Forklift skip, telehandler skip or auto-lock skip: which to choose?

September 2026

 

Ordering the wrong tipping skip is easy to do and expensive to undo. Different skips are built to fit specific machines & accessories such as mesh extensions, lids and lifting eyes, which are welded at manufacture and cannot be added later without a rebuild. Three questions settle it: which machine will lift the skip? What are your fork dimensions? And do you need to lift from above as well as below? Get those right at the point of order, and the skip arrives ready to get to work.

 

  Our tipping skips and the machines they belong to

  Settle the machine-match first, because every other decision follows from it. The “three” main skips, forklift, telehandler & telehandler on castors, cover three different working situations,
  and they are not interchangeable. 

  A forklift tipping skip has two fork pockets and a short safety chain at the rear. In UK yards, the product is often called a roll-forward skip; US buyers know the same thing as a self-dumping
  hopper. The forklift driver slides the forks in, the chain hooks to the mast, and when the operator pulls the release latch the skip's own centre of gravity rolls it forward on its pivot and
  empties it. It suits a counterbalance forklift with standard fork dimensions.

A telehandler tipping skip, also sold as a teleskip, auto-lock or auto-locking skip, looks similar from the front but uses a different locking system. As the telehandler's forks enter the pockets, a steel pendulum bar swingsdown behind the heels of the forks and locks the skip onto the carriage. The telehandler empties by tilting its mast forward, so the skip tips with the carriage and the load falls clear. No chain is involved, which is the point: the locking mechanism is self-contained & automated, hence the auto-lock label.

The two are not swappable in both directions. A telehandler skip cannot be used on a forklift at all. A forklift skip can technically be attached to a telehandler by connecting the chain to the mast and keeping the forks level, but HERMEQ does not advise it: the skip was not designed for that carriage.

Pallet trucks and pump trucks suit neither skip. Their forks are the wrong size and width to enter a fork pocket, and neither machine has a tilting mast, so there is no way to trigger emptying. They move pallets not tipping skips, unfortunately. 

Forklift skip vs telehandler skip, head-to-head

Axis	Forklift tipping skip	Telehandler tipping skip (auto-lock)
Compatible machine	Counterbalance forklift with standard fork dimensions	Telehandler
How it empties	Operator pulls a release latch at height; skip rolls forward on its pivot under its own centre of gravity	Telehandler tilts the mast forward; the skip body does not move independently of the carriage
How it stays on the forks	Rear safety chain to the mast	Steel pendulum bar locks behind the fork heels inside the pockets as the forks lift; no chain
Primary use	Warehousing, manufacturing, waste handling; on construction sites but less common	Construction and building sites; the industry standard for moving waste
Castors	Retrofit any time; castor plates are built into the chassis	Must be specified at the point of manufacture – different build
Mesh extensions and lids	Specify at manufacture only	Specify at manufacture only
Lifting eyes	Optional at order; adding them moves the skip from PUWER to LOLER	Optional at order; same regulatory change applies
Cross-compatibility	Can technically be used on a telehandler with chain connected and forks level, but not recommended	Cannot be used on a forklift

 

Check your forks before you order a forklift skip

Two measurements decide whether a standard forklift tipping skip fits your machine: the width of each individual fork, and the maximum spread your carriage can reach. Fork pockets are 160mm rectangular hollow sections, and the recommended maximum fork width is 150mm so the forks enter with clearance. Anything beyond that needs a bespoke skip built to your dimensions at the point of order. In practice, the threshold catches very few machines: our figures show that 99% of forklifts run standard skips without modification.

The carriage spread is the measurement most buyers overlook, and it matters because a maximum carriage set narrower than the pocket spacing on the tipping skips means the forks cannot enter the tipping skip fork pockets regardless of individual fork width. Check both against the skip's fork pocket specification before you order.

The other trap is assuming any wheeled lifting machine takes a forklift skip. It does not:

     "The main reason pallet trucks cannot move forklift skips is because the forks on them cannot get into a forklift fork pocket, they are the wrong size and width."

Pump trucks fail for the same reason. If your site runs pallet trucks rather than a counterbalance forklift, a tipping skip is not the right product regardless of type.

 

Castors: retrofit on a forklift skip, specify on a telehandler skip

Forklift tipping skips ship with fixed castor plates built into the chassis, so castor wheels can be bolted on at any point after delivery with no modification required. Telehandler skips are a different chassis entirely: the feet and castor plates mount to the front, the dimensions change, and those plates are not present on a standard build.

     "A forklift tipping skip can have castors retrofitted. A telehandler tipping skip cannot. If you want a telehandler skip on castors, that needs to be specified at the point of manufacture; it is a different skip altogether."

A telehandler auto-lock skip with castors is a separate product line to a traditional Auto-Lock Telehandler Skip, not a variant. It is one of the more common reorder scenarios: the skip arrives, someone realises it needs castors to be moved between lifts manually, and there is no fix short of a new order. If castors are in your requirements, then choose a telehandler tipping skip with castors. If they are not, then make sure you don't order a telehandler skip with castors. During heavy usage on building sites, castors may get damaged, so if they are not required, I would order a standard telehandler skip without them.

 

Mesh extensions, lids and colours: specify at order

Mesh height extensions and lids are welded at manufacture. Adding them later means returning the skip to be rebuilt, which is a second order and a gap on site. If you need more volume than the standard body gives you, or you want to contain light or dusty material, specify it upfront. Colour is the same, chosen at manufacture, and worth thinking about because most sites use colour coding for waste separation: one colour for timber, another for general waste, another for plastic, so the right skip reaches the right bay without anyone having to police it.

 

Lifting eyes change the rules: PUWER becomes LOLER

Lifting eyes, also called lifting lugs or crane lifting points, are four plasma-cut steel plates welded to the top corners of the skip bucket. They let the skip be lifted from above by chains where a machine cannot get underneath it. They look like a minor addition. Regulatorily, they are not.

A standard tipping skip, lifted from below by forks entering the pockets, falls under PUWER: the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations. PUWER requires design testing, regular interval inspection, and checks for obvious defects. Add lifting eyes, and the skip moves to LOLER, the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations, because the lifting method has changed from below to above.

     "As soon as you add crane lifting eyes on it, you are then subject to LOLER regulations; you are lifting from above, and therefore the skips have to be tested very differently at the point of order."

Under LOLER, the skip goes through third-party proof testing before sale, and the test load exceeds the rated Safe Working Load (SWL) by a substantial margin: a skip rated at 2 tonnes is typically proof-tested to 3 or 4 tonnes. The proof-test certificate is issued at batch level; each skip then receives its own serialised certificate confirming conformity to that batch test, so buyers have a per-skip document tied directly to the test record. That safety factor cannot be applied retrospectively to a skip built and dispatched under PUWER, which is why lifting eyes must be specified at the point of manufacture.

The SWL stated on any skip is always the lowest of its lifting methods. If crane lifting via the eyes is the weaker configuration, that figure becomes the stated SWL for the whole skip regardless of fork capacity. The question is therefore not at what point to choose eyes over forks, but what rating the skip must carry: if the crane lift sets the SWL, that is the number that governs everything else.

Lifting eyes can be specified on both forklift and telehandler skips, so this decision is independent of the machine-match. If you need to lift from above, say so before the skip goes into production.

 

Which one to order

Counterbalance forklift in a warehouse, manufacturing plant, or waste yard: order the forklift tipping skip. The chain-and-pivot mechanism is proven, castors bolt on any time, and colour-coded units segregate waste streams cleanly.

Telehandler on a construction or building site: order the auto-lock telehandler skip. The pendulum lock is designed for telehandler carriages specifically, and running a forklift skip from a telehandler with the chain rigged, while technically possible, is not what the skip was built for.

Deciding upfront whether wheeling the skip between fills matters on a telehandler skip, because castors have to be specified at order and there is no retrofit path. On a forklift skip, you can decide later.

Lifting from above by crane or chain in a confined space means lifting eyes, specified at order on either skip type, with LOLER proof-testing and certification following. That paperwork cannot be applied after the fact.

 

FAQ

Can a pallet truck or pump truck move a forklift tipping skip?

A forklift tipping skip on castors can be pushed across a flat surface by a pallet truck or pump truck, but it cannot be tipped by one. The release latch and pivot mechanism require the skip to be raised and held at height by a counterbalance forklift. The forks on pallet and pump trucks are also the wrong size and width to enter a forklift fork pocket, so they cannot lift the skip in the first place. Castors are for repositioning, not for operating the skip.

 

Is a self-dumping hopper the same thing as a tipping skip?

Yes. A self-dumping hopper is the US term for what UK buyers call a tipping skip or roll-forward skip. The product is the same: a bucket with fork pockets that empties by rolling forward on its pivot when the operator releases the latch at height.