Pneumatic tires easier on wooden floor?

[Pattnmaker]

I need a new forklift and I need a bigger one, the old one is about a 2500lb lift. The problem I have is my new shop has wooden floors which is great for working on and for dropped tools etc. But I just finished repairing all the places where the machinery mover broke through the floor while moving out the previous owner of the building. He was using a 6000lb forklift with cushion tires lifting heavy machinery. The previous owner had a 5000lb forklift with cushion tires doing lifts similar to the ones I will be doing in this building and had broken the floor in a few spots but was generally OK. The floor is 1.75" thick T&G fastened to 2x4s on the flat sitting on concrete so while I don't want to damage the floor it is not catastrophic if I do break though.

I looked at a 5000lb forklift today that had pneumatic tires which were quite a bit bigger than the tires on the previous owners forklift. My gut feeling is that the larger pneumatic tires are going to be easier on the floor than the small cushion tires. Does anyone know how much less pressure per square inch the pneumatic tires will have vs cushion tires?

I was planning on getting something in the 3500-4000lb range but that is a harder size to find used especially because I want to avoid a 3 wheeler. The extra capacity will be handy for some things that I lift and store in my other building which has a concrete floor.

 

[JohnEvans]

Just about has to be easier on the floor due to the much larger contact patch pneumatic tires spreading out the weight over a larger area.

 

[true temper]

Might be able to put duels on the drivers to spread the load.

 

[Red James]

I just bought an old 5k fork truck with cushion tires, but they have to be the widest fork truck tires I have ever seen . . . about 8" wide.

 

[kb1cjp]

Was the damage to the floor from too much weight per sq inch or for some other force like turning to tight or just turning the wheel without being in motion?

 

[Pattnmaker]

Worst breaking was definitely from sharp turns with heavy load. For some reason the breakage seemed to be all in the back of the shop. Maybe that was due to turning with a heavy load. I want to be able to drive around in this shop with loads probably never over 2000lb but they often have a load center at 30" plus which is one of the reasons I need a forklift bigger than my current one.

On a rare occasion if I need to move a really heavy load I can throw some sheets of plywood down on the floor to drive on. I had to rent a 5000lb forklift to move in my 2 surface plates, a 12'x42" cast iron plate and a 8'x3'granite plate. I leapfrogged about 4 sheets of ply under the forklift and had no problem with cushion tires under about a 5000lb load.

 

[surplusjohn]

can you grout under the floor in the traffic lanes?

 

[Pattnmaker]

I have the forklift rented for a month before buying and so far it seems to be much easier on the floor than the old owners forklift was. I get creaking in places but I have driven it around the back a fair bit and have not had a problem. I have a 3000lb skid of castings coming in a week or 2 that I have to get back to my mill which will be the ultimate test. The grouting might be a good idea at the front where I am in and out all the time, but the shop is too big to grout the whole floor.