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 can end up accidentally with a huge increase in fleet operating costs, or increased safety risks, which is worse yet. If however, you pick correct kind of tire you can enjoy improved safety, significant cost-savings and an overall more efficient operation. A correctly selected tire can actually lessen the downtime for replacement and probably last 40 percent longer.
Tires are really somewhat complex components on the machinery; hence, it is easy to pick the wrong one accidentally. There are numerous different types of tires and brands, with a wide array of treads and compounds. This means you need to be fully prepared with the correct information when you are going shopping for tires so that you can select some safe and durable options to help extend the life of your forklift.
Your business should select the specific tire for their equipment based on the type of surface the machine would be operated on. Indoor applications and smoother surfaces for instance, would normally utilize tires of a smaller size and made from rubber. On the contrary, 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 surfaces which are uneven and rough.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Each year, there are around 200 people killed in accidents related for forklift use. Ensuring lift truck safety, like correct inspection practices, can all contribute in to preventing these dangerous and horrible accidents from taking place.
Pre-Work Inspection
The tires of the forklift needs to be checked before each shift. Tires must ideally have the proper air pressure, which is set by the tire manufacturer. This is very vital because if the tire pressure is too low, the equipment can inadvertently tip over when a load is being lifted.
Kinds
The tires utilized on indoor forklifts would be made out of solid rubber.
Other factors
The OHSA or Occupational Health and Safety Administration require that forklifts utilized on a continual basis need to be checked at the completion of every shift. The operator should check the equipment for any type of mechanical problems and the tires should be checked for excessive wear, cuts or apparent damage to the tires. Any issues which are detected should be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.