Selecting the Ideal Pneumatic Wheels for Your Needs

Castors come in many shapes and sizes. Choosing the right wheels for you depends on what type of things you will be transporting and on what type of terrain. It is important to take these things into account because choosing the wrong type of wheels may either destroy your flooring, or excessively rough terrain may destroy your wheels. The following outline of the basic parts of industrial castors may help you to better choose the right wheels for you.

Mountings for castors

The top parts of the wheels are called the mountings. These are the top plates which are used to fasten your wheels to your platform. These top plates come in two forms - 4 bolt holes or a single bolt hole. Top plates with four bolt holes are the most common as they spread the weight more evenly over the swivel head. Single bolt hole mountings are usually used for lighter loads. They are usually used over four bold hole mountings if the casters are to be fastened to a threaded tube.

Wheels

The most important thing to keep in mind when using pneumatic wheels is that they are specially designed for manual propulsion of up to 4mph. If you will be using your wheels for towing, this may damage your wheels or greatly reduce their lifespan. Wheels are categorized into two classes - hard tread and soft tread.

Hard tread wheels move more smoothly than soft tread wheels due to their minimal tractive resistance. However, when used indoors they can be noisy and wear out flooring much faster than soft treads. Hard tread wheels come in four types -

* Cast iron & steel - good shock resistance and long lifetime
* Nylon - high load capacity, light, clean, and minimal floor damage
* Polypropylene - good load capacity, but not as damage resistant as nylon
* Phenolic - abrasion and fracture resistant but liable to wear and chipping

Soft tread wheels are resilient, and less noisy and liable to damage your flooring than hard tread wheels, but they have a much higher tractive resistance.

* Solid rubber - basic model, good temperature resistance
* Elastic rubber - high load capacity and wear resistance
* Polyurethane - high load capacity with abrasion, tear and chemical resistance
* Pneumatic - good shock absorption, works well on rough, uneven surface
* High temperature - rubber tires suitable for use in high temperatures

Bearings

There are several types of bearings used for industrial castors, and which ones you use will depend on the application, working environment, and loading levels.

* Plain bearings - usually used with light load, intermittent applications, but vulnerable to axle wear and squeaking in wet or dusty conditions
* Roller bearings - robust and ideal for regular use with light to medium loads
* Ball journal - precision construction bearings for moderate to high radial forces
* Taper roller bearings - used with larger dimension wheels for heavy loads
* Sintered bronze - used for high temperature applications to minimise friction
* Teflon sleeve - used to reduce friction and generally utilized for lighter loads than sintered bronze

Using this information to choose the best combination of mountings, wheels, and bearings will significantly increase your productivity and increase the lifespan of your casters. Taking the time to choose the best components will also reduce your costs in the long run.