When it comes to maintaining the lift truck, it could really 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 expenses, or increased safety risks, which is worse yet. If on the other hand, you select correct kind of tire you can enjoy improved safety, substantial cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A correctly chosen tire could really reduce the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
Tires are actually somewhat complex components on the equipment; therefore, it is easy to pick the wrong one accidentally. There are lots of different brands of tires and types, with a huge variety of treads and compounds. This means you must be totally prepared with the right information when you are going shopping for tires so that you can decide on some durable and safe alternatives to help extend the life of your lift truck.
The particular type of tire chosen for a forklift depends on the type of surface you would be using the equipment on. Like for instance, indoor applications and smooth surfaces normally utilize tires that are made from rubber and that are a smaller size. On the contrary, outdoor operations require pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These features give them a good grip on rough and uneven surfaces.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Every year, 200 people are killed in forklift or lift truck related accidents each year. Ensuring lift truck safety, like for example correct inspection practices, could all contribute in to preventing these horrible and dangerous mishaps from taking place.
Pre-Work Check
Prior to each and every 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 extremely essential because if the tire pressure is very low, the machinery can inadvertently tip over when a load is being raised.
Kinds
The tires used on indoor forklifts would be made out of solid rubber.
Other Considerations
The OHSA or Occupational Health and Safety Administration require that lift trucks utilized on a continual basis need to be inspected at the completion of each and every shift. The driver must inspect the machine for any mechanical issues and the tires should be inspected for cuts, excessive wear or obvious tire damage. Any issues that are detected must be dealt with as soon as possible to maintain safety.