It can be simple to overlook the essential tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the lift truck. When you pick the wrong tire for your forklift, you could put large increases on your operating costs, and more significantly increase your safety risks. If however, you choose right kind of tire you can enjoy improved safety, substantial cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A correctly selected tire could 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 type accidentally. There are numerous different brands of tires and types, with different compounds and treads. This means you must be completely prepared with the right information when you are buying tires so that you could select some durable and safe options to help extend the life of your forklift.
Your company must select the specific tire for their equipment based on the kind of surface the machinery would be operated on. Smoother surfaces and indoor applications for example, would generally utilize tires of a smaller size and made from rubber. On the contrary, outdoor operations need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These characteristics give them a good grip on surfaces that are rough and uneven.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each and every year, 200 individuals are killed in forklift or lift truck related accidents each year. Ensuring forklift safety, such as correct inspection practices, could all contribute in to avoiding these dangerous and terrible accidents from happening.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the forklift needs to be checked before each and every shift. Tires must ideally have the proper air pressure, which is set by the manufacturer of the tire. This is extremely essential because if the tire pressure is too low, the machine can inadvertently tip over when a load is being lifted.
Kinds
For indoor work, lift trucks which have solid tires made out of rubber are the best option.
Other factors
Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA places a requirement on the frequent use of lift trucks. These forklifts are required to be checked at the end of each shift. The driver should check the machinery for any mechanical issues and the tires need to be checked for cuts, excessive wear or obvious damage to the tires. Any problems which are detected must be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.