It can really be simple to overlook the essential tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the lift truck. When you pick the wrong tire for your lift truck, you could put large increases on your operating costs, and more importantly increase your safety risks. If however, you pick correct kind of tire you can enjoy improved safety, significant cost-savings and an overall more efficient operation. A properly chosen tire can actually decrease the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
The forklift tire is a quite complex part of the equipment. It is therefore, easy to select the wrong type accidentally. There are so many different brands of tires and kinds, with a wide range of compounds and treads. This means you need to be fully prepared with the right information when you are buying tires so that you can decide on some safe and durable alternatives to help extend the life of your lift truck.
Your business must choose the specific tire for their equipment based on the kind of surface the machine would be operated on. Indoor applications and smoother surfaces for example, would normally use tires of a smaller size and made from rubber. On the other hand, outdoor operations need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires are filled with compressed air and have a rubber tread. These features give them a good grip on surfaces which are rough and uneven.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Each and every year, 200 individuals 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 terrible and dangerous accidents from happening.
Pre-Work Inspection
Before every shift, the forklift's tires need to be inspected. Ideally, they should have the proper air pressure, as set forth by the manufacturer. This is really important because if the tire pressure is too low, the machinery could 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
Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA places a requirement on the continual use of forklifts. These lift trucks should be checked at the end of each and every shift. The driver needs to check the machine for any mechanical problems and the tires must be checked for excessive wear, cuts or apparent tire damage. Any problems which are detected should be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.