The reasons why forklift wheels are easily damaged
If you’ve never been able to monitor or care about the condition of your forklift wheels, now would be a good time to start monitoring and reviewing your forklift wheel condition more often. These are the top reasons why your forklift wheels don’t want to roll, or even stop working. After reviewing, monitoring, and regularly servicing your wheels, you’ll get optimal durability for those wheels.
Forklifts
Using the right wheel stiffness for your application can help prolong the life of your forklift wheels. The durometer can help you measure the hardness of your forklift wheel compound on a scale of 0 -100. The higher the durometer, the harder the compound. Medium hardness tester for forklift wheels from about 80 -97. A thickness gauge lower than about 85 will give your forklift a smoother, easier ride for the operator. A durometer that indicates a higher wheel stiffness can tell you a longer forklift wheel life, but you must consider the condition of your warehouse to consider.
Damaged floors and work planes also affect the life of forklift wheels. Cracks, potholes, seams, uneven floors up and down can also cause serious damage to both forklift wheels and other parts of the forklift in general. Hard impacts and heavy loads on the truck wheels can cause cracking and debris formation on the forklift wheels.
Dirty mud layers… are also part of the cause affecting the life of forklift wheels. Trash, debris and debris that can get trapped between the anti-slip slots of the forklift wheels can also cause the wheel to crack and the tire tread.
Dragging pallets on the floor will also greatly affect the forklift wheels a lot. Most operators expect to be highly efficient with loading and unloading goods in and out of trucks/containers. Operators will try to cut their load times by not picking up full loads on the floor or pushing pallets onto the floor. Both cause intense heat on the forklift wheels that can make the wheels susceptible to decomposition. You should train operators to properly use lifting equipment.
A good tip for knowing the condition of forklift wheels is the color of the forklift wheels. Color does not help determine the hardness of the wheel, but it does show the condition of the wheel compared to the original. Any compound or durometer can be any color that the manufacturer makes them. To know how far the forklift’s load capacity is, you need to use a forklift wheel hardness tester to determine. Contact samcovina.com for support, test the hardness with a special tool to get that information for you and recommend the right durometer for your application.
