How to choose the right castor or wheel
A guide on helping you select the best castor or wheel for your chosen application.
An easy 6-step guide to selecting the best castors
1 Choose the range based on what you are using it for, and how much load it will carry.
Light to medium duty
Load rating: 25-200 kg
L, Twin, N, K, M and Big M series
Suitable for:
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Trolleys and carts.
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Shop fittings and displays.
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Mobile storage.
General duty to heavy duty
Load rating: 200-600 kg
J, Y, O and H Series
Suitable for:
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Linen carts.
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Work platforms.
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Roll cages.
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Stock trolleys.
Very heavy duty
Load rating: 500-3500 kg
W, X, V and A Series
Suitable for:
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Stock trolleys for automotive plants.
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Shipping containers.
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Multi-purpose industrial trolleys.
Medical
Load rating: 100–150 kg
Trinity and Trinity EBC, Central locking, Wheelchair
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Medical equipment, hospital beds and other applications that need an automatic or accessible brake.
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Recliner chairs.
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Mobile computer tables.
2 Choose a wheel, based on the floor surface it will be travelling on.
Outdoors and rough ground
Bouncy, elastic tyres help get over bumps.
That's why wheelbarrows and other equipment uses on rough grounds are fitted with pneumatic or rubber tyres.
Soft surfaces and smooth floors
Hard wheels have high load bearing capacity and reduce push effort on carpet and soft surfaces.
They tend to be very noisy on tiles and other hard surfaces, and can also leave indentations on wooden floors.
Variable floor surfaces
Road cases are a classic example of tyres that need to adapt to a wide range of floor surfaces.
When bands are on the move, their equipment needs to travel over bitumen, carpet, lino, wood and over curbs and stairs. These wheels go everywhere! Another example is wheeled luggage.
Specialised applications
Some applications have specific requirements, and we have a wide range of specialised wheels to suit.
Our range caters for high and low temperatures (eg. ovens and freezers), wheelie bin wheels, central locking castors, anti-static wheels and many more.
3 Choose the diameter of the wheel.
The larger the wheel, the easier to push and the better the ride comfort (ability to pass over bumps and to minimize vibration).
Why? The larger the wheel, the smaller obstacles are in proportion to the wheel's diameter, resulting in greater momentum.
Wheel diameter should be maximised, bearing in mind that:
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As a rule of safety a maximum height of 1400 mm is recommended (including the goods being carried) to enable a clear line of sight.
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Small wheels are sometimes used to reduce the centre of gravity to address tip hazards due to top-heavy loads.
4 Choose the bearing type.
Precision industrial ball bearing
Used in applications where heat can build up due to friction caused by constant movement and/or higher speeds—all towing applications use precision bearings (as the high tolerance and hardened steel used in the sealed and greased bearings reduces heat build-up that can cause weakening of the wheel).
Precision industrial ball bearings offer the lowest friction and therefore the lowest push effort—they are also the most expensive type of bearing in our range.
Deep groove cone ball bearing
Deep groove cone bearings are used in our outdoor, all-terrain wheels (such as pneumatics). They are designed to withstand rough, bumpy ground in applications where the direction of the load is both lateral and vertical (like wheelbarrows on construction sites).
Roller bearing
Used in high impact applications (the large surface area of the bearing spreads load and therefore protects against high impact).
Not suitable for high speed (more than 6 km/h).
Plain bush (or bore) bearing
Used in corrosive environments (polymer bearings won't rust).
Also used to reduce cost (the cheapest kind of 'basic' bush).
5 Choose the type of brake and castor configuration.
Total brake
No brake
Direction lock
3-in-1 brake
Castor configuration options
Traditional
World's best practice
Trinity EBC with intuitive steer, automatically apply the steering device in the right direction, with the use of a motion sensor.
Trinity complete brake (CB) castors have a 3-in-1 brake that includes a direction lock option to steer from either end.
6 Choose your fittings.
Bolt hole fittings
Suitable for installing into tubular legs. We have a full range of expanding adaptors, pintle bolts, threaded tube ends, grip neck and friction stems and solid pintles, all designed to work seamlessly with any bolt hole castor.
Washer mount (for bolt hole)
Suitable for mounting bolt hole castors into equipment that do not have tubular legs.
Plate mount
Suitable for mounting onto equipment that have smooth flat surfaces, such as sheet metal or wood.
