When it comes to maintaining the lift truck, it can really 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 expenses, or increased safety risks, which is worse yet. If on the other hand, you select right kind of tire you can enjoy significant cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more effective operation. A correctly chosen tire can actually decrease the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40 percent longer.
Tires are really somewhat complex components on the equipment; therefore, it is easy to pick the wrong type accidentally. There are numerous different brands of tires and types, with a wide variety of compounds and treads. This means you must be completely prepared with the right information when you are purchasing tires so that you can decide on some tough and safe options to help prolong the life of your forklift.
Your business should select the particular tire for their machinery based on the kind of surface the machine would be operated on. Smoother surfaces and indoor applications for example, will normally use 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 which are rough and uneven.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each year, there are roughly 200 individuals killed in accidents related for lift truck use. Ensuring forklift safety, such as correct inspection practices, can all contribute in to preventing these terrible and dangerous accidents from taking place.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the forklift needs to be inspected prior to each shift. Tires should ideally have the right air pressure, which is set by the manufacturer of the tire. This is very vital because if the tire pressure is very low, the equipment could inadvertently tip over when a load is being raised.
Kinds
The tires utilized on indoor lift trucks will be made out of solid rubber.
Other factors
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA require that lift trucks utilized on a continual basis have to be inspected at the completion of every shift. The operator should inspect the equipment for any mechanical issues and the tires have to be inspected for excessive wear, cuts or apparent damage to the tires. Any issues which are detected have to be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.