When it comes to maintaining the lift truck, it can really be easy to overlook 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 choose right type of tire you can enjoy improved safety, significant cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A properly selected tire can really decrease the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
Tires are really quite complex components on the machinery; hence, it is easy to select the wrong one accidentally. There are so many different types of tires and brands, with various compounds and treads. This means you should be fully prepared with the correct data when you are going shopping for tires so that you can decide on some tough and safe options to help prolong the life of your lift truck.
Your company should choose the particular tire for their equipment according to the type of surface the equipment will be operated on. Indoor applications and smoother surfaces for instance, will generally use tires that are smaller in size and made from rubber. On the other hand, outdoor applications require pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires are filled with compressed air and have a rubber tread. These features give them a good grip on uneven and rough surfaces.
Forklift Tire Safety
Every year, 200 people are killed in lift truck or forklift related accidents each year. Ensuring lift truck safety, such as proper inspection practices, could all contribute in to avoiding these terrible and dangerous mishaps from happening.
Pre-Work Inspection
The tires of the lift truck have to be inspected prior to each and every shift. Tires must ideally have the right air pressure, that is set by the manufacturer of the tire. This is extremely vital because if the tire pressure is very low, the machine can accidentally tip over when a load is being raised.
Types
For indoor work, lift trucks which have solid tires made out of rubber are the best choice.
Other factors
The OHSA or Occupational Health and Safety Administration require that lift trucks used on a continual basis have to be checked at the completion of each and every shift. The driver has to check the equipment for any mechanical issues and the tires need to be looked over for cuts, excessive wear or apparent damage to the tires. Any problems that are detected should be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.