It could be simple to overlook the essential tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the lift truck. When you choose the wrong tire for your forklift, you can put huge increases on your operating expenses, and more significantly increase your safety risks. If on the other hand, you select right kind of tire you could enjoy improved safety, substantial cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A properly chosen tire can really lessen the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
The forklift tire is a quite complex component of the machine. It is therefore, easy to select the wrong one accidentally. There are lots of different brands of tires and types, with a wide variety of compounds and treads. This means you have to be completely prepared with the right data when you are purchasing tires so that you could choose some durable and safe options to help prolong the life of your lift truck.
Your company must select the specific tire for their machinery according to the type of surface the equipment would be operated on. Indoor applications and smoother surfaces for example, will normally utilize tires of a smaller size and made from rubber. 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 great grip on surfaces which are rough and uneven.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each and every year, 200 people are killed in lift truck or forklift related accidents each year. Ensuring lift truck safety, like for example correct inspection practices, could all contribute in to avoiding these dangerous and terrible mishaps from happening.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the lift truck have to be inspected prior to each shift. Tires must ideally have the proper air pressure, which is set by the tire manufacturer. This is very essential because if the tire pressure is too low, the equipment can inadvertently tip over when a load is being raised.
Kinds
The tires used on indoor forklifts 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 must be inspected at the end of each shift. The driver should inspect the equipment for any kind of mechanical problems and the tires need to be inspected for excessive wear, cuts or obvious damage to the tires. Any problems which are detected have to be dealt with as soon as possible to maintain safety.