It can really be simple to overlook the important tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the forklift. When you choose the wrong tire for your lift truck, you could put large increases on your operating costs, and more importantly increase your safety risks. If on the other hand, you choose right tire you could enjoy significant cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more efficient operation. A properly chosen tire can actually decrease the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40 percent longer.
The lift truck tire is a quite complex part of the machinery. It is therefore, easy to select the wrong one accidentally. There are so many different types of tires and brands, with different compounds and treads. This means you must be completely prepared with the correct data when you are going shopping for tires so that you could decide on some safe and tough alternatives to help extend the life of your lift truck.
Your business must decide on the specific tire for their machine based on the kind of surface the machinery would be operated on. Smoother surfaces and indoor applications for example, will usually utilize tires that are smaller in size and made from rubber. On the contrary, outdoor applications need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These characteristics give them a good grip on surfaces that are uneven and rough.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each and every year, 200 people are killed in forklift or lift truck related accidents each year. Ensuring lift truck safety, such as proper inspection practices, could all contribute in to avoiding these terrible and dangerous accidents from happening.
Pre-Work Inspection
Before each shift, the lift truck's tires have to be checked. Ideally, they must have the right air pressure, as set forth by the manufacturer. This is really essential because if the tire pressure is too low, the machine can accidentally tip over when a load is being raised.
Types
The tires utilized on indoor lift trucks 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 inspected at the completion of each shift. The driver needs to check the equipment for any mechanical issues and the tires should be checked for cuts, excessive wear or apparent tire damage. Any issues that are detected should be dealt with as soon as possible to maintain safety.