According to Transparency Market Research, swivel and fixed heavy-duty casters find widespread application in various manufacturing industries like automobile and aviation because they help workers move materials faster and speed up their work. While selecting caster for light applications is not an issue, choosing them for heavy-duty applications is a different ballgame altogether. Some vital considerations in selecting casters for heavy-duty applications:
Load per Caster
The first and perhaps the most critical factor in choosing casters for heavy-duty applications is the load you expect them to bear. The best way of calculating the load per caster is to know the total load, add 25-30% extra as a safety margin, and divide by three, even though the typically four casters will be in use. The reason is only three out of the four casters will be touching the floor if the floor is uneven. If you expect the load to drop on the cart with impact, you should increase the total load by 300%, not 30%, to arrive at the caster load-bearing capacity.
Speed of the Cart
Even though speed has little or no impact on the caster’s swivel action, it significantly affects the design and materials used in its construction. Another vital factor, along with speed, is the duration the caster will travel at that speed. You should remember an empty cart may often travel faster than a loaded one. It can be a good policy to buy casters for sale at Caster Central that will stand up to the stress of traveling at the fastest speed bearing the maximum load for the longest anticipated time. If the calculation gets complicated, you can ask the caster manufacturer to show you the reports of the testing machine that duplicates the specified conditions. Powered applications demand stronger casters than manually driven ones.
Floor Conditions
When you choose casters, you must also include the condition of the floor for an optimal buy. You will require caters capable of more heavy-duty work if the floor is old and has significant defects than if it is a newly cemented one. Casters find it hard to negotiate the floor defects, and each bump can cause severe damage to the wheel, the bearings, the welds, and the swivel section. With use, the casters are liable to fail.
The Environment
The environment also plays an important role in deciding how robust your casters need to be. If it needs to operate in dusty, wet, and extreme weather and temperature conditions, you must ensure you buy stronger casters than for climate-controlled indoor conditions. The dirtier the environment and higher the temperature, the more the toll they will take on the casters.
Conclusion
As you will appreciate, you must consider various diverse factors when buying heavy-duty casters for your industrial or commercial application. You need to keep in mind that the only cost is not the purchase price, but you need to also account for maintenance and downtime. Buying casters without thinking it through can prove a costly mistake. While you will get an idea of the importance of various factors that affect the purchase of heavy-duty casters, you can consult technical sales people for proper selection advice.