It can really be simple to neglect the essential tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the lift truck. When you pick the wrong tire for your lift truck, you could put huge increases on your operating costs, and more importantly increase your safety risks. If however, you pick right kind of tire you could enjoy improved safety, significant cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A correctly chosen tire could actually reduce the downtime for replacement and probably last 40% longer.
Tires are actually somewhat complex components on the machine; therefore, it is easy to select the wrong type accidentally. There are lots of different brands of tires and types, with different treads and compounds. This means you must be fully prepared with the correct data when you are going shopping for tires so that you can decide on some safe and durable alternatives to help prolong the life of your lift truck.
The particular kind of tire chosen for a lift truck depends on the type of surface you will be using the equipment on. For instance, smoother surfaces and indoor applications normally use tires which are made from rubber and that are a smaller size. On the other hand, outdoor operations require pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These features give them a good grip on uneven and rough surfaces.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Every year, 200 people are killed in lift truck or forklift related accidents each year. Ensuring forklift safety, like for instance correct inspection practices, could all contribute in to avoiding these horrible and dangerous mishaps from taking place.
Pre-Work Inspection
Before each and every shift, the lift truck's tires need to be inspected. Ideally, they must have the proper air pressure, as set forth by the manufacturer. This is extremely essential because if the tire pressure is too low, the equipment 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 option.
Other factors
OSHA or the Occupational Health and Safety Administration places a requirement on the continual use of forklifts. These forklifts are required to be inspected at the end of every shift. The operator should check the machinery for any type of mechanical issues and the tires must be looked over for excessive wear, cuts or obvious tire damage. Any issues which are detected have to be dealt with as soon as possible to maintain safety.