When it comes to maintaining the forklift, it could 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 costs, or increased safety risks, which is worse yet. If on the other hand, you choose right tire you can enjoy substantial cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more efficient operation. A correctly selected tire could actually decrease the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40 percent longer.
The forklift tire is a quite complex component of the equipment. It is therefore, easy to choose the wrong kind accidentally. There are numerous different brands of tires and kinds, with a huge array of compounds and treads. This means you should be fully prepared with the correct data when you are going shopping for tires so that you can select some durable and safe options to help prolong the life of your lift truck.
Your business should choose the specific tire for their equipment based on the type of surface the machinery will be operated on. Indoor applications and smoother surfaces for example, will generally 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 characteristics give them a good grip on rough and uneven surfaces.
Forklift Tire Safety
Each year, there are roughly 200 people killed in accidents related for forklift use. Ensuring lift truck safety, like for example proper inspection practices, could all contribute in to avoiding these horrible and dangerous accidents from occurring.
Pre-Work Check
Prior to each and every shift, the forklift's tires have to be inspected. Ideally, they should have the right air pressure, as set forth by the maker. This is very important because if the tire pressure is very low, the machinery could accidentally tip over when a load is being lifted.
Kinds
For indoor work, forklifts that have solid tires made out of rubber are the best alternative.
Other Considerations
The OHSA or Occupational Health and Safety Administration require that forklifts used on a continual basis need to be checked at the completion of every shift. The operator must inspect the machine for any kind of mechanical problems and the tires should be inspected for cuts, excessive wear or obvious damage to the tires. Any issues which are detected must be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.