It can really be simple to overlook the essential tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the forklift. When you select the wrong tire for your forklift, you can put large increases on your operating expenses, and more importantly increase your safety risks. If however, you select right tire you can enjoy improved safety, significant cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A properly chosen tire could actually lessen the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
The lift truck tire is a quite complex part of the machinery. It is therefore, easy to choose the wrong kind accidentally. There are so many different kinds of tires and brands, with a wide range of compounds and treads. This means you need to be fully prepared with the right data when you are purchasing tires so that you could decide on some safe and tough alternatives to help prolong the life of your forklift.
Your business must choose the specific tire for their machinery based on the kind of surface the machine would be operated on. Indoor applications and smoother surfaces for instance, would usually use tires that are smaller in size and made from rubber. On the other hand, outdoor applications require pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These characteristics give them a great grip on surfaces that are rough and uneven.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each year, there are about 200 people killed in accidents related for forklift use. Ensuring forklift safety, like correct inspection practices, could all contribute in to preventing these dangerous and horrible mishaps from taking place.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the forklift have to be inspected prior to every shift. Tires must ideally have the right air pressure, that is set by the manufacturer of the tire. This is very essential because if the tire pressure is very low, the machinery could inadvertently tip over when a load is being raised.
Types
For indoor work, forklifts that have solid tires made out of rubber are the most suitable choice.
Other factors
Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA places a requirement on the continual use of lift trucks. These forklifts must be checked at the end of each and every shift. The operator must inspect the machinery for any kind 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.