Changing a Flat Easier with Forklift Jack

Forklift jacks can often pay for themselves in increased productivity and decreased downtime.

Like automobile and truck tires, forklift tires are filled with air. Yet because they tend to be thicker than other types of tires, they typically won’t go flat as often.

While forklift tires may be more durable than truck or car tires, the flipside is that many forklifts drive in places other vehicles don’t, such as on rough terrain or through construction sites where they could be nails, broken glass, and other materials that could penetrate the tire’s rubber despite its thickness.

When a forklift tire goes flat, a lot of businesses are caught by surprise. That’s because while a lot of cars and trucks come with a spare tire and the jack and other tools required to fix a flat, mot forklifts don’t. In fact, a lot of businesses that use forklifts don’t think about repairing flat tires until it happens.

Forklift Tires — Risks and Solutions

Forklift tires are tough but they aren’t invulnerable. So when they do go flat, many operators are taken by surprise. Ordering a replacement tire could take days or even weeks. And then when it arrives, some business owners are surprised to learn that their car or truck jack or even hydraulic shop jack isn’t powerful enough to lift their forklift so they can change it.

Thanks to their counterweight, forklifts typically weigh a lot more than cars or trucks. So the jack you use to fix a flat on your personal vehicle isn’t going to work on your forklift. Instead, you need a specialized jack that is engineered to lift the thousands of pounds a forklift weighs safely and efficiently.

Forklift Tires — Forklift Jack Benefits

While forklift jacks work generally the same as automobile or truck jacks, they are built to lift significantly heavier loads. Even if you were able to somehow lift your forklift with a jack that wasn’t designed to lift that much weight, it would put your workers in danger while they worked to change the forklift tire.

A forklift eliminates this risk, lifting the vehicle simply and safely so the job can be done with maximum efficiency. While forklift jacks are not cheap, if you run your vehicle in places with a high risk of flats, they can often pay for themselves over a relatively short period of time in increased productivity and reduced vehicle downtime.

Forklift jacks are one of those tools you don’t know you need until you need it. But once you have one, you can use it to safely and quickly repair forklift flats over and over again.