When it comes to maintaining the lift truck, it can be easy to neglect the simple yet important tire. If you select 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 however, you select right tire you can enjoy improved safety, significant cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A properly selected tire could actually reduce the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40 percent longer.
Tires are actually quite complex components on the machine; therefore, it is easy to choose the wrong one accidentally. There are so many different brands of tires and kinds, with various compounds and treads. This means you should be totally prepared with the right information when you are buying tires so that you could decide on some safe and durable options to help extend the life of your forklift.
Your company should select the specific tire for their equipment according to the kind of surface the machinery would be operated on. Indoor applications and smoother surfaces for example, will generally utilize tires that are smaller in size and made from rubber. On the other hand, outdoor operations require 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 rough and uneven.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each year, there are roughly 200 people killed in accidents related for lift truck use. Ensuring forklift safety, like for instance correct inspection practices, could all contribute in to avoiding these dangerous and terrible mishaps from happening.
Pre-Work Check
Before each shift, the lift truck's tires need to be checked. Ideally, they should have the proper air pressure, as set forth by the manufacturer. This is extremely vital because if the tire pressure is very low, the equipment could inadvertently tip over when a load is being raised.
Types
For indoor work, lift trucks that have solid tires made out of rubber are the most suitable alternative.
Other factors
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA require that lift trucks utilized on a continual basis need to be inspected at the completion of each shift. The operator should inspect the equipment for any type of mechanical problems and the tires should be looked over for excessive wear, cuts or apparent damage to the tires. Any problems that are detected should be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.