When it comes to maintaining the forklift, it could really be easy to overlook the simple yet essential tire. If you select 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 however, you pick correct kind of tire you could enjoy significant cost-savings, improved safety and an overall more efficient operation. A correctly chosen tire could really lessen the downtime for replacement and probably last 40 percent longer.
The lift truck tire is a somewhat complex component of the machinery. It is therefore, easy to choose the wrong kind accidentally. There are numerous different brands of tires and kinds, with various compounds and treads. This means you have to be totally prepared with the correct information when you are buying tires so that you could decide on some durable and safe options to help prolong the life of your lift truck.
The specific type of tire selected for a forklift depends on the type of surface you would be utilizing the machine on. For instance, indoor applications and smooth surfaces normally utilize tires which are made from rubber and that are smaller in size. On the contrary, outdoor operations need pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These characteristics give them a good grip on surfaces that are uneven and rough.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Every year, 200 individuals are killed in lift truck or forklift related accidents each year. Ensuring forklift safety, like proper inspection practices, could all contribute in to avoiding these terrible and dangerous accidents from taking place.
Pre-Work Inspection
The tires of the lift truck have to be checked prior to each and every shift. Tires must ideally have the proper air pressure, that is set by the manufacturer of the tire. This is very essential 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 would be made out of solid rubber.
Other Considerations
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration or OSHA require that forklifts utilized on a continual basis need to be checked at the completion of every shift. The operator should check the machinery for any type of mechanical issues and the tires should be looked over for excessive wear, cuts or apparent tire damage. Any issues that are detected should be dealt with as soon as possible to maintain safety.