When it comes to maintaining the lift truck, it can be easy to overlook the simple yet essential tire. If you pick the wrong tire, you could end up accidentally with a huge increase in fleet operating costs, or increased safety risks, which is worse yet. If on the other hand, you choose correct tire you could enjoy substantial cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more efficient operation. A correctly chosen tire could actually reduce the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
Tires are really quite complex parts on the machinery; thus, it is easy to choose the wrong kind accidentally. There are lots of different brands of tires and kinds, with various compounds and treads. This means you should be completely prepared with the correct information when you are buying tires so that you could decide on some tough and safe options to help extend the life of your forklift.
The particular type of tire selected for a lift truck depends on the kind of surface you will be utilizing the machinery on. Like for instance, indoor applications and smooth surfaces generally utilize tires that are made from rubber and that are a smaller size. On the other hand, outdoor operations need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires are filled with compressed air and have a rubber tread. These characteristics give them a good grip on rough and uneven surfaces.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each and every year, 200 people are killed in lift truck or forklift related accidents each year. Ensuring forklift safety, such as proper inspection practices, can all contribute in to avoiding these dangerous and horrible accidents from taking place.
Pre-Work Inspection
Prior to each shift, the forklift's tires need to be checked. Ideally, they should have the right air pressure, as set forth by the maker. This is extremely important because if the tire pressure is very low, the equipment could accidentally tip over when a load is being lifted.
Types
The tires used on indoor forklifts will be made out of solid rubber.
Other factors
The OHSA or Occupational Health and Safety Administration require that lift trucks utilized on a continual basis have to be checked at the completion of every shift. The driver has to inspect the equipment for any mechanical issues and the tires must be looked over for excessive wear, cuts or obvious tire damage. Any issues which are detected should be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.