I have a couple of HF 44" boxes. I have one of the older boxes with the darker red matte finish, and a I have a newer box with the glossy lighter red paint. I recently went to move both boxes and the rubber on the wheels just fell apart.
This made moving the box both hard and dangerous. As the box went from bare steel to rubber the box would sway and required you to pay attention to what you were doing. I have a pallet jack and just ended up using it to move the box.
In looking online I see this is not an uncommon issue. There is a YouTube video of how to re-enforce the floor of the box, and also how to modify the factory caster to accept a wheel with a 1/2" axles (the factory axle is 12mm), as the creator of the video was told the HF box has a "proprietary caster".
I live in the Houston area, and there is a company on my way to work that does nothing but sell casters. So I took my busted caster into them to see what kinds of wheels they had, and what my options were.
The first thing I found out was that the HF caster frame is a standard caster frame. So, you can buy a full caster (caster and frame) to replace the HF unit instead of re-drilling your HF caster frame.
In looking at the casters this vendor had, the most expensive caster in 5"x2" was a Carlson caster with a 1000# load rating that retailed for ~$14 for the caster wheel only. Axles were $2.79, and bearing were $.89.
I ended up going with a new China frame (much thicker than the HF frame), and a black Polyurethane wheel with a plastic center. The wheel is rated at 450# each, and is a roller bearing wheel. The wheel is from China as well.
For about $1 per wheel I could have moved up to a U.S. made Carlson wheel that was a dark red/burgundy color. The 1000# wheels are medium blue in color with an aluminum center.
I picked up the box with a pallet jack and swapped all 4 casters in about 5 minutes. The box now rolls great.
Complete rigid (non-steering) casters were ~$18, and complete swivel casters were ~$28 (complete meaning the frame, axles, bearings, wheel and brake). Total cost with tax was $96. I plan to replace/upgrade my other box as well. I just want to give these wheels a little time to see if it is warranted to move up to a more expensive wheel.
So, to anyone who runs into the same issue I did, you should be able to go to any material handling company and buy a decent caster and fix your box without a lot of fabrication required if you desire to go that route.
I have not posted the name of the vendor I used, as I am not sure if there is a supporting vendor on this site that I might conflict with. If there is not an issue, I can post the contact information of the vendor I used if anyone is interested.
This made moving the box both hard and dangerous. As the box went from bare steel to rubber the box would sway and required you to pay attention to what you were doing. I have a pallet jack and just ended up using it to move the box.
In looking online I see this is not an uncommon issue. There is a YouTube video of how to re-enforce the floor of the box, and also how to modify the factory caster to accept a wheel with a 1/2" axles (the factory axle is 12mm), as the creator of the video was told the HF box has a "proprietary caster".
I live in the Houston area, and there is a company on my way to work that does nothing but sell casters. So I took my busted caster into them to see what kinds of wheels they had, and what my options were.
The first thing I found out was that the HF caster frame is a standard caster frame. So, you can buy a full caster (caster and frame) to replace the HF unit instead of re-drilling your HF caster frame.
In looking at the casters this vendor had, the most expensive caster in 5"x2" was a Carlson caster with a 1000# load rating that retailed for ~$14 for the caster wheel only. Axles were $2.79, and bearing were $.89.
I ended up going with a new China frame (much thicker than the HF frame), and a black Polyurethane wheel with a plastic center. The wheel is rated at 450# each, and is a roller bearing wheel. The wheel is from China as well.
For about $1 per wheel I could have moved up to a U.S. made Carlson wheel that was a dark red/burgundy color. The 1000# wheels are medium blue in color with an aluminum center.
I picked up the box with a pallet jack and swapped all 4 casters in about 5 minutes. The box now rolls great.
Complete rigid (non-steering) casters were ~$18, and complete swivel casters were ~$28 (complete meaning the frame, axles, bearings, wheel and brake). Total cost with tax was $96. I plan to replace/upgrade my other box as well. I just want to give these wheels a little time to see if it is warranted to move up to a more expensive wheel.
So, to anyone who runs into the same issue I did, you should be able to go to any material handling company and buy a decent caster and fix your box without a lot of fabrication required if you desire to go that route.
I have not posted the name of the vendor I used, as I am not sure if there is a supporting vendor on this site that I might conflict with. If there is not an issue, I can post the contact information of the vendor I used if anyone is interested.
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lets see here... 
