Swivel caster with cast iron hub and PUR tread, 400 kg

58 mm total overall height. That is the whole point of this swivel caster: when a machine frame, an equipment cabinet or a fixture has to become mobile without growing in height, ordinary swivel casters, which readily build 100 mm or more, are seldom enough. Here a wheel with a 35 mm diameter sits in a low swivel fork with a bolt hole fastener, and the whole package carries 100 kg per caster at 4 km/h.

The tread is polyurethane with a surface hardness of 93 Shore A, molded onto a cast iron hub. Polyurethane is the right material for this type of wheel; it combines high load capacity with low rolling resistance and wears slowly even under heavy load. The cast iron hub takes up the load without deforming and handles both impacts and point loading. The color of the tread is orange.

The bearing arrangement is double ball bearings in the wheel, which is unusually well specified in this size class. Two bearings spread the load over more contact points, reduce play and let the wheel roll easily even close to its maximum load; with 100 kg on a wheel of 35 mm diameter that is exactly what is needed.

The other dimensions: wheel width 27 mm, bolt hole 10 mm, fork width 29 mm and offset 14 mm. The offset dimension, the distance between the center of the fastener and the wheel axle, is what makes the swivel caster orient itself in the direction of travel. The temperature range is -20 °C to +70 °C and the net weight a low 0.22 kg per caster. Full dimensions are in the manufacturer's data sheet.

The bolt hole fastener makes mounting simple in constructions where a through bolt or stud is more natural than a screwed plate: machine feet replaced by casters, frame tubes with a threaded end or fixtures with prepared holes. The same caster is also available in a version with a top plate for screw mounting against a flat surface.

Typical applications in Swedish industry are mobile machine frames and equipment cabinets, fixtures and assembly jigs that are rolled between stations, pull-out units in machine lines and underframes where every millimeter of overall height is already spoken for in the design. Four casters give a theoretical capacity of 400 kg; in practice count on three casters in contact on an uneven floor and size accordingly.

The polyurethane tread is tough but not indestructible. Avoid long standing load on exactly the same point during storage, keep the tread away from strong solvents and check the chemical resistance in the data sheet if the caster is going to stand in an environment with oils or cutting fluids. Under normal workshop conditions polyurethane ages slowly and keeps its properties for many years.

Compare it with the alternatives: rebuilding the frame to make room for a normal height swivel caster costs design time, and choosing a lighter furniture caster costs load capacity. A low build industrial caster solves both problems at once, and that is exactly the niche this caster type is made for. It is therefore often used for retrofitting on equipment that was originally designed to stand still.

Keep in mind that small wheels make demands on the floor. At 35 mm diameter the wheel wants hard, even surfaces; epoxy floors, ground concrete and vinyl flooring work very well, while coarse joints and grooves can call for a larger diameter. It is worth marking up mobile frames so that they are rolled rather than dragged sideways, which extends the life of both the tread and the bearings.

Do you need a dimension drawing or a data sheet before you draw in the caster? Get in touch and we will send the documents.