When it comes to maintaining the lift truck, it could really be easy to neglect the simple yet important 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 right tire you could enjoy significant cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more effective operation. A properly chosen tire can actually reduce the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
The forklift tire is a quite complex component of the machine. It is thus, easy to select the wrong one accidentally. There are lots of different kinds of tires and brands, with different compounds and treads. This means you should be totally prepared with the correct information when you are going shopping for tires so that you could decide on some tough and safe options to help extend the life of your lift truck.
Your company should select the particular tire for their machine based on the type of surface the machine will be operated on. Smoother surfaces and indoor applications for instance, would normally use tires of a smaller size and made from rubber. On the other hand, outdoor applications need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These features give them a great grip on surfaces that are uneven and rough.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Each year, there are roughly 200 individuals killed in accidents related for forklift use. Ensuring lift truck safety, such as proper inspection practices, can all contribute in to avoiding these horrible and dangerous mishaps from happening.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the forklift needs to be checked before each shift. Tires should ideally have the right air pressure, that is set by the manufacturer of the tire. This is really important because if the tire pressure is too low, the machinery can inadvertently tip over when a load is being lifted.
Kinds
For indoor work, forklifts that have solid tires made out of rubber are the best option.
Other Considerations
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA require that forklifts used on a continual basis need to be inspected at the completion of each shift. The driver must check the equipment for any mechanical issues and the tires must be checked for excessive wear, cuts or apparent tire damage. Any problems that are detected should be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.