Something better than castors?

[Tom Baldwin]

Bit of a left-field question, but with all the experience here of pushing things around on wheels, I hope there might be some good ideas lurking.

 

In the workshop, I've got a trolley/ truck with some woodworking machinery on it - all up, it weighs about 80kg. Because of the layout of the workshop, it needs to move around - not large distances, but it does need to move. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as moving back and forth along a straight path - the movement is a mix of sliding in various directions, and also rotating.

 

It's on swivel castors at the moment, but it's quite hard to maneuver - probably because of the nature of swivel castors - the wheels will always swivel to align with the direction of travel. To then push them at 90' to the previous direction of travel means the castors need to swivel, and that always takes extra force.

 

The answer might be as simple as upgrading the castors to something good from Flints, but they'd still have the problem of needing to re-orientate themselves each time the direction changed.

 

I've looked at alternatives like omni-wheels or mecanum wheels, but finding some which can take the load at a sensible price is a challenge (to give an idea, Flints want about £50 for a decent set of castors, while omni-wheels seem to be nearer that price just for a single wheel).

 

I did also wonder about ball transfer units in an inverted configuration, but I was worried how much damage the point loads of small (<1") metal balls would do to the concrete floor.

 

Does anybody have any suggestions of how best to achieve an easily moved truck?

 

Thanks,

Tom

[Glyn Edwards]

What weight are your current castors rated for? If they aren't enough then the first thing that suffers is the ability to rotate to face the direction of travel and only then the ability to roll.

My current tool case was on piddly little 3" castors rated for 150kg. In theory this was fine as the case weighs 120kg ish. It rolled well enough on a smooth stage etc, but on the semi agricutural floor of my garage was a nightmare. I upgraded to a set of 100mm/250kg (ie flightcase size) castors from screwfix for around £35 (inc new bolts, T Nuts etc) and the difference was night and day.

 

Obviously this may not help you in the slightest!

 

Glue

[Jivemaster]

Consider that as casters increase in load capacity and size the swing radius increases and some trolleys can become unstable on their wheels when standing.

[Tom Baldwin]

The current castors were eBay cheapies - on paper they're rated for 200kg, but what they're really rated for, of course, is anyone's guess! They are only 2" in diameter, which may contribute to the difficulty in getting to swivel - there just won't be as much leverage as with a larger wheel.

[themadhippy]

If you got the budget how about a hovercraft

[ImagineerTom]

There’s basically no such thing as “too big” castors when it comes to movement. The smallest castor I would ever use is a 3” one, by default 4” / 100mm castors are what we put on anything that’s got to navigate even slightly uneven stage/backstage flooring.

 

Avoid eBay / Amazon non brand castors; they are never even close to their stated strength and lifespan. Go to a proper castor company who will stand behind their products - we use www.rosscastors.co.uk but there’s similar companies across the country.

[Junior8]

Get 100mm ones, two with brakes, and spend as much as you can afford. I would budget for at least £10 each. Even light duty catering trolleys have big castors.

[pmiller056]

Replace the swivel castors on one side with fixed ones. Two fixed and two swivel castors underneath means that you can steer your trolley.

[ImagineerTom]

Replace the swivel castors on one side with fixed ones. Two fixed and two swivel castors underneath means that you can steer your trolley.

On behalf of all users ever, please don’t. This just makes movement harder for the rest of time whilst saving maybe £4 on initial purchase

[empyfree]

How about mis-using some ball casters?

CNBTR 22mm Ball Dia Carbon Steel Transfer Bearing Unit Ball Conveyor Roller Stem Caster M10 Thread Weight 90KG Loading Weight https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MG3ZR4V/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_32PRRBC412PG2B6NF94S

[Junior8]

Unless the floor is absolutely even like well screeded sealed concrete with no ruts etc I'd say use wheels. Actually I think I'd use wheels anyway - easier to check, easier to maintain. Edited July 2, 2021 by Junior8

[Jivemaster]

Castors may be cheat rated at mass per set of four castors.

[Andrew C]

Axminster do some casters that work quite well under my woodwork bench. They rise up to leave the thing sat on the floor when working.

 

These.

 

[kitlane]

You need what Flints call 'Scene Shifters' - also called 'Turtles', triple wheels, and probably lots of other names

 

Three swivel castors on a triangular plate which itself is on a swivel. These are often used on scenery that has to spin on the spot and/or change direction without 'kicking out'.

 

They are expensive, but not impossible to make yourself

 

https://www.flints.co.uk/pdfcatalogue/castors.pdf

[d_korman]

How about ball transfer bearings - they move freely in any direction:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284355889648?hash=item4234ee89f0:g:0OsAAOSwoiZgu6vh

 

We used them to build a revolve many years ago.

Edited July 2, 2021 by d_korman