When it comes to maintaining the forklift, it could 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 expenses, or increased safety risks, which is worse yet. If however, you select correct tire you could 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.
The forklift tire is a somewhat complex component of the machine. It is therefore, easy to pick the wrong type accidentally. There are a lot of different types of tires and brands, with different treads and compounds. This means you should be totally prepared with the right information when you are purchasing tires so that you could decide on some durable and safe alternatives to help prolong the life of your forklift.
The particular kind of tire chosen for a lift truck depends on the kind of surface you would be using the machine on. Like for instance, indoor applications and smooth surfaces generally utilize tires which are made from rubber and that are smaller in size. On the other hand, outdoor operations need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires are filled with compressed air and have a rubber tread. These characteristics give them a great grip on uneven and rough surfaces.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Each year, 200 individuals are killed in lift truck or forklift related accidents each year. Ensuring forklift safety, like proper inspection practices, could all contribute in to preventing these dangerous and horrible mishaps from occurring.
Pre-Work Inspection
Before every shift, the lift truck's tires need to be checked. Ideally, they should have the proper air pressure, as set forth by the manufacturer. This is very vital because if the tire pressure is too low, the machinery could accidentally tip over when a load is being lifted.
Types
The tires used on indoor lift trucks will be made out of solid rubber.
Other Considerations
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA require that lift trucks utilized on a continual basis need to be inspected at the completion of each and every shift. The operator must inspect the equipment for any mechanical issues and the tires have to be checked for excessive wear, cuts or apparent tire damage. Any problems that are detected should be dealt with as soon as possible to maintain safety.