It can really be simple to neglect the essential tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the lift truck. When you choose the wrong tire for your lift truck, you could put large increases on your operating costs, and more significantly increase your safety risks. If however, you pick right tire you could enjoy significant cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more efficient operation. A correctly selected tire could really decrease the downtime for replacement and probably last 40 percent longer.
Tires are really quite complex components on the equipment; therefore, it is easy to select the wrong one accidentally. There are numerous different brands of tires and kinds, with different treads and compounds. This means you must be fully prepared with the correct information when you are going shopping for tires so that you could choose some tough and safe alternatives to help extend the life of your forklift.
The particular kind of tire chosen for a forklift depends on the type of surface you would be using the machinery on. Like for instance, smoother surfaces and indoor applications 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 features give them a good grip on surfaces which are uneven and rough.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each year, there are about 200 people killed in accidents related for lift truck use. Ensuring lift truck safety, like proper inspection practices, can all contribute in to preventing these horrible and dangerous mishaps from happening.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the forklift have to be checked prior to each shift. Tires must ideally have the proper air pressure, that is set by the tire manufacturer. This is very vital because if the tire pressure is very low, the machinery can inadvertently tip over when a load is being raised.
Types
For indoor work, forklifts which have solid tires made out of rubber are the most suitable option.
Other Considerations
Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA places a requirement on the continual use of lift trucks. These forklifts are required to be checked at the end of every shift. The operator must inspect the machine for any type of mechanical issues and the tires need to be looked over for cuts, excessive wear or obvious tire damage. Any problems which are detected need to be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.