When it comes to maintaining the lift truck, it could really be easy to overlook the simple yet essential tire. If you pick the wrong tire, you could end up accidentally with a huge increase in fleet operating expenses, or increased safety risks, which is worse yet. If on the other hand, you choose correct tire you could enjoy improved safety, significant cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A properly chosen tire can really decrease the downtime for replacement and probably last 40 percent longer.
The lift truck tire is a quite complex component of the equipment. It is therefore, easy to choose the wrong one accidentally. There are a lot of different brands of tires and types, with a wide range of compounds and treads. This means you must be completely prepared with the correct data when you are going shopping for tires so that you can select some tough and safe alternatives to help prolong the life of your lift truck.
Your business should choose the particular tire for their equipment according to the type of surface the machine will be operated on. Smoother surfaces and indoor applications for example, will usually use tires that are smaller in size and made from rubber. On the contrary, outdoor applications need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These features give them a good grip on surfaces which are rough and uneven.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Every year, 200 individuals are killed in forklift or lift truck related accidents each year. Ensuring forklift safety, like correct inspection practices, can all contribute in to preventing these dangerous and terrible accidents from happening.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the lift truck have to be inspected before each shift. Tires should ideally have the right air pressure, which is set by the tire manufacturer. This is very vital because if the tire pressure is too low, the machinery could inadvertently tip over when a load is being raised.
Kinds
The tires used on indoor lift trucks will be made out of solid rubber.
Other factors
OSHA or the Occupational Health and Safety Administration places a requirement on the continual use of lift trucks. These forklifts are required to be checked at the end of each shift. The operator must inspect the machinery for any mechanical problems and the tires should be looked over for excessive wear, cuts or apparent damage to the tires. Any problems which are detected must be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.