Frequently Asked Questions
DO YOU HAVE REFERENCES?
Yes, we have References from satisfied customers. Please check our Reviews over here.
WHAT TYPE OF CASTOR WHEEL SHOULD I USE?
1. Hard tread
Castors and wheels using this type of wheel are the easiest to push and have greater mobility.
2. Soft Tread
Castors are suitable for use on most floors.
2a. 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.
2b. Resilient/Elasticated rubber tread castors over come some of the above. These castors do not mark floors or develop flats. The load carrying capability of this rubber castors is a lot higher than normal rubber. Softer tread tyres are useful for towing heavy equipment and offer good all round performance.
3. Polyurethane tread
Castors last longer than rubber tyres and are generally easier for manual handling than rubber. These castors can also cope with heavy loads.
3a. Poly/Nylon castors offer high load capacities, protect floors and have low rolling resistance. Again these castors are used for all types of applications.
3b. Poly/Cast castors offer high load carrying capacities with the strength of wheel as a cast iron. These castors are a heavier product however.
Which CASTORS ARE SUITABLE FOR WHICH FLOORS?
Basically, the castor that is selected must correspond to the quality of the floor in order to have optimum performance. Here are a few suggestions:
Concrete floors - Polyamide (rather loud), polyurethane and Vulkollan® (rather quiet), super-soft polyurethane and highly-elastic solid rubber (very quiet)
Light floors - Grey solid rubber or other non-marking castors
Pebble base - Carrying wheel (biggest possible wheel diameter)
Natural ground - Carrying wheel (biggest possible wheel diameter)
Parquet floors - Grey solid rubber or other non-marking castors
Tile floors - Elastic or highly elastic solid rubber as well as the twin wheels from FTA
Carpeted floors – Rubber or polyamide
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SWIVEL CASTORS AND FIXED CASTORS?
Swivel castors swivel in the desired running direction. They can be steered. Fixed castors are fixed in one running direction.
DO I NEED A SWIVEL OR A FIXED CASTOR?
The most common application involves 2 swivel and 2 fixed castors.
Benefits: With it, the vehicle can run in a straight line or a curve perfectly.
The solution for tight spaces: 4 swivel castors make the vehicle movable on all sides. Less suitable for long stretches or moving straight ahead. Not suitable for roads with slopes.
DOES THE WHEEL DIAMETER HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE ROLLING RESISTANCE?
Yes, the bigger the wheel, the easier it is to push-start and push the vehicle.
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.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT WHEEL BEARING TYPES?
A bearing is a device to allow relative motion between two or more parts, typically making rotating or linear movement.
A Plain Bearing 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.
HOW IS THE REQUIRED CASTOR LOAD CAPACITY CALCULATED?
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
I HAVE ROUGH FLOORS. WHAT WHEELS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND?
Rough floors can be addressed in multiple ways. The larger the diameter wheel, the easier it will traverse over rough surfaces. When larger diameters aren’t feasible different materials such as rubber and polyurethane should be considered as options.
WHAT DOES NON-MARKING MEAN AND WHEN DOES IT MAKE SENSE?
Non-marking means that these wheels do not leave any ugly marks and lines on the floor. Hence, the place where non-marking wheels are used is anywhere where having attractive floors is important. Grey rubber, for example, is very well suited.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT CASTOR BODY TYPES?
Fixed castor bracket
A fixed castor consists of a wheel mounted to a stationary bracket where there is no movement. The orientation of the castor needs to be in the direction of travel. Rigid casters tend to restrict vehicle motion so that the vehicle travels along a straight line. Trolleys are more controllable and travel under without the need of correction. Combined with two braked castors they can be left standing safely.
They do need more room to maneuver, so if space is restricted then swivel castors will need to be used.
Swivel castor brackets
Swivel castor brackets consist of a wheel mounted into a bracket that can rotate 360 degrees. Swivel castors are generally fitted in the corners of trolleys to maximize stability. Trolleys are more maneuverable as they are not restricted by the use of fixed castors making them very useful where tight spaces are encountered.
If a trolley needs to be left in one place for a period of time then the swivel castor can be fitted with a brake.
Braked swivel castors
Castors may include a brake feature, which prevents the wheel from turning. This is commonly achieved using a lever that pushes a spring steel brake against the wheel.
A more complex type of swivel castor, sometimes called a total lock castor, has an additional rotational lock on the castor head so that neither the head can rotate or the wheel can turn, providing very rigid castor. If the swivel action is locked but the wheel can still turn, the caster becomes a directional castor, but one which may be locked to roll in one direction along any horizontal axis.
WHAT IS MEANT BY TOTAL BRAKE AND SINGLE ACTION BRAKE OF A WHEEL?
The Total brake brakes the wheel. It blocks both the tuning motion of the wheel as well as the swivelling motion of the fork crown of the castor (the steering)
The single action brake only blocks the wheel.