It could be simple to neglect the important tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the forklift. When you select the wrong tire for your lift truck, you could put huge increases on your operating expenses, and more importantly increase your safety risks. If on the other hand, you choose right tire you could enjoy substantial cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more effective operation. A properly chosen tire could really decrease the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
The lift truck tire is a quite complex component of the machinery. It is therefore, easy to select the wrong kind accidentally. There are lots of different kinds of tires and brands, with different treads and compounds. This means you must be totally prepared with the correct data when you are going shopping for tires so that you can select some safe and durable alternatives to help extend the life of your forklift.
The particular type of tire chosen for a lift truck depends on the kind of surface you would be utilizing the equipment on. Like for instance, indoor applications and smooth surfaces usually utilize tires which are made from rubber and that are smaller in size. On the contrary, outdoor operations require 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.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each year, 200 individuals are killed in forklift or lift truck related accidents each year. Ensuring lift truck safety, such as proper inspection practices, can all contribute in to preventing these dangerous and horrible accidents from taking place.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the forklift have to be checked prior to each and every shift. Tires should ideally have the proper air pressure, which is set by the manufacturer of the tire. This is really essential because if the tire pressure is very low, the machine could accidentally tip over when a load is being raised.
Kinds
The tires used on indoor forklifts will be made out of solid rubber.
Other factors
OSHA or the Occupational Health and Safety Administration places a requirement on the continual use of lift trucks. These lift trucks are required to be inspected at the end of every shift. The operator has to check the machinery for any kind of mechanical issues and the tires must be looked over for excessive wear, cuts or apparent tire damage. Any issues which are detected have to be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.