never been a full time f/l driver. been around forklift for 41 years. have see cow boy/nascar wanna bees type operator abuse, and miss application of press on cushion tires, seen tires chewed up when the lifts were operated on crushed rock or over broken glass and molten,glass cutlet or if the tires wear soft compounds like white non marking tires (on occasions they can be a darker color), operation on wrong dock design plates, and etc. etc.

Your lift truck sales person that you bought this F/L from "may" know something about tires if he/she isn't new the business. Consult with them or a tire dealer.

Or maybe your operators need some drivers training in your operations - OSHA says the need to bet trained.

Thank you. I'll check with the drivers to make sure they operate the lift correctly. Do you have any experience using a forklift with cushion wheels on a steel grated ramp that may be wet. The wheels on the lift spun and we later found that the cushion wheels were torn.

When you have a load on the forks - you drive up the ramp facing forward (aka load and drive wheels first). No load driving up the ramp- - counterweight first, forks down hill. Look at the owners manual. It should have been provided on any purchased or rental unit.

Can cushion tires be used on a steel grated ramp outdoors? The tires on our rental were damaged? I'm not sure if it was due to the driver not backing up the ramp to make sure that the load was on the front tires to minimize slippage.

We were told it would take about 2 months, but we are on top of the list as we purchased a Toyota Forklift right before Toyota had to take it off the US market. Thanks for bringing up the possible issue with maneuverability as the turning radius of the lift is critical.

Since a pneumatic tire F/L is is longer and wider that a pressed on solid cushion tire tire this may have an impact on maneuver in side your warehouse. There are optional there are various tire options for solid press on that can help extend the lfie of press on on solid (cushion) tires e.g. flat profile smooth tread (no lugs), walnut shell impregnated tires (helps with traction on wet and icy conditions)and reduces wear, higher durometer tire compounds, etc. Suggest you talk to a local industrial tire company to get a recommendation of what is best for your situation. Of course it is never a good idea to wear tires beyond the recommended amount - have seen users wear down to within an inch of the metal band - that is a big no no. you can get hung up or do serious damage to the under carriage - when new cushion tires are on - you only have about 3" to 3.5" of clearance under the bottom of the mast. to start with. - wear the tires down two inches from new - you have 1" to 1.5". Only know 1 manufacture that has 3.5" clearance under the bottom of the mast when the mast is vertical - a little less when titled forward or back. Spent 41 years in the lift truck industry. Retired now.

Of course, a pneumatic tire F/L typically has 5" of under clearance but it is big and fat by comparison and replacement tires will cost more.
Do your homework before you figure out what trade off you can live with. Delivery seem to be long for most LT companies do to the semi conductor "shortage" - lot of black boxes on lift trucks today compared to 1967 when I first stater in the business. I got started when a Sun Scope and timing light and dwell meter is all you needed to get a tune and the SunScope was optional. And to some shade trees the timing light and dwell meter was too if the had good hearing.
CIAO

I see, we use solid tires on our trucks, they seem to last the longest. Difficult situation inside and outside. How long of a wait on your new Toyota forklift?

In my experience the solid pneumatic seems to last a good bit longer. Course most of the time gets run well beyond the treads.

Thanks - I'll check with the salesperson. In the event that a solid pneumatic tire is not an option affordable, how does the life of a cushion tire compare with a pneumatic solid filled or solid pneumatic tire.

Hi Wayne,
Just wanted to offer something. You mentioned "pneumatic solid filled tires" as the option. This is where the tubes inside the air tires are filled with foam. I believe you will find it a softer ride, and possibly better traction on an incline? But much more common on a "pneaumatic truck" are to have "solid pneaumatic" tires installed. These are solid rubber tires, which in my experience will give you a much longer service life. Good luck-

The ramp with the steel grate is outdoors going from the parking loading area to the dock doors to the warehouse. We need to go outdoors to load and unload trucks that are not dock high. I believe the damage was done when the forklift wheels lost traction going up the wet steel ramp when the forklift load was up front.

Is the ramp indoors? Is it your dock plate that's doing the damage? Is the forklift always used indoors?