It can be simple to neglect the important tire, when it comes to the maintenance of the lift truck. When you choose the wrong tire for your lift truck, you could put huge increases on your operating expenses, and more significantly increase your safety risks. If on the other hand, you pick right type of tire you could enjoy improved safety, significant cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A properly chosen tire can actually lessen the downtime for replacement and potentially last 40% longer.
The lift truck tire is a somewhat complex component of the equipment. It is thus, easy to select the wrong kind accidentally. There are so many different brands of tires and kinds, with different treads and compounds. This means you must be fully prepared with the right information when you are purchasing tires so that you can decide on some tough and safe options to help prolong the life of your lift truck.
Your company must select the specific tire for their machinery based on the kind of surface the machine 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 applications require 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 uneven and rough.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Each year, there are approximately 200 people killed in accidents related for forklift use. Ensuring lift truck safety, such as proper inspection practices, could all contribute in to avoiding these terrible and dangerous accidents from happening.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the lift truck needs to be inspected before every shift. Tires must ideally have the right air pressure, which is set by the tire manufacturer. This is very important because if the tire pressure is very low, the machine can accidentally tip over when a load is being lifted.
Types
For indoor work, forklifts 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 continual utilization of lift trucks. These forklifts are required to be inspected at the end of each shift. The operator must inspect the machinery for any mechanical issues and the tires have to be checked for cuts, excessive wear or obvious tire damage. Any issues that are detected have to be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.