Loose wheel with sheet steel hub and rubber tread

Loose wheel in rubber with hub in sheet steel

This is a loose wheel with a tread in rubber and a hub in pressed sheet steel, a common and dependable combination on standard wheels for internal transport. The tread has a hardness of around 85 degrees Shore A, a soft and elastic rubber that gives a quiet and damped run while the sheet steel hub holds the wheel in place and stiff around the axle.

How does the tread behave in service? The rubber is soft and settles against the floor, which takes up shocks and vibration and keeps the noise level down as the wheel rolls. The grip is good, so the wheel stays steady even on slightly slippery floors. The rolling resistance is somewhat higher than on a hard wheel, because the soft tread gives way and deforms under load, but that is the price of the soft run. On uneven floors and over joints a rubber wheel rolls more calmly than a stiff plastic wheel, which is noticeable both for the person pushing and for the goods being carried.

A short comparison helps. A hard wheel in nylon rolls more easily and carries more, but it makes more noise and can scratch sensitive floors. A softer wheel damps even more but gives way and rolls more sluggishly. The rubber tread at 85 Shore A lands in a practical middle ground that suits light and medium duty carts where quiet running and care for the floor weigh heavily.

The hub in pressed sheet steel is tough and dimensionally stable and keeps the bearing properly centered around the axle. The wheel comes with a roller bearing, a bearing that handles high radial load and gives a stable run under load, which goes well with a sheet steel hub on a work wheel. The wheel carries up to 230 kg depending on size.

The wheels come in diameters from 80 to 250 mm. A larger diameter rolls more easily over joints and thresholds and lowers the rolling resistance, while a smaller one keeps the overall height down where the clearance under a cart is limited. Since the wheel is supplied without a bracket, it is mounted straight onto an axle of your own through the hub, which makes it easy to build your own underframe or replace a worn wheel on an existing design.

Where does it fit? The rubber wheel with a sheet steel hub often sits under transport carts, material carts, lighter machine underframes and roller tables in workshops and warehouses. The soft tread makes it a good choice on painted and ground concrete where nobody wants marks or noise, and the roller bearing makes it capable even when the load sits in the medium duty range.

Think about the operating environment. The wheel is intended for indoor use at normal temperature and in dry to slightly damp surroundings. The sheet steel hub is not rust protected for wet areas that are hosed down regularly, so a corrosion free hub suits those surroundings better. Soft rubber can take a temporary flat spot under a long standing load that rolls out after a while, and dark rubber can in some cases leave marks on light floors.

Do you want to know which diameter and load capacity suit your cart or your underframe? Get in touch and we will go through the load and the floor together.