It could be simple to neglect the essential tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the lift truck. When you select the wrong tire for your forklift, you can put huge increases on your operating costs, and more significantly increase your safety risks. If however, you select correct type of tire you can enjoy substantial cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more effective operation. A properly selected tire could actually lessen the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40 percent longer.
Tires are really somewhat complex components on the machinery; hence, it is easy to pick the wrong type accidentally. There are so many different kinds of tires and brands, with various compounds and treads. This means you should be completely prepared with the correct data when you are going shopping for tires so that you could decide on some durable and safe alternatives to help extend the life of your lift truck.
The particular kind of tire chosen for a forklift depends on the kind of surface you will be utilizing the machine on. For example, smoother surfaces and indoor applications usually use tires that are made from rubber and that are a smaller size. On the contrary, outdoor applications need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These features give them a great grip on surfaces which are uneven and rough.
Forklift Tire Safety
Every year, 200 people are killed in lift truck or forklift related accidents each year. Ensuring lift truck safety, like for instance correct inspection practices, can all contribute in to avoiding these dangerous and horrible mishaps from occurring.
Pre-Work Inspection
Before each and every shift, the forklift's tires need to be inspected. Ideally, they should have the proper air pressure, as set forth by the maker. This is very important because if the tire pressure is too low, the machine could inadvertently tip over when a load is being raised.
Kinds
The tires used on indoor forklifts would be made out of solid rubber.
Other Considerations
The OHSA or Occupational Health and Safety Administration require that lift trucks utilized on a continual basis have to be inspected at the completion of each shift. The operator needs to check the machinery for any mechanical issues and the tires should be looked over for cuts, excessive wear or apparent tire damage. Any issues that are detected have to be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.