It can really be simple to neglect the important tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the forklift. When you pick the wrong tire for your lift truck, you could put huge increases on your operating costs, and more significantly increase your safety risks. If on the other hand, you select right tire you can enjoy substantial cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more effective operation. A properly chosen tire could actually reduce the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
Tires are actually quite complex components on the equipment; therefore, it is easy to pick the wrong type accidentally. There are lots of different kinds of tires and brands, with various treads and compounds. This means you should be totally prepared with the correct information when you are going shopping for tires so that you can select some tough and safe alternatives to help prolong the life of your forklift.
The specific type of tire selected for a lift truck depends on the type of surface you will be utilizing the machinery on. For example, indoor applications and smooth surfaces generally use tires that are made from rubber and that are a smaller size. On the other hand, outdoor applications need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires are filled with compressed air and have a rubber tread. These features give them a great grip on surfaces that are rough and uneven.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Each year, there are about 200 individuals killed in accidents related for forklift use. Ensuring forklift safety, like correct inspection practices, could all contribute in to avoiding these dangerous and terrible accidents from happening.
Pre-Work Inspection
The tires of the forklift needs to be checked before each shift. Tires must ideally have the right air pressure, that is set by the tire manufacturer. This is extremely important because if the tire pressure is too low, the equipment could inadvertently tip over when a load is being raised.
Kinds
The tires used on indoor lift trucks would be made out of solid rubber.
Other Considerations
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA require that lift trucks used on a continual basis have to be inspected at the completion of each and every shift. The driver has to inspect the equipment for any mechanical problems and the tires must be looked over for excessive wear, cuts or obvious tire damage. Any issues that are detected need to be dealt with as soon as possible to maintain safety.