It could really be simple to overlook the essential tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the forklift. When you choose the wrong tire for your forklift, you can put huge increases on your operating expenses, and more significantly increase your safety risks. If however, you choose right kind of tire you could enjoy improved safety, significant cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A properly chosen tire can really decrease the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
The forklift tire is a quite complex part of the equipment. It is therefore, easy to choose the wrong type accidentally. There are numerous different brands of tires and kinds, with a huge range of compounds and treads. This means you must be totally prepared with the correct information when you are purchasing tires so that you can select some safe and tough alternatives to help extend the life of your lift truck.
Your company should select the specific tire for their machine according to the type of surface the machinery would be operated on. Indoor applications and smoother surfaces for example, would generally use tires that are smaller in size and made from rubber. On the other hand, outdoor applications need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires are filled with compressed air and have a rubber tread. These characteristics give them a great grip on surfaces which are rough and uneven.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each year, there are approximately 200 individuals killed in accidents related for lift truck use. Ensuring forklift safety, like for example correct inspection practices, can all contribute in to preventing these dangerous and horrible accidents from happening.
Pre-Work Check
Before each and every shift, the lift truck's tires need to be inspected. Ideally, they should have the right air pressure, as set forth by the manufacturer. This is extremely vital because if the tire pressure is too low, the equipment could inadvertently tip over when a load is being lifted.
Types
The tires used on indoor forklifts would be made out of solid rubber.
Other Considerations
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA require that forklifts used on a continual basis need to be checked at the completion of each and every shift. The operator needs to check the machine for any mechanical problems and the tires have to be looked over for cuts, excessive wear or apparent tire damage. Any problems that are detected must be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.