What to Know When Purchasing Industrial Casters

When you are searching for the right industrial casters for your business, there are choices to make. Made of a rolling wheel housed inside a swivel frame, casters can turn stationary objects into mobile ones. After fastening them to the bottom of a stationary object, you can easily roll the object to a new location. While all casters feature this fundamental design, their specifications and features vary. So, consider these three top points when choosing casters for your business.

Mounting Method

Industrial casters are usually mounted in one of a few ways. Some casters have a flat plate on top, which can be bolted into the bottom of a large object, and others feature stems that are screwed or snapped into an object. Some also use brackets for vertical mounting.

Housing Material

Also called a rig or yoke, the housing is the frame surrounding the caster's wheel. Caster housings are manufactured in several different materials, some of which include anodized aluminum alloy, oil-coated steel, zinc-plated steel, and traditional stainless steel.

Load Capacity

Industrial casters' load capacity refers to the maximum weight a caster can support. If the object exceeds the caster's load capacity, the housing may collapse or break. Some cheap casters, usually found on office chairs, have a load capacity of only 150 to 200 pounds. However, industrial casters are made to support up to 100,000 pounds.

Finding the Right Industrial Wheels to Meet Your Needs

If your business has stock and material handling challenges, you are very familiar with ergonomics, worker safety, noise, productivity, and cost savings. Choosing the right heavy-duty industrial wheels for your handling application can sometimes be a challenge. Here are the top two considerations for industrial wheels when choosing the right casters from trusted manufacturers like Albion casters and Darnell Casters.

Wheel Size

When you think size, think load weight. Determine the maximum load weight to which the dolly, cart, or AGV will be subjected. Increasing the industrial wheels' diameter means less effort to start rolling and to keep the wheels rolling. If you have casters on all four corners of your cart or rack, you will need casters that are rated to hold at least the weight they will carry.  Additionally, to compensate for shifting or unbalanced loads, you should shoot for about 30% over the maximum weight.

Tread Material

There are many materials to consider for treads on industrial wheels. So what's best: rubber, steel, wrought iron, or polyurethane? Knowing the pros and cons of each is crucial in determining an acceptable balance between floor protection and material load capacity. Typically, the heavier the caster load capacity, the harder the material will be for the industrial wheels. But remember, harder wheels have a higher risk of damaging your floors, whereas softer treads are more resilient and offer more floor protection.

Why You Should Choose Hamilton Casters

When you need to move equipment safely and efficiently, casters are the way to get it done. The key to selecting casters is to find the best ones for the item. At Access Casters Inc., we know all about them, and we’ll provide advice here.

The main thing to keep in mind is that there are multiple types of casters. It’s not a one-size-fits-all product. It’s more the case of finding the right size or type that works best for a specific piece of equipment.

Hamilton Casters is a company providing casters that can meet every need. They have specialty casters designed to operate in challenging conditions while providing robust support and mobility. They have products that can endure temperatures from as low as -22° to 750°F while supporting weights as much as 9,000 lbs.

Businesses large and small know that they can rely on Hamilton Casters for products to meet all their unique requirements, including:

• High Temp Extra Heavy Duty Casters
• Aerospace Shock Absorbing Casters
• Dual Wheel Casters
• Heavy Duty Casters

Products from Hamilton Casters are made to withstand extreme conditions just as well as they face regular ones. They also provide ergonomically correct models specifically designed to protect workers from injuries by operating as easily and smoothly as possible. They are a dependable source for casters for companies large and small.

The Value of Albion Casters

Products that make life easier for workers are beneficial in many ways. They help them do their jobs more efficiently, such as moving heavy equipment, and allow the company to remain productive at the same time by getting the job done.

Albion Casters are the go-to choice for ergonomically designed casters that meet the greatest demands while protecting workers and equipment. They are among the leaders in polyurethane wheels because of their early and widespread use of this material. It’s the perfect choice for enhancing ergonomics, absorbing shock, rejecting debris, and protecting floors.

Albion Casters have been solving mobility challenges for customers for more than 70 years and continues to do so with products ranging from dolly wheels to extreme duty casters with capacities of up to 30,000 lbs.

They provide many face types, diameters, colors, and wheel thicknesses, with products that include:

• Light Duty Institutional Casters

• Business Machine Casters

• Super Duty Casters

• Kingpin Dual Wheel Casters

• Ergonomic Precision Casters
  

Companies both large and small know that they can turn to Albion Casters for wheel systems that improve the ease of maneuverability equipment and machinery while making the task as simple as possible for workers by reducing the amount of push/pull force needed.