When it comes to maintaining the forklift, it can be easy to overlook the simple yet essential tire. If you choose 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 pick correct tire you can enjoy significant cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more efficient operation. A correctly chosen tire could really decrease the downtime for replacement and probably last 40% longer.
The lift truck tire is a somewhat complex component of the machinery. It is thus, easy to pick the wrong type accidentally. There are a lot of 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 choose some durable and safe options to help extend the life of your forklift.
The particular type of tire chosen for a forklift depends on the type of surface you will be using the machine on. For instance, smoother surfaces and indoor applications normally use tires which 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 characteristics give them a great grip on surfaces which are uneven and rough.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Each year, there are approximately 200 people killed in accidents related for lift truck use. Ensuring lift truck safety, like for example correct inspection practices, can all contribute in to preventing these dangerous and horrible mishaps from taking place.
Pre-Work Check
Before each and every shift, the lift truck's tires need to be inspected. Ideally, they should have the right air pressure, as set forth by the manufacturer. This is very important because if the tire pressure is too low, the equipment could inadvertently tip over when a load is being lifted.
Kinds
The tires utilized on indoor lift trucks would be made out of solid rubber.
Other Considerations
The OHSA or Occupational Health and Safety Administration require that forklifts utilized on a continual basis have to be inspected at the completion of every shift. The operator has to inspect the machinery for any kind of mechanical issues and the tires should be inspected for excessive wear, cuts or apparent tire damage. Any problems that are detected must be dealt with as soon as possible to maintain safety.