When it comes to maintaining the forklift, it could 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 select correct kind of tire you could enjoy improved safety, substantial cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A correctly selected tire can really reduce the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40 percent longer.
Tires are really quite complex parts on the machinery; hence, it is easy to choose the wrong kind accidentally. There are so many different brands of tires and kinds, with a huge variety of compounds and treads. This means you have to be completely prepared with the correct information when you are buying tires so that you could choose some durable and safe options to help prolong the life of your lift truck.
Your company must select the particular tire for their machine based on the type of surface the equipment would be operated on. Indoor applications and smoother surfaces for instance, will usually utilize tires that are smaller in size and made from rubber. On the other hand, outdoor operations need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires are filled with compressed air and have a rubber tread. These characteristics give them a good grip on rough and uneven surfaces.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Each year, there are approximately 200 people killed in accidents related for forklift use. Ensuring forklift safety, like for instance correct inspection practices, can all contribute in to preventing these terrible and dangerous accidents from occurring.
Pre-Work Inspection
The tires of the forklift have to be inspected prior to each shift. Tires must ideally have the proper air pressure, that is set by the manufacturer of the tire. This is extremely important because if the tire pressure is very low, the machine can inadvertently tip over when a load is being lifted.
Types
For indoor work, forklifts that have solid tires made out of rubber are the best choice.
Other factors
Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA places a requirement on the continual utilization of lift trucks. These lift trucks should be inspected at the end of each shift. The operator should inspect the machine for any mechanical problems and the tires must be looked over for excessive wear, cuts or apparent damage to the tires. Any issues which are detected should be dealt with as soon as possible to maintain safety.