Tips for Inflating Your Heavy Equipment Tires

Tips for Inflating Your Heavy Equipment Tires Atlantic Coastal Equipment

The performance of your wheel loaders, skid steers, wheeled excavators, and other machines with equipment tires depends largely on how those tires are inflated and maintained. Only by keeping them in the optimal range will you have the stability and traction required to successfully complete your construction, material handling, and earthmoving projects.

How to Inflate Tires Properly

If the pressure in your wheel loader tires or skid steer tires is too low, then you won’t move as efficiently and you’ll end up burning more fuel than necessary. If the pressure is too high, then you increase the chances of a flat tire. Both situations can cause abnormal, uneven, or accelerated wear and tear. It’s important to consult your owner’s manual to understand what the correct pressure range for your equipment tires is.

Check Pressure Regularly for Equipment Tires

We recommend keeping an accurate, dependable tire gauge and using it to check your tire pressure at least once a day to ensure it’s within the range recommended by the manufacturer. If it’s the spring or fall, and you’re experiencing large temperature variations throughout the day, then measure the pressure several times over the course of a shift. A general rule of thumb is that 10° F air temperature change correlates to a tire pressure change of 1 psi.

Measure Tire Pressure at the Working Temperature

If you’re working in the winter or on a cold spring morning, then it’s important to take your first pressure reading at the jobsite, in the conditions you’ll be operating in. Measuring the pressure in a warm shop will not accurately reflect the actual pressure of your wheel loader tires or skid steer tires once they are out on the worksite.

Inflate Tires with Nitrogen

To fight against pressure fluctuations, we recommend using nitrogen to fill your equipment tires. It does not create any additional risk of combustion or fire, and it help prevents ice crystals from forming that could hold open the tire's valve stem during the winter months. When inflating your equipment tires with nitrogen, continue to fill the tire to the manufacturer's recommended psi.

Keep an Eye on Pressure as Temperatures Rise

As you move into the hotter summer months, it’s important to not let your equipment tires over inflate. Extreme heat can cause them to move beyond the manufacturer recommended range, leading to faster, irregular wear and tear that shortens the lifespan of your wheel loader, excavator, and skid steer tires.