Choosing The Best Press On Solid Tire For Your Forklift

All leading supplier of industrial press on tires will offer a large list of tire options. And Cascadia Industrial Tire Ltd. offers tires from the best names in industrial tires.

But how do you choose which is best for you?
This page will help you shorten this large search results list to only those tires that fits your budget and application.

Target Market

We try offer two or three different qualities of press on tires depending on the size. You can select/filter the large list by ticking and unticking one of the options down the side (or at the bottom on mobile devices). They can be broken down roughly by the following main characteristics:

  • Economy - This tire is ideal for forklifts that operate a few hours a day (on average). The rubber compounds are a mix of materials and are not designed to provide maximum tire life, performance or the best ride; but are inexpensive.
  • Mid-Market - If your forklift operates on average less than four hours a day and you have a more limited budget, then this is a good value tire. It will out perform an economy tire and offer reasonable traction in less than ideal conditions (ie. wet, ramps, etc).
  • Premium - Designed to operate continuously, the all natural rubber compound dissipates the heat best of all the other compounds. High heat wears down tires quickly. It performs the best and last the longest (35%-45% longer than economy and 25%-35% longer than mid-market). They resist damage for foreign material impacts and hold together the best.

Compound/Product Type

Press on tires come in black rubber, non marking rubber and polyurethane compounds.

  • Black Rubber - Black rubber tires last longer than non marking rubber as the carbon black adds endurance. They offer superior traction in wet conditions over polyurethane. Unfortunately, economy black rubber tires often leave black streaks on floors; premium less so.
  • Non Marking Rubber - Normally used in food production or applications where black rubber particles can not appear in the products you manufacturer or streak the floors with black rubber dust. They should not be used outside and are typically much softer than black rubber and will "chuck out" or be damaged by foreign material impact. Being softer, they offer the best traction in wet conditions.
  • Polyurethane - These as special purpose and offer the greatest load capacity of other tires of their size. They have a long tire life and do not mark. They are, however, very hard on the operator and machine as they provide a very firm ride. They will flat-spot as they momentary stop and slide when they run over foreign material (once this happens you will get a thump, thump sound at high speed). Traction is not very good in wet conditions. Sipes (small micro cuts) are applied to polyurethane for freezer and cooler applications.

Tread Style

Press on tires are designed for indoor use on smooth floors. They can also be used on smooth asphalt (load/unloading trucks), but will wear faster than pneumatic or solid pneumatic tires. They are not designed for gravel or rough surfaces as they deflect only slightly when they encounter rough areas. As there is no forklift suspension, often one of the wheels will end up in the air as the tires and machine can not compensate for uneven ground.

  • Smooth - Indoor dry conditions, smooth tires offer the longest life, best ride and best traction. We always recommend smooth tires in the steer position as treaded tires offer no added value and wear faster.
  • Traction - Think water dissipation rather that true grip when you go with traction tires on the drive end of a forklift. They help with hydroplaning in wet conditions when on smooth surfaces. Press on tires are not really designed for snow or ice, but will give a marginal amount of traction over a smooth tire.

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