically operated clutch packs and gears. They likely have planetary gears for the different selections like forward neutral reverse and possibly high/low. The manufacturer can tell you if this is true for your specific fork truck.
All the little Hondas I owned had an oil bath centrifical clutch (automatically engages with increasing RPM) that passed power to a standard transmission (let off the gas and shift).
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hydrodynamic transmission
Re: hydrodynamic transmission
