When it comes to maintaining the lift truck, it could really be easy to neglect the simple yet important tire. If you choose the wrong tire, you can 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 select correct tire you can enjoy improved safety, significant cost-savings and an overall more effective operation. A correctly selected tire can really lessen the downtime for replacement and probably last 40 percent longer.
Tires are really quite complex components on the machinery; hence, it is easy to select the wrong one accidentally. There are numerous different types of tires and brands, with different treads and compounds. This means you should be completely prepared with the right data when you are buying tires so that you could choose some safe and durable alternatives to help extend the life of your lift truck.
Your business should select the particular tire for their equipment according to the type of surface the machinery would be operated on. Smoother surfaces and indoor applications for example, will generally utilize tires that are smaller in size and made from rubber. On the contrary, outdoor operations require pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires have a rubber tread and are filled with compressed air. These features give them a good grip on rough and uneven surfaces.
Lift Truck Tire Safety
Each year, there are about 200 individuals killed in accidents related for forklift use. Ensuring lift truck safety, like for instance correct inspection practices, could all contribute in to preventing these dangerous and terrible accidents from taking place.
Pre-Work Check
The tires of the forklift have to be inspected before each shift. Tires must ideally have the right air pressure, that is set by the manufacturer of the tire. This is really important because if the tire pressure is too low, the equipment can inadvertently tip over when a load is being raised.
Kinds
For indoor work, lift trucks which have solid tires made out of rubber are the best choice.
Other Considerations
The OHSA or Occupational Health and Safety Administration require that lift trucks used on a continual basis need to be checked at the completion of each and every shift. The driver should inspect the machinery for any kind of mechanical issues and the tires must be looked over for excessive wear, cuts or obvious tire damage. Any issues that are detected should be addressed as soon as possible to maintain safety.