Remarkably, everything manufactured, distributed, and moved is powered by tires—at almost every stage, including your forklift.
Whether they're inflated, solid, rimmed, pressed, made of rubber, polyurethane, or nylon, tires are essential to the smooth running of your business. Simply put, your business runs on tires.
How to assess the condition of your tires?
Proper tire maintenance is crucial to avoid risks and ensure good road holding. Here are the main points to check
Inflated Tires
The first criterion for inflated tires is to visually check whether the part that rests on the ground has a bulge. If the tire is properly inflated this bulge is practically absent.
Solid Tires
Solid tires will not deform, but they may become loose on certain types of rims.
Pressed rubber or polyurethane wheels
These types of tires can detach from their metal rims. Don't tolerate a wheel that makes the same noise as a sole coming off a shoe.
The tire sidewall
The sidewall is also important because it often gets caught. Never allow the canvas to be visible through a crack or to reach excessive depth in solid tires.
The tread surface
The tread surface must be free of tears, missing pieces, nails, or other debris. It is determined that the tire needs to be replaced if the tread has the equivalent of 1∕5of the ground-bearing surface is damaged.
Maximum wear
Maximum wear is limited to 1∕3 of the original tread thickness for pressed wheels. The studs should still be present for inflated tires and not reach the safety edge for solid ones. Tears should never reach the maximum wear limit.
Small Diameter Wheels
Small diameter wheels are sensitive to floor conditions and debris. They can crack or go flat and will need to be replaced.
Tire Replacement
Tire replacement is only done in groups, such as load wheels, and must be identical.
Checking the bolts
Check, if necessary, that the bolts are present and tight; it is not uncommon for them to loosen and come off.
What type of tires should you choose?
The choice of tires depends on your working environment and your specific needs.
Full or inflated?
Solid tires are more durable, more tolerant of studs, and offer more stability. Inflated tires are more comfortable to ride and less expensive, but they make the machine less stable when working at height.
Lugged or Smooth?
As expected, a cart that operates outdoors will have studded tires. Some customers have them covered with truck tires for the winter. This gives solid traction tires a second life, as long as they're in good condition.
Indoors, it depends on where the truck will be going. Water, grease, abundant dust, and a receiving dock will require studded rubber tires. Steering wheels will almost always be smooth, since studded wheels tear as they rotate.
Polyurethane or rubber?
Polyurethane wheels are rarely found on seated carts and, on the contrary, are almost always found on straddle carriers, and never as anything else, as load wheels for stackers, pallet trucks and straddle carriers as well as large heavy trucks. Counterbalanced uprights can have both types.
Black or Non-Marking Tires?
Traditional black tires are ideal for warehouses but can leave marks on tile or epoxy-painted floors. Non-marking gray tires will be used in these locations.
Tires Polyurethane in different colors?
Each tire manufacturer uses a color code to differentiate between hardness and resistance. Each wheel type has its pros and cons. For example, soft tires will require more power from the drive system and will wear out faster. However, they will have a smoother ride on damaged surfaces. Hard wheels, however, will be somewhat the opposite and will have more wear resistance but will break on sharp edges.
