Forklifts have always been designed to be used for a long time, with proper maintenance of course, but what happens when they’re needed in an extreme work environment?
Both high heat and extreme cold can affect your forklift’s operations and cause excess wear and tear. Forklifts are an investment and extremely necessary in some work environments, even with extreme weather conditions. Here’s how you can protect your forklift from succumbing to extreme weather conditions.
Protecting Against Extreme Heat
If you live in Phoenix, where our headquarters are located or anywhere else in the Southwest, you’re no stranger to extreme heat.
Besides high temperatures outside, there are a few reasons your forklift may need extra attention in extreme heat, including:
- Working in environments with high dust or dirt that can get into the engine
- Improper operation of the lift, such as driving too fast or exceeding load lift capacity
- Lack of maintenance, such as low coolant levels, often leads to overheating
- Tires and batteries need to be inspected before every shift and may require more frequent replacement.
In order to keep your forklift from overheating, the key is ensuring that your forklift gets enough time in between shifts to cool down and keep fluids topped.
Naumann/Hobbs offers a forklift maintenance program to ensure your forklift is operating properly at all times.
Get Help with Forklift Maintenance
Protecting Against Extreme Cold
Whether it’s exposure in freezing temperatures outdoors or indoor freezers, cold temperatures pose a risk when it comes to operating forklifts.
You can protect your forklift from extremely cold temperatures by:
- Avoiding leaving forklifts in freezing conditions overnight
- Always warm up electric forklifts before putting them in full operation
- Cleaning your forklift regularly to prevent blocked or clogged parts
- Perform all preventative maintenance before extreme cold weather hits
- Avoiding condensation in the pin area by ensuring your lift has a
double-sealed connector design - Choosing batteries and tires designed for extreme cold
In order to keep both your employees and forklifts safe in these extreme conditions, you should always make sure to conduct daily inspections before every shift. We also recommend full inspections of each forklift every 250-500 hours of operation to ensure all parts are properly greased, ventilate your warehouse to minimize condensation, and most importantly, ensure your operators are trained and certified to work in extreme conditions – we can help. Give us a call.
