When it comes to maintaining the forklift, it could be easy to overlook the simple yet essential tire. If you select the wrong tire, you can end up accidentally with a huge increase in fleet operating costs, or increased safety risks, which is worse yet. If however, you pick correct type of tire you can enjoy significant cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more effective operation. A properly selected tire could actually lessen the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40 percent longer.
Tires are actually quite complex components on the equipment; thus, it is easy to pick the wrong one accidentally. There are numerous different kinds of tires and brands, with various treads and compounds. This means you need to be totally prepared with the correct data when you are buying tires so that you can select some safe and durable alternatives to help prolong the life of your lift truck.
The particular type of tire selected for a forklift depends on the type of surface you would be utilizing the machinery on. For example, indoor applications and smooth surfaces usually utilize tires that are made from rubber and that are a smaller size. On the other hand, outdoor applications require pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires are filled with compressed air and have a rubber tread. These characteristics give them a great grip on surfaces that are uneven and rough.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Every year, 200 people are killed in lift truck or forklift related accidents each year. Ensuring lift truck safety, like correct inspection practices, could all contribute in to preventing these terrible and dangerous mishaps from happening.
Pre-Work Inspection
The tires of the forklift have to be checked before each shift. Tires must ideally have the proper air pressure, that is set by the tire manufacturer. This is extremely important because if the tire pressure is very low, the equipment could inadvertently tip over when a load is being lifted.
Types
The tires utilized on indoor lift trucks would be made out of solid rubber.
Other Considerations
Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA places a requirement on the frequent use of forklifts. These lift trucks must be checked at the end of each shift. The operator should check the machinery for any type of mechanical issues and the tires need to be inspected for excessive wear, cuts or obvious tire damage. Any problems that are detected need to be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.