The correct tire pressure for a small hand truck you’ll need to use for optimal performance depends on several factors. The first is the width of the tyre. Where in general a hand truck’s pneumatic tire are between 3″ – 4″ wide. Another important factor is the amount of weight the hand truck is expected to load. You will see better results by adjusting the tire pressure to the weight of the load. A greater load would generally need a higher tire pressure for best performance, and a lighter load with a lower tire pressure to get the best out of the hand truck in terms of comfort, stability, and low rolling resistance.
Maximum tire pressure is written on the tire sidewall and must not be exceeded. Ensure you check your tires maximum pressure before attempting to inflate.
Tire Pressure Settings for 3"- 4" Wide Tires
| Hand Truck Load Weight | Tire Pressure PSI |
|---|---|
| 0 - 199 lbs | 25 psi |
| 200 - 399 lbs | 30 psi |
| 400 - 599 lbs | 45 psi |
| 600+ lbs | 60 psi |
The max pressure for the universal pneumatic hand truck measuring 10″ in diameter and 3.5″ wide is typically 30psi. You could simply always set this pressure and set and forget it. However to get the most utility from the hand truck pressure should be set properly according to several variable factors.
Let’s break this down further to understand the best tire pressure required for a small hand truck.
Weight Factor – Tire Pressure for Small Hand Trucks
As we alluded to before, the weight being carried directly influences the ideal tire pressure that should be set for the hand trucks wheels. For a fairly light weight being transported on a hand truck, the tire pressure can be set lower.
Low Tire Pressure
Firstly, a lower tire pressure increases the level of cushioning an plushness felt as you glide over the floor when moving the hand truck. This increases stability, as the hand truck will be less jittery when moving over smooth surfaces. When hitting bumps the energy will be absorbed by the malleability of the low tire pressure wheels. This instead of being transferred to the hand truck and load being carried. Of course too low a pressure would mean that the friction increases by the wheels rolling over the floor. Resulting in it being unnecessarily difficult to move the hand truck across the ground.
High Tire Pressure
A high tire pressure effectively reduces the rolling resistance of the tire across the ground. Doing so reduces the contact patch that the tire makes with the ground. This is useful when carrying heavier loads. As the heavier loads are put on the hand truck the tire with depress further. With a low pressure increasing the contact patch even further, there is potential of the tire losing its rounded shape. Thus increasing the difficulty for the truck to roll needing more effort to do so. All this can be undone by setting a high tire pressure, reducing the contact patch, allowing the tire to maintain its round shape even under heavy load, thus increasing the rolling ability with a reduction in your efforts to move the load.
Ideal Pressure for Weight
For an average pneumatic hand truck tire that measures 10″ in diameter and 3″ wide, assuming the maximum load is 350lbs the pressure should be set around 30-32 psi when the maximum loading weight is applied.
When loaded fairly lightly, you can reduce the pressure to 18psi. Increasing the pressure incrementally up to 32 psi as you get closer to the maximum load.
For universal use around 24psi would be ideal. Of course this does not account for tire widths.
Width Factor – Tire Pressure for Small Hand Trucks
Increasing the width of a wheel allows you to reduce the pressure. This is as compared to a smaller width tire. While you still enjoy the same benefits of the lower rolling resistance.
As the volume of the tire is increased it means the pounds of pressure needed to get the same comfort levels change. Lower pressure is needed to get the same level of comfort when the tires are wider. In addition the pressure needed to achieve the lowest rolling resistance are significantly reduced. Both of these effects becoming more pronounced the wider the tire is.
A universally set pressure for a 3″ wide tire being 24psi, the equivalent universally set pressure for a 5″ wide tire would be set at roughly 18psi to get the same effects.
Temperature Factor – Tire Pressure for Small Hand Trucks
The psi you set a tire to is relative to the temperature of the area that you set it in. In other words as the temperature goes up, the pressure increases, as the temperature goes down the pressure decreases. Setting your hand truck’s tire psi in a warm room to 30 psi and then moving the hand truck outside to use in much lower temperatures effectively reduces the pressure of the tire in the new colder environment. In other words, if going from room temperature to a very cold climate then adjust the psi about 10- 15% higher (ensuring you don’t inflate past the maximum tire pressure labelled on the sidewall of the tire) to get the ideal pressure in the environment you’ll be primarily be using the hand truck in.
On the other side if you set the pressure in a cooled environment and will be moving the hand truck to be used in a much warmer environment, then you would need to under inflate the tires by 10 – 15% psi in order to get the ideal operating pressure in the warm environment the hand truck will be predominantly used in. As the warmer environment will increase the air pressure in the tire.
This is the same reason you must set your car tires to their recommended pressure when they’re ‘cold’, i.e before being driven on and the temperature increases thus expanding the air inside the tires.
Low Effort and Comfortable Transportation Factor
If your priority isn’t comfort, and you’d instead prefer for the hand truck to roll across surfaces with the least effort possible then you should lean towards setting your tire pressure at the higher end.
Increasing tire pressure reduces the rolling resistance across the ground. Achieved by reducing the size of the contact patch of tire tire interacting with the floor. The result is less friction between the ground and the wheel allowing you to move the load easier across level surfaces.
The caveat he is that too high tire pressure severely reduces the cushioning effect of pneumatic tires, meaning that the load could bounce around more if the surface is uneven or rough, reducing the loads stability and increasing the chances of it falling off or out of position on the ground plate.
Conclusion – Tire Pressure for Small Hand Trucks
Pressures should be set according to the maximum pressure printed on the sidewall of the tire, typically 30 psi, if you wish to have a universal pressure where you don’t need to adjust any further regardless of the conditions.
However if we want to get the best performance out of our hand truck, we can adjust the pressure according to the wheel size, climate, or comfort levels we need from our hand trucks.
In general:
- Increase in load weight means the tire pressure of the hand truck should be increased
- Decrease in load weight means the tire pressure can be decreased
- For an increase in tire width, the pressure can be reduced to get the same comfort levels and rolling resistance
- As the temperature increases, the relative pressure also increases. Meaning moving the hand truck to an area with a higher ambient temperature increases the pressure, and moving to an area with a lower temperature reduces the pressure.
- Increasing the pressure as high as possible decreases the rolling resistance. However makes the hand truck less able to cushion bumps and will feel slightly more unstable over rough surfaces
In the end, how far you wish to vary the adjustment of tire pressure is up to you. Operating your hand truck at the maximum recommended pressure will do no harm. However if you want to get the most out of your hand truck tires, adjusting based on the varying factors listed above will increase its utility and comfort exponentially.
Here’s Something Else You May Like:
How to Pick the Best Hand Trucks Dollies and Electric Stair Climbers – Guide