​Three Ways You are Damaging Your Polyurethane Tires

6th Aug 2019

Questions: What are some of the factors that lead to the damage of polyurethane tires?

Polyurethane tires are a type of elastomer which basically refers to artificial rubber. They have grown in popularity over the years because they combine the desirable characteristics of both plastics and rubber to meet diverse material handling needs.

You are most likely to find them in the material handling equipment like electric forklifts and Load wheels.

However, polyurethane tires have one problem: they dissipate heat poorly which is their main source of damage.

In our article today we look at some of the causes of heat build-up in polyurethane tires.

Overloading

Overloading your forklift can be damaging to your polyurethane tires. When a forklift is overloaded it transfer the stress of the extra load to the tires which leads to heat build-up within the tires and polyurethane tires are no different.

If this goes on unchecked the tires will eventually meltdown making way for the costly need to replace them.

However, you can prevent this by using polyurethane tires with a higher durometer which boosts the load handling capacity.

Since the high capacity tires can also get damaged by being overloaded a great long term solution would be to adopt measures that prevent overloading.

Over-speeding

Another way you can damage your polyurethane tires is when you engage in over speeding.

Since we now know polyurethane tires dissipate heat poorly it is easy how heat can build up within the tires over a period of overtime.

To ensure your polyurethane tires are not damaged you will need to choose those with compounds that prevent heat build-up by keeping the tires cool even during over speeding.

Although another viable remedy in case you are not ready for an immediate replacement would be to adopt measures that help reduce over speeding.

Long runs

If you are not overloading your forklift or damaging your polyurethane tires through over speeding they can still be damaged by operations that stretch over a long period of time.

Like in overloading and over speeding, there will be heat build-up within the tires which can accumulate to dangerous levels.

The remedy for this is simply finding a supplier of polyurethane tires with compounds that help keep the tires cool for any long run application.

Forklift Tire Company is one of the largest suppliers of forklift tires in the USA. We would be very happy to help you find the right tires for your forklift truck. Visit our online store here for great discounts and assistance.