Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Polyurethane Swivel and Rigid Casters
Heavy duty industrial casters and wheels help make moving heavy equipment and machinery a breeze.
see our video and check out more info at https://www.heavy-dutycaster.com/
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Our Top 8 Shipping Locations for Industrial Casters and Wheels
Blog: How
Can You Ship Heavy Duty Industrial Casters and Wheels So Quickly? Here are our top 8 shipping locations!
Is it important to
receive your heavy duty industrial casters and wheels quickly?
Sure it is….. That
is why we ship casters from strategic locations across the country and we only
ship inside the United States and sometimes to Canada. Below I will detail the different warehouse
locations we typically ship from and the benefits and lead time that we can
usually meet. And now our top 8!
1.
Greensboro, North Carolina: This is our home warehouse and have been
stocking casters and wheels in Greensboro for over 40 years. We stock a large supply of light duty, medium
duty, stainless steel casters and some heavy duty casters in Greensboro. Since we have many casters customers in North
Carolina we tend to stock the specific casters that our customers need. From NC we service the following industries
that use a lot of casters: furniture
industry, textiles, pharmaceutical, OEM fabricators, NASCAR racing companies,
metal fabricators, and many other manufacturers. The ship fast and they can be picked up,
delivered, or shipped from Greensboro within 1 – 2 days of order.
2.
Atlanta, Georgia: We have a couple of warehouses we ship
casters from in the Atlanta area. Again
these range from the light duty, medium duty, stainless steel casters, and also
heavy duty casters up to about 4,000# capacity per caster. Orders shipping out of Atlanta can get
anywhere in the Southeast part of the US in one to two days via UPS or LTL
freight and about one day to process.
3.
Dallas, Texas: This warehouse is where we have our largest
stock of casters. We have everything in
Dallas from light duty to extreme heavy duty casters and wheels. We also have high temperature rated casters,
stainless steel casters, dual wheel casters, semi-pneumatic casters, and all
other sizes and capacities. 70# - 40,000# capacity casters. We have customer pick up at this location
sometimes or we ship via UPS or LTL freight in 2 days or up to one week lead
time. We have a 2 week lead time for
heavy duty casters that have welded on face contact brakes from Dallas.
4.
Middletown, Ohio: This warehouse services the Midwest and
Northeastern part of the US. Again we
have all casters sizes and capacities from this warehouse that can ship in two
days to one week from receipt of purchase order. Any combination of wheel and caster rig can
be assembled in this plant and shipped by standard means.
5.
Tacoma, Washington: Tacoma is one of our smaller warehouses but
still a decent supply of casters are available to service the Northwest section
of the US
6.
Los Angeles, California: LA is a large market and we have a couple of
warehouses we ship casters from these locations. One of our warehouse mostly stocks light duty
stem casters and dual wheel stem casters for 2 – 3 day shipments. Our other warehouse keeps medium and heavy
duty casters the can be assembled and shipped within one week to service the
Western part of America.
7.
Michigan: We have three great warehouses in
Michigan. From these 3 warehouses you
can get virtually any size, shape, and capacity casters you need. Some of these casters can ship in 2 – 3 days
of order and the more detailed and specific casters can ship within 2 weeks…..
Even the extreme capacity casters rating up to 40,000#
8.
Chicago, Illinois: We have a couple of locations in Chicago area
we ship from to meet the upper Midwest area of the US. Again we have most all sizes and capacities
available to ship in 2 – 3 days.
For a full list of
our shipping locations and the different styles and advantages of our caster warehouse
locations visit the following link: http://www.heavy-dutycaster.com/Shipping-Locations.html
Let me know if you
have an application for heavy duty casters in your industrial or commercial
material handling applications. We can
help and we keep the very best in stock from 8 wonderful warehouse locations
strategically positioned to service the entire United States.
Monday, January 15, 2018
Choose the Correct Heavy Duty Wheels for Your Industrial Caster and Wheel Applications
Choose the Correct Heavy Duty Wheels for your
Industrial Caster and Wheel Applications
We have talked about
how heavy duty casters can provide an amazing benefit in your heavy material
handling transporting and moving equipment.
I consider heavy duty wheels to be 1,200# capacity to about 40,000#
capacity. However if you do not have the
correct wheels for moving these heavy items you will have nothing but
problems. Some of the issues you may
encounter when using an under rated capacity wheel include: wheel breaking or flattening, bearings
busting out of the wheel, using incorrect wheel material which can damage the
floor. All of these scenarios can cause
a catastrophic failure of the casters and cart that you are moving the
equipment on resulting in possible damage and injury to operators…. Not to
mention the job will not get done.
Therefore, let’s see what factors we need to consider when choosing the
correct heavy duty wheel for moving heavy equipment. At www.heavy-dutycaster.com we list the size of the wheels and wheel options, and capacity to help
you choose the best wheel for your heavy duty caster application.
(1) Know the weight you will be pushing, pulling,
towing, or moving.
(2) Know the type of floor and the condition of
the floor you are rolling the wheels.
(3) Are you manually pushing or pulling the
cart? Or are you using a tugger or
towing the cart?
(4) Do you have
harsh environments the wheels will be exposed to?
(5) How tall can you
go? What size diameter and width wheel
can you use?
We offer over 40 different styles of heavy-duty wheels. Our
wheels come in many different diameters, tread widths, colors, and capacities.
Specific wheels provide floor protection, high heat applications, wash down,
chemical resistance, and more. Our wheels come with a variety of bearings such
as: roller bearings, tapered roller bearings, precision ball bearings,
stainless steel bearings, delrin and bronze bearings, and oilex bearings.
Specific wheels feature flat tread, crowned tread, donut tread with different
durometers and hardness. Wheels available: phenolic wheels, high temp wheels,
hard and soft rubber wheels, thermoplastic rubber wheels, polyurethane wheels,
elastomer wheels, cast iron steel wheels, ductile steel wheels, drop forged
steel wheels, semi-pneumatic wheels, rubber on cast iron and poly on cast iron
wheels, poly on aluminum wheels, v-groove wheels and others.
Wheel selection and
wheel bearings are another very important factor when selecting heavy duty
casters. The larger the wheel the easier
it will be to get started rolling and keep rolling, especially over rough
terrain or uneven floors and thresh holds.
Heavy duty casters usually start with a 6” diameter wheel however even a
3” diameter wheel can be used in heavy duty casters when a low profile is
needed. 6” x 3” up to 16” – 4” wide
wheels are commonly used. Different
types of wheel material is also very important.
Steel wheels and ductile steel and forged steel wheels give you the most
carrying capacity but can be rough on floors.
Heavy duty polyurethane on cast iron wheels can give wonderful floor
protection and still yield a great capacity.
High impact polymer wheels and Ergolastomer wheels work great in many
applications. We can use standard
straight roller bearings in these wheels but the best wheel bearings for heavy
duty applications are precision sealed ball bearings, and tapered roller
bearings. The precision ball bearings
and tapered roller bearings allow for an easier start and better roll with less
force and also will withstand towing.
The larger the wheel the heavier the axle as well.
Let me know if you
have an application for heavy duty casters in your industrial or commercial
material handling applications. We can
help and we keep the very best in stock!
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
4 Key Factors to Consider When Using a Heavy Duty Caster for Your Material Handling Application.
4 Key Factors to Consider When Using a Heavy
Duty Caster for Your Material Handling Application.
Heavy duty casters
can provide an amazing benefit in your heavy material handling transporting and
moving equipment. I consider heavy duty
casters to be 1,500# capacity to about 40,000# capacity. However if you do not have the correct caster
for moving these heavy items you will have nothing but problems. Some of the issues you may encounter when
using an under rated capacity caster include:
wheel breaking or flattening, bearings busting out of the wheel, caster
forks bending and bowing, top plate bending, damaging the floor. All of these scenarios can cause a
catastrophic failure of the casters and cart that you are moving the equipment
on resulting in possible damage and injury to operators…. Not to mention the
job will not get done. Therefore, let’s
see what factors we need to consider to choose the correct heavy duty caster
for moving heavy equipment. At www.heavy-dutycaster.com we list the
size of the casters, top plate size, wheel options, and capacity to help you
choose the best caster for your heavy duty application.
(1) Know
the weight of the cart or the items you are installing the heavy duty
casters. Also consider if the weight
being transported will be a centralized load or an offset load. It is very important for most of the weight
to be evenly distributed over 3 or 4 casters depending on how many casters you
use and the pattern of the casters. It
is a very safe formula to divide the weight you are going to be moving by a
factor of 3. Typically most equipment
uses 4 casters in a square or rectangular pattern… If this is the case then
divide by 3 and you will get a safe weight capacity per caster needed. So if your cart and equipment weighs 6,000 lbs. Then divide 6,000 / 3= 2,000# capacity per
caster. This way you will definitely
have enough capacity over 4 casters. If
you have a great floor with no cracks or obstructions and the weight will
always be evenly distributed over the 4 casters then you can divide by 4 and be
ok. Caster patterns can be diamond
style, rectangular, square, tri-style, rigid in the center and 2 swivel on each
end, etc.
(2) Kingpinless swivel caster versus a swivel
caster with a kingpin. The kingpin in a
swivel caster is the bolt that goes through the center of the swivel raceway
and is held together with a bradded nut and threaded bolt. The raceway has ball bearings that go around
the king pin in a swivel race and allows the swivel action to flow free. This is the most common way a swivel caster
is manufactured and typically provides great swivel action up to about
1,500#. When selecting a heavy duty
caster with more than 1,500# we typically go to a kingpinless swivel
caster. This means the caster does not
have a kingpin. Instead it has a
precision machined and hardened sealed swivel raceway that is larger
diameter. Inside the sealed race is 3/8”
or larger ball bearings that withstand heavier shock load and towing. This gives the swivel action a more robust
swivel lead and stronger more durable swivel action when under a heavy load.
(3) Top Plate Size and fork thickness is another
factor in selecting the heavy duty casters.
We have top plate sizes ranging from 4” x 4.5” x ¼” thick, 4.5” x 6.25”
x ¼” thick, 5.25” x 7.25” x 3/8” thick, 6.25” x 7.5” x 5/16” thick, 8.5” x 8.5”
x ½” thick among other sizes. The
heavier the load then the larger the top plate and thicker the top plate and
fork thickness will be. Make sure you
choose the correct top plate and bolt hole
spacing for your equipment if you are bolting the
casters to the cart or dolly.
(4) Wheel selection and wheel bearings are
another very important factor when selecting heavy duty casters. The larger the wheel the easier it will be to
get started rolling and keep rolling, especially over rough terrain or uneven
floors and thresh holds. Heavy duty
casters usually start with a 6” diameter wheel however even a 3” diameter wheel
can be used in heavy duty casters when a low profile is needed. 6” x 3” up to 16” – 4” wide wheels are
commonly used. Different types of wheel
material is also very important. Steel
wheels and ductile steel and forged steel wheels give you the most carrying
capacity but can be rough on floors.
Heavy duty polyurethane on cast iron wheels can give wonderful floor
protection and still yield a great capacity.
High impact polymer wheels and Ergolastomer wheels work great in many
applications. We can use standard
straight roller bearings in these wheels but the best wheel bearings for heavy
duty applications are precision sealed ball bearings, and tapered roller bearings. The precision ball bearings and tapered
roller bearings allow for an easier start and better roll with less force and
also will withstand towing. The larger
the wheel the heavier the axle as well.
Let me know if you
have an application for heavy duty casters in your industrial or commercial
material handling applications. We can
help and we keep the very best in stock!
www.heavy-dutycaster.com phil@heavy-dutycaster.com
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
5 Key Features of Stainless Steel Swivel Casters for Wash Down Applications
Blog: 5
Key Features of Stainless Steel Swivel Casters for Wash Down Applications
Many applications
require a stainless steel swivel and rigid caster for wash down industrial
applications. Typically this happens in
food processing facilities, pharmaceutical production, marine equipment,
bakeries, and other clean or corrosive environments. Different cleaners, steam, water, and even
salt water can destroy mild steel casters and certain types of wheel material
in a matter of months. So we employ 5
key features on the stainless steel casters to keep your operation running and
might I say……. Rolling!
(1) Use a high quality #304 stainless steel
swivel and rigid rig that is machined and polished if possible. A typical medium to heavy duty stainless
steel caster will have a double ball raceway with a 5/8” kingpin. The plate is typically a 4” x 4.5” top plate
with slotted 3” x 3” bolt hole spacing and ¼” thick. All the ball bearings in the swivel race to
be stainless steel also to disallow corrosion in the swivel race.
(2) Have raceway seals installed on the upper and
lower swivel raceways. The rubber
raceway seals help keep debris from lodging into the raceway bearings and
creating drag when swiveling. Also when
washing with a high power sprayer they can help prevent direct blasting of the
water or detergent from spraying directly into the race. The seals also help keep food grade grease or
high temp grease packed into the bearings and not as likely to be washed out.
(3) Grease fittings should always be in the
swivel race. This allows maintenance to
provide preventative maintenance on the casters and keep them properly lubed
from the wash down sprays and detergents or salty environment.
(4) Wheel selection is probably the second most
important feature to address. When
selecting a wheel for a stainless steel caster application you need to take
into account the wash down protocol.
Will detergent be used? Will
there be grease, oils, chemicals, cleaners, salt, brine, blood or steam? All of this is good information to know
before selecting the wheel. Wheels can
range in a wide price range. For some
applications a phenolic wheel with stainless steel roller bearings will work
for around $70.00 but in other applications you will need a much more durable
wheel that will withstand more chemicals and cleaners. In this case a solid elastomer polyurethane
wheel with stainless steel precision ball bearings will be better and they run
about $120.00 per swivel caster. Also
always make sure you have a stainless steel or delrin or bronze bearing in
these wheels. Delrin is a solid plastic
bearing that withstands just about every chemical and wash down application. The provide good rollability but not the
best. Stainless steel roller bearings
make for a good ergonomic roll but after time can give out due to long
use. Stainless steel precision ball
bearings are a great option because they are sealed and do not let debris or
chemical or water into the actual bearings.
These can provide long lasting use and are very ergonomic to push.
(5) Accessories for the stainless steel casters
are important also. If you want a brake
for the wheel then the brake mechanism also needs to be stainless steel so it
too will withstand the wash down environment.
Same goes for swivel locks or other accessories.
Let me know if you have
an application for stainless steel casters in your industrial or commercial
material handling applications. We can
help and we keep the very best in stock!
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Can Spring Loaded Casters Solve Your Sensitive Material Handling Problem?
Spring loaded
casters are actually only helpful in a few applications in the industrial and
commercial material handling world.
Spring loaded casters have three specific advantages. One is they are designed to reduce vibration
while rolling or maneuvering product on a cart.
The second is to help prevent shock loads when placing product or
pallets on a carts or platform truck.
Third is noise reduction while transporting on a cart or buggy or truck.
Many times there may
be sensitive material such as electronic components, glass, medical supplies
and equipment and other material that needs little vibration while being
transported. Preventing shock locks is
another unique feature of the spring loaded caster. Typically the casters begin to engage the
spring at about 400 – 700 pounds depending on the type of wheel used. Also these casters can help eliminate
excessive noise while transporting across rough floors or transitions. The wheel chosen in this application is also
important as we can use many types of rubber or urethane wheels to help with
noise, shock load, and vibration.
Our spring loaded
caster wheels have a standard 4.5” x 6.25” top plate to give the swivel race a
larger footprint to help distribute the live load. The springs are encapsulated in a
polyurethane block under the swivel raceway.
There is about ¼” compression travel for the springs.
The spring loaded
casters are only available in the swivel action caster. The rigid if needed in an application do not
have a spring actuation.
Let me know if you
have an application for spring loaded casters in your industrial or commercial
material handling applications. We can
help!
Monday, July 31, 2017
Electrically Conductive and Anti-Static Caster Wheels Can Be an Important Solution for Many Industrial and Commercial Caster Applications
Electrostatic
discharge (ESD) can be created by swivel and rigid caster wheels when they are
rolled across the floor. In some applications the buildup of electricity can be
harmful to the products being transported on the cart. The operator can also be shocked when
touching the steel or plastic cart. If
you are in the medical instrumentation market, electrical or semi-conductor
production market, automotive industry, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, or chemical
industries then you may need anti-static caster wheels. Not to mention flammable or highly explosive
environments then it is best to have a wheel that dissipates an electric
charge.
Most of the
conductive wheels that we use for these applications are made of a
thermoplastic rubber compound on poly core.
The wheels in the picture are a grey Performa wheel with precision ball
bearings and are non marking. They have
a capacity of 410 lbs. and are 6” diameter x 2” wide tread width. These are available in 3” up to 8” in varying
capacities.
Performa Conductive wheels have been rigorously tested and
approved by an independent lab and meet the requirements of federal
specification FF-C-88C. This specification requires an average electrical
resistance of less than 250,000 ohms. For other wheel sizes, please consult
factory for availability.
Temperature Range: -45ºF
to +180ºF intermittent service (120º continuous service)
Hardness: 75(±5) Durometer Shore
A scale
·
Easy rolling and
turning – for ergonomic advantage
·
Quiet rolling, impact
resistant, and very floor protective
·
Absorbs shock to help
protect equipment
·
Maximum
weather-ability and resistance to chemicals, water and steam
·
USA-Made for fast lead
times and the highest quality
·
Rejects floor debris,
such as metal shavings, for long service life
Not to mention the
Colson Performa wheel is all MADE IN THE USA!!!
Let me know if you
have an application for conductive wheels and anti-static casters in your
industrial or commercial material handling applications. We can help!
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