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 can end up accidentally with a huge increase in fleet operating costs, or increased safety risks, which is worse yet. If on the other hand, you choose correct kind of tire you can enjoy improved safety, substantial cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A correctly chosen tire can really reduce the downtime for replacement and probably last 40% longer.
The lift truck tire is a quite complex component of the machinery. It is thus, easy to choose the wrong one accidentally. There are numerous different brands of tires and types, with different treads and compounds. This means you have to be totally prepared with the right information when you are going shopping for tires so that you can select some safe and tough options to help extend the life of your forklift.
The specific kind of tire selected for a forklift depends on the type of surface you will be utilizing the equipment on. Like for example, smoother surfaces and indoor applications usually utilize tires that are made from rubber and that are a smaller size. On the other hand, outdoor applications need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These characteristics give them a great grip on rough and uneven surfaces.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Each year, there are around 200 individuals killed in accidents related for lift truck use. Ensuring forklift safety, like correct inspection practices, could all contribute in to preventing these horrible and dangerous accidents from occurring.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the lift truck have to be inspected before each shift. Tires must ideally have the right air pressure, which is set by the tire manufacturer. This is extremely important because if the tire pressure is too low, the equipment can accidentally 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 factors
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA require that forklifts utilized on a continual basis need to be checked at the completion of each shift. The operator has to inspect the equipment for any mechanical issues and the tires must be looked over for excessive wear, cuts or apparent tire damage. Any issues which are detected should be dealt with as soon as possible to maintain safety.