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Everything You Need to Know about Casters

A castors basically a wheeled device that is mounted to a larger object that enables relatively easy rolling movement of the object. Castors include a housing that includes a wheel and a mounting to install the castor to objects.

Castors are found everywhere from the office desk chairs to shipyards and everything in between. They are also available in a range of sizes like for small furniture to massive industrial casters.

How Will be Mounting the Castors?

Whether it is a new or replacement set of castors, it is important to decide if you require a plate mounting or a stem mounting. It is highly advisable to use plate mounting whenever possible as it is the sturdiest method.

Moreover, you need to take care of the hole spacing, length by width, and dimensions for overall plate size while considering a four-hole plate mounting.

If you consider a stem castor then you should need a round, square or threaded plate. Moreover, you should also know the size and length of the steam.

Although, by knowing these mounting features, you can quickly identify which type of castors will suit your mounting needs.

What is the Application?

What will be your castors be installed on? This is one of the important questions that you need to think about it. You may be buying castor wheels for a cart to move materials in your business. Then you need to think how much weight will be moved on these carts and do they need to have a swivel or fixed type of castor wheels. All these concerns may affect the type or even the size of the wheel you will choose.

What Wheels Do You Actually Need?

If you are choosing castor for direct replacement then the choice is easy for the wheel size. However, for new installments, it is important to decide if you need a specific wheel diameter or tread width. If you are looking for easy rolling you will need a larger wheel since the conventional wisdom is that the larger the wheel, easier it rolls. A large wheel simply covers more distance in one revolution than a small wheel.

On the other hand, if you are thinking to move electronics or medical equipment then think about using smaller wheels since they will the cart easier to swivel. If you will be using them in an assembly line or machine line then you need to consider the width of the wheel. A wider wheel will help you in handling heavyweights involved in such industries.

What is the Overall Height of Castor Should Have?

Last but not the last thing that you need to think is the conditions under which your castor will be used. Whether it should be used on smooth or rough surfaces or a place where there would be water present? Will the casters be used inside or outside or they can be exposed to high heat, cold, steam or chemicals?

Each of these conditions will strike a different problem for the castor and will, therefore, influence the recommendation of which castor you should consider.  For instance, steels wheels are good for smooth surfaces and are durable as well but they can harm to sensitive floors. On the other hand, phenolic wheels are floor-saving but are difficult to roll over obstacles.

While rubber wheels negotiate obstacles well but have problems with the presence of grease or chemicals.

Wrapping Up

When you have a general idea of what you need and the conditions that you will be using your castors in then the experts at Equip2go can help you to satisfy your unique needs.

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Written by Diana Perkins

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