Source for casters...to prevent damage to epoxy floor

[bmwpower]

Looking to replace the casters on some of my equipment, specifically and engine crane and an engine stand. The style on my equipment now are the all-metal kind - metal wheel, metal axle.

- What type of construction should I look for? Something that will not mar my new epoxy floor is key.
- When replacing casters of unknown capacity, how do you determine what capacity to look for? For example, the engine crane has different sized wheels with, presumably, different capacities.
- Where do I find these casters?

 

[69lkmno]

Looking to replace the casters on some of my equipment, specifically and engine crane and an engine stand. The style on my equipment now are the all-metal kind - metal wheel, metal axle.

- What type of construction should I look for? Something that will not mar my new epoxy floor is key.
- When replacing casters of unknown capacity, how do you determine what capacity to look for? For example, the engine crane has different sized wheels with, presumably, different capacities.
- Where do I find these casters?

http://www.casterconnection.com/connection_products/cci_heavy_duty_casters.html

 

[ric]

I made some car dolly's and went to Orchard Supply, got some great casters with a soft rubber wheel. My shop floors are epoxied and they do not damage floor. Not sure if you got an OSH in your area.

 

[kartracer55]

MSC has them. How big are you looking for?

Jim

 

[CraigFL]

I like the polyurethane wheels. They are soft enough to protect the floor finish but hard enough to have a decent capacity.

 

[Gregdoo]

Ebay often has a good selection. Some made in the US. Also restaurant supply companies that deal in used equipment sometime have used ones that tend to be heavy duty and well-made.

 

[Roadster]

Plastic or rubber covered casters at Harbor Freight for ~$5/caster. That's what I used when I replaced the metal casters on my engine stand.

 

[bmwpower]

Thanks for all the replies. It seems like a lot of the wheels don't have the capacity. If the engine crane is 2 ton and it has 4 wheels, does each wheel need to take on 500 lbs? I mean it's usually only on the crane for a little while. And most of the time the load is not 2 ton. What does a 302 weight anyway.

I will check the sizes, but it looks like about 3 inch x 1.5 inch.

I'm liking the colson wheels. Same ones I have on my Lista.

 

[W-Cummins]

Thanks for all the replies. It seems like a lot of the wheels don't have the capacity. If the engine crane is 2 ton and it has 4 wheels, does each wheel need to take on 500 lbs? I mean it's usually only on the crane for a little while. And most of the time the load is not 2 ton. What does a 302 weight anyway.

Your math is a little messed up try 1k per wheel if they are supporting 1/4 of the load on each wheel (and note that often is NOT the case) The cheeeep crummy wheels that come on the import engine cranes are rather scary to say the least They are made to "Maby" support the load 4k lbs at rest. moving all bets are off.

 

[Luckydevil]

www.castercity.com

 

[bmwpower]

Your math is a little messed up try 1k per wheel if they are supporting 1/4 of the load on each wheel (and note that often is NOT the case) The cheeeep crummy wheels that come on the import engine cranes are rather scary to say the least They are made to "Maby" support the load 4k lbs at rest. moving all bets are off.

Whoops! My mistake. Thought something sounded wrong.

So, I guess I'll need to look for 1K lb casters.

 

[steve392]

The casters with the polyethylene wheels are probably the way to go....another source, if you didn't have enough already is Grizzly. Yea, they're imported, but Grizzly has a huge selection to choose from and also offer a lot of information regarding loading, etc. www.grizzly.com

Steve

 

[W-Cummins]

Whoops! My mistake. Thought something sounded wrong.

So, I guess I'll need to look for 1K lb casters.

yep and good luck finding them that aren't a lot taller than the ones that came on the hoist. My cheep hoist has 3.5" wheels and about 4.5" overall height of the casters. Some thing at that size and 1k weight will be really $$$ ( might cost more than the hoist did I put some cheep imported 5" (500lb) casters on my Iron worker and one of the dam things tread came with off the wheel ( the iron worker is 1100 lbs)

William...

 

[bmwpower]

yep and good luck finding them that aren't a lot taller than the ones that came on the hoist. My cheep hoist has 3.5" wheels and about 4.5" overall height of the casters. Some thing at that size and 1k weight will be really $$$ ( might cost more than the hoist did I put some cheep imported 5" (500lb) casters on my Iron worker and one of the dam things tread came with off the wheel ( the iron worker is 1100 lbs)

William...

You're right. I can't find anything that is 4x1.5, yet still 1K lb capable. I might just buy wheels, not casters if I can find them.

I might shy away from those imports. They look similar to the ones on Grizzly. Same too, because they had some good weight ratings.

I really like the Colson's, but I will continue to look around. Here's what I found so far for 4x1.5:

The phenolic wheel is 600 lbs.
The polyurethane wheel is 400 lbs.
The polyurethane/cast iron/aluminum is 600 lbs.

 

[mikeyr]

good timing on this question, I need to buy some casters for a new piece of equipment in my garage. It will not move very often if ever but I can't get it where it needs to be without wheels so I was thinking of 8" inflatable casters. I can get some fairly cheap at Harbor Freight, the unit is 3'x3' and weighs 600lbs, I need to manuveur it through a maze in my garage to get it where it belongs and thought I would get some cheap casters to weld onto the base that I still have to build. What about those inflatable casters ?

On thread topic, the polyurethane casters above are awesome, my tool chest has them and its a heavy tool chest, the chest alone weighs 500lbs. and the 6' 1/4" steel top had to add a few hundred pounds more, it rolls easily on the polyurethane casters. They should not damage a epoxy floor but the infatables surely will not damage one.

 

[Darren M.]

Happen to come across this page on Knaack's website. A couple of really good sets there. A bit pricey but not compared to resurfacing a floor. The best part is they got the weight rating right on the page. Also, if these casters can hold up to some of the abuse I've seen thrown at a Job Box they're good enough for my garage.

Click here for Knaack's Caster Page

I have no affiliation with Knaack and no personal experience with the casters.

 

[bmwpower]

Thanks for the info, Darren.

I'm having trouble locating wheels with a combined capacity of 4000 lbs.

Do I really need casters with this high of a rating? I mean, the engine crane can hold 4000 lbs, but what will I lift that weights that much? How much does a heavy motor and heavy trans weigh? With the wheels I've found (600 lbs each), I can't see my self lifting over 2400 lbs. Any thoughts?

 

[ironroad 9c1]

remember most of the weight on the engine hoist is taken up by the front wheels on the legs with a load on the hoist ,the rear act like a kinda outriggerand steering

 

[Darren M.]

I'm trying to get some numbers on the weight of a Ford EFI 302 and auto ****** w/ all fluids. I'll let you know when I have some "real" numbers. {Insert standard internet disclaimer of liability here.}

 

[W-Cummins]

These should do the trick. I bet you will not buy them Call them and see how much they cost. I'm guessing that they are more than the POS engine crane was new.

 

[Darren M.]

The general concensus of the weight of an EFI 302 w/ ****** is roughly 650lbs, wet. AOD being 150 +/- of that weight. Again, it's internet guessing so your mileage may vary. I'd go for as much as you can afford and err on the side of caution.

 

[bmwpower]

These should do the trick. I bet you will not buy them Call them and see how much they cost. I'm guessing that they are more than the POS engine crane was new.

I think you're right. This is what I got back:


XSH 085 PT2M $ 179.10 NET EACH

XFH 085 PT2M $ 129.52 NET EACH


Yikes. They look awesome though.

...and my crane isn't that much of a POS. We all can't house custom made gantry cranes.

 

[W-Cummins]

I'm not picking on "your" pos crane I have one too Hell the thing works well, the casters on it worry me though. I have lifted lots of weight with it many times. I have installed/pulled the ISB cummins, transmission and transfer case more times than I would like to admit when I was fabing up stuff for the engine swap into my truck and it's an easy 1400lbs. I have moved my bridgport mill with it and its about 2400 lbs. I think that they are rather safe lifting the load, moving it is another story! I just know that casters are spendy for good ones. The type I want to get for the gantry crane @ 3k lbs each, with wheel locks and directional locks are... outch about $275-$300 each! So I don't have any for it right now. It dosn't get much use becuse of that (kinda hard to move it around with out casters

 

[bobbyd]

The trouble I see is with the size. 4 x 1 1/2 is not a common size for a heavy duty caster. The absolute best rating I can find a on wheel that size that won't damage the floor is 750 lbs. Listed at $34 each for the wheel alone, not including the caster. A replacement wheel in other words. Found some 4 x 2's up to 1000 lbs.

With the narrow wheel width and small diameter, the contact patch is so small, I don't think current materials can do much more.

If you can get access to a Grainger catalog, there is about 40 pages dedicated to casters of all sizes, makers, ratings, etc. The size, load rating, material and other useful information is given for every listing.