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Many factors together contribute in making a decision to select the most suitable castor wheel. Some of the these are castor type (like swivel, fix or brake), load capacity required, type of floor (concrete, epoxy, asphalt etc), ease of rolling required and any special environmental conditions such as high temperature, chemical exposure, humidity exposure etc
Generally the total load is not evenly distributed over all of the castors installed under the load carrying equipment. In most applications, the load is centered over three castors only due to uneven industrial floors. Even if the floor is level, we suggest you chose castors with capacity at least 30% higher than your standard requirement to ensure a smooth movement.
Four swivel castors are ideal for confined spaces so that the equipment is easily manoeuvrabale in all directions. If straight line towing is required, two swivel and two fixed castors should be used. Directional lock can be used in the front swivel castors to enforce better control.
The larger the wheel size, the easier it is to push/pull the trolley. The bearing size also plays and important role. Roller bearings carry heavier loads. Ball bearings roll easier but carry lesser loads. Whenever possible, use the largest ball bearing wheel for best results
Towing speed is very important when chosing a castor wheel. Higher speeds build up heat in the wheel which reduce the life of the castor. Reduction in load over high speed can provide the factory specified results. We suggest a reduction of 10% in load for every km per hour over 4 km/hr.
Yes, when a castor wheel is being pulled by a towing truck, speeds are high and thus chances of swivel head failure increase. Thus a normal steel balls arrangement with ball raceway riveted together with the top plate is not suitable for this application. Either kingpinless design or Comfort Super Heavy Duty range must be employed for best results.
Rough floors can be dealt in two ways- wheel size and wheel material. The larger the diameter, the more easily it will travel over rough floors or outdoor surfaces. If a larger diameter wheel isn’t able to solve the problem, then a tougher wheel material such as high quality polyurethane(different from standard PU) or soft rubber (high % of natural rubber) should be solve the problem.
This is can be due to several factors. The castors may not be mounted properly due to which only three wheels are touching the ground. The castors may require lubrication after they have been used for some months. Noise also happens when a hard wheel material is being used on a harder surface like steel or broken asphalt.
Metal chips on epoxy floor is a common problem manufacturing industries with heay machining and also in automotive industries. Comfort Castors has come out with brush guards which can be used an an ad-on accessory for any type of castor to protect it from metal chips. This attachment keeps brushing away the metal chips continously as the wheel rolls and thus prevents cuts & tears on the wheel ensuring logevity of the castor. This results in substantial savings as the wheel does not have to be replaced frequently.
Factors such as water, oil, acids, corrosive materials, germ free environment or high temperature considerably affect the proper choice of a castor. For example, castors used in food industry are exposed to steam and moisture, so stainless steel castors must be used. SS castors are also used in medical industry as rust-free environment is required. Similarly, high temperatures environments like baking require phenolic resin as wheel material to withstand temperatures upto 300°C.
High temperature applications require special wheel material. Phenolic resin can withstand upto 300°C (suitable for bakery and ceramic industry) and Cast Iron can take upto 600°C for extreme applications like furnace industry. The wheel centre bearings and steel balls grease are also high temperature grade for such implementations.
Yes, castors which are lubricated regularly last much longer. There should be consistent lubrication schedule. Under standard conditions, grease fittings need to be lubricated ever 3 months. If used in a punishing environment like corrosive or wet application, it may be necessry to lubricate the castor more often.