Roll On (Part Two in a Two-Part Article)

Last month, we armed CE’s readers with the knowledge of the most popular skid steer tires on the market —
pneumatic, solid, foam-filled and semi-pneumatic.
After understanding these major options and picking the right set of wheels for your tool carrier (for the right price), skid steer owners and operators will need to realize how to take care of those tires. The most obvious reason to care about the longevity of tires is price. Skid steer tires, no matter what the type or style, are expensive —
anywhere from $100 to $800 per tire. Even with these prices, it’s not the cost of replacement that most concerns the end user. Rather, it’s costly downtime that they fear most. Be it a flat tire or a lack of traction due to nonexistent tread, the result is lost productivity. And with today’s ever-tightening project deadlines and demands, time is something that’s never in surplus.

Under Pressure?

Given the air-filled nature of pneumatic tires, the most important step to ensure maximum tire life is to
keep the air pressure at manufacturer-recommended levels. This is often overlooked by operators, but tire pressure that is too great or too
anemic will result in accelerated and uneven wear while increasing the likelihood of flats.

To make sure tire pressures are acceptable, you should first consult the vehicle owner’s manual to determine the ideal air levels. Otherwise, a tire distributor should be able to help determine the right air pressure
based on the manufacturer’s recommendations and how the vehicle is being used.

Once the correct air pressure is determined, tire pressure checks should be performed regularly. This should be done daily for vehicles that are in constant use or weekly for vehicles with less demanding schedules. Always check tire pressures before the machine has been operated that day to ensure accurate pressure readings. Additionally, make sure valve caps are replaced following pressure checks.

If the work schedule is too demanding to check pressures on a regular basis, the way the vehicle is reacting can tell an operator a lot about the current air pressures. If the tires are over-inflated, the skid steer will bounce and be difficult to control. On the other hand, if there is too little tire
pressure, the machine will feel unstable, especially when the loader arms are lifted.

Don’t Hesitate to Rotate

Though tire pressure is only a concern for pneumatics, something that should be conducted to extend the life of all tire types is rotation.

Following the same principle of automobile tire rotation, the goal behind this practice is to extend tire life by keeping performance even between the front and rear set of tires. With automobiles, this is primarily necessary because most vehicles are either front- or rear-wheel drive, meaning that one set of tires is always under more stress. In the
case of skid steers, more stress is placed on either the
front or rear set of tires based on how you typically use
the vehicle.

It is impossible to place a specific timeframe on when rotation is necessary since the vehicle’s condition, tire type, work environment and operational tendencies all factor into the equation. But a good rule of thumb is to regularly inspect the tires and at the first sign of wear
difference in the tread — rotate. Failing to do so will

eventually result in one pair of tires wearing at a much more accelerated rate than the other pair, which reduces the service life of the entire set.

Keep Four on the Floor

One common issue that accelerates tire wear for the rear tires and makes rotation a more immediate concern relates to how operators address loads with the bucket.

More often than not, when an operator has a load in front of them, there is a tendency to dig the bucket as far as
possible under the load. Typically, this practice results in the front end of the machine being lifted up, taking the front two tires slightly off the ground, which results in all of the load stress being concentrated on the two rear tires. Simply put, the two rear tires end up doing all of the work, while the front two tires do nothing at all. In fact, the weight of the front tires itself adds to the stress on the rear tires.

Obviously, operating the skid steer in this way results in accelerated and uneven wear to the rear tires. The solution to this problem is rather obvious as well — keep all four tires on the ground when lifting and carrying loads.

It is usually unnecessary to lift a load in such a way and avoiding this practice will extend tire life and reduce
the frequency of rotation.

Location, Location, Location

Outside of wear-promoting operation techniques,
perhaps the biggest mistake operators make that results in aggressive tire wear is the location they choose to run the skid steer.

For the most part, skid steer tires are designed for
off-road use, but all too often operators drive the vehicles on road surfaces. Just as a standard automobile tire is not designed for off-road use, most skid steer tires are not designed for on-road travel. Again, the result is accelerated and unnecessary wear, not to mention poor performance.

Therefore, operators should be cognizant of where they are driving skid steers. Being creatures of habit, people
are naturally drawn to driving on a road surface, but it’s a compulsion that should be resisted if extended tire life
is of interest. Driving on surfaces that are not ideal for
the tire’s design is not always avoidable, but bear in mind that there’s a reason most of these tires have deep,
aggressive-action treads and it’s not for operating on smooth, paved surfaces.

Hitting the Rim

In addition to trying to operate skid steers on surfaces for which the tires were designed, end users need to pay extra attention to obstacles that may be in their path. This may seem like an obvious point, but given the rough-and-
tumble nature of skid steers, many tend to treat them as indestructible. This attitude can have a detrimental effect on tire life.

One issue that is specifically related to tires other than pneumatics involves the rim. Non-pneumatic tire styles utilize a completely different type of rim than pneumatics. The tire is actually pressed onto the rim and a retaining ring holds the tire in place.

A relatively common problem results when operators who are not paying close enough attention to their
surroundings snag the rim on an obstacle, which can result in the retaining ring popping off. Worse yet, many times operators do not realize quickly enough what has
happened and they end up running over the retaining ring.

Fortunately, this is not an expensive mistake. A retaining ring can be repaired for a nominal fee (about $30) and quickly pressed back on. Again, the primary problem is the cost of downtime. Not only is the skid steer unusable until the tire is repaired, but this type of service usually requires a tire dealer to get involved, which means more waiting.

The key point to remember is that though flat-free tires are built to be virtually indestructible, they can’t always counter a lapse in common sense.

Keep It Clean

One final point about tire maintenance is something that operators should practice with any piece of construction equipment — keep it clean. No matter what the machine, dirt and grime can conceal obvious problems. The same goes with its tires.

Following any use that results in a significant amount of accumulated filth, you should hose off the vehicle and tires. Thoroughly cleaning the tires allows for a proper visual inspection and could reveal minor problems before they become serious such as signs of irregular wear, bubbles and bumps, cracks or foreign objects stuck in the rubber.

Though some flat-free tires, such as semi-pneumatics, are designed to clean themselves of foreign objects stuck in the tread or air holes, it’s still a good idea to remove any excess dirt and mud. For instance, if mud is left to dry within the air holes of a semi-pneumatic, the hardened dirt clumps could promote excess wear. This is not a serious problem by any stretch of the imagination, but since one should already be cleaning the equipment, the extra few seconds it takes to clean off the tires are worth it.

Extending skid steer tire life is by no means sophisticated. It just takes a commitment. If proper tire maintenance is not a concern and the operator’s actions reflect this, then tire life will likely be minimized and overall productivity
is lost. But if the slightest concern for tire longevity is
exhibited, the operator is rewarded with extended reliability and performance. It simply requires a little common sense to achieve uncommon results.

Chris Ono is a customer relations manager for McLaren Industries, Torrance, Calif.