FAQs | Castors & Wheels | Industrial Castors

Castors Wheel Diameter

The larger the diameter of your castors/wheels the smoother journey your moveable object will have when navigating bumps in the floor. Rolling also becomes easier.

Larger diameter castor/wheels are considered more essential on objects that you will be moving on a frequent basis. Only use smaller diameter castors/wheels on objects that aren't moved very often and of course ensure they have the correct load capacity.

Castors & Wheels Tyre Materials

1.Hard tread castors/wheels are the easiest to push and have greater mobility.

1.a.Cast iron castors are usually a favoured choice because they are long lasting and wear well. They can also withstand high temperatures, but can be noisy and cause wear to some floors.

1.b.Solid Nylon castors are a bit more friendly on your floor with an impressive load capacity, yet are still light in weight.

2.Rubber tyred castors are suitable for use on most floors.

2.a.Rubber tyred castors give a smoother ride and are quieter. Black rubber castors can mark floors, in this case choose Grey tyres castors. Load capacities are not very high on these castors, also if they are not used over a period of time can develop flats.

2.b.Resilient/Elasticated rubber tread castors over come some of the above. These castors do not mark floors or develope flats. The load carrying capability of this rubber castors is alot higher than normal rubber. Softer tread tyres are useful for towing heavy equipment and offer good all round performance.

3.Polyurethane tyred castors last longer than rubber tyres and are generally easier for manual handling than rubber. These castors can also cope with heavy loads.

3.a. Poly/Nylon castors offer high load capacities, protect floors and have low rolling resistance. Again these castors are used for all types of applications.

3.b Poly/Cast castors offer high load carrying capacities with the strength of wheel as a cast iron. These castors are a heavier product however.

Castors Bearings

A bearing is a device to allow relative motion between two or more parts, typically making rotating or linear movement.

Plain bore castor wheels are suitable for light to medium loads and where some movement is required.

Roller bearings castor wheels reduce the effort needed to move medium to quite heavy loads

Ball Journal bearings castor wheels are longer lasting. Ball journal bearings are essential for constant moving applications, omitting heavy towing operations.

Castors Body Types

Fixed castor brackets - These castors only travel in one direction, so are not suitable for turning.

Swivel castor brackets - These castors can turn 360 degrees on the bearing.

Braked swivel castors - These are identical to swivel castors with the added benefits of having a brake to hold your object stationary

Castors Fitting Types

Top Plate fitting castor - This is the most common castor fitting and robust form of fitting and is usually a rectangular plate

Bolt Hole fitting castor - A circular metal plate built for a fixing bolt.

Castor Offset/ Swivel Radius

Without an offset a castor will not swivel.

The offset is the distance from the centre of the fixing plate/bolt hole to the centre of the wheel.

The swivel radius is the area in which a castor needs to fully rotate without being obstructed. This is calculated by adding the radius of the wheel to the castor offset.

Calculating Required Castor Load Capacity

It is important that you make the right castor selection as different types of Castors accept different loads.

If you are fitting your castors to any objects like a trolley for example you need to ensure they are built to deal with the weight.

Use the following calculation to ensure you include all of the weight that the castor will need to bear:

Load capacity of castor = Weight of equipment + trolley ÷ 3

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