Applications and options for Locking Casters

Casters and wheels by nature roll and move easily, sometimes when we don't want them to. The solution is simple, a brake, to turn your swivel caster into a locking caster and keep your carts and equipment from rolling away.

What brake is right for you?
In this article we will discuss the different styles of brakes for locking casters, from heavy duty industrial to light duty to furniture wheels.

Cam Brake (side brake) is a lever along side of the caster and wheel that when activated pinches the caster fork legs and puts pressure on the spanner and bearing to prevent movement. This is very popular due to it's clean look and easy activation. Note: the lever may stick out past the wheel on 4" and 5" casters. This brake can not be used with sealed precision bearings. Available in stainless steel.








Top Lock Brake (face brake) is the most common style lock for casters. This style has a lever on the side that when activated moves a steel pad onto the top / face of the wheel to prevent movement. A economical option that works well with all types of wheels and bearings. Available in stainless steel.








Tech Lock Brake is an extremely easy to use lock that is mounted to the caster at the front and has a foot lever that when pressed, engages a pad on the top / face of the wheel. These come in  nylon or steel. 
Note: This style will add a couple inches on to the swivel radius.






Total Lock Brake is a fantastic option to completely stop movement on your cart or equipment. The total lock is a more expensive option but it will lock the wheel and the swivel of the caster when actuated. It will stop all movement of the caster. This comes in a single pedal style as pictured and a dual pedal to lock each the swivel and wheel separately. Note: This style will add inches to the swivel radius.

Advantages of Non Marking Casters Wheels

Polyurethane Shopping Cart Wheel

There are several types of wheels that are non marking and choosing the right one for you can be a challenge. We are here to help, while non marking caster wheels have some great advantages they have some deficiencies as well and depending on the wheel material they have different characteristics. 

Polyurethane Wheels
Polyurethane wheels are a great non marking wheel with great rolling, wear and abrasion resistance characteristics, they also offer some cushioning.
These wheels can handle more weight than a rubber wheel and are less affected by the elements / weather and can handle rough surfaces, like concrete and asphalt and still protect a smooth painted or finished flooring. For these reasons grocery stores use polyurethane on there shopping cart casters as well as heavy duty industrial will use a polyurethane tread on their carts and equipment if they need to protect a floor.

Albion XS Gray Rubber Wheel

Rubber Wheels
Rubber wheels are not all non marking, black rubber will usually leave skid marks but will protect a floors finish. For a truly non marking rubber wheel, we suggest "Soft Gray Rubber". This wheel still has decent weight capacities but have excellent cushioning wear resistance, along with quiet smooth rolling operation. these will wear more quickly that the polyurethane but is much quieter. These are often seen on hospital carts and equipment, laboratories, food processing plants and even Home Depot and Lowes use a soft rubber wheel on some of there larger dollies and lumber carts to avoid excessive noise. Some great, commonly used wheels are the BuyCasters Xtra Soft Rubber, the Albion XS Wheel and the Colson Performa wheels. All are excellent quality, come in a variety of sizes and offer the floor protection you will need. 

What ever your needs we can keep you rolling at Buy Casters, call toll free if you have any questions about what caster or wheel is right for you! 
1-855-943-3511 (1-855-WHEEL11)

Shopping Cart Casters and Replacement Wheels

Go to any grocery store or department store and you will see an abundance of casters and wheels. The most common would be the shopping cart casters. These casters and wheels take a lot of abuse from excessive use and from the elements. Just because the wheels are bad does not mean the shopping cart is not worth saving. These cart casters and wheels are out doors in rain, snow and heat, they roll over transitions in and out of stores and are used on rough concrete or asphalt in the parking lots. A quality universal replacement caster and wheel is a necessity to keep your carts rolling smoothly and quietly. 


At BuyCasters.com we sell Pemco and an in house brand, Pemco is an OEM supplier of several cart manufacturers.These are perfect and in some cases exact replacements for your worn wheels. Made from the highest quality polyurethane and using sealed bearings they are extremely durable. 5" Polyurethane wheels are an industry standard because they handle the elements, offer some cushioning and handle heavy loads all while being safe on all flooring. We offer other wheels like a cheaper thermo plastic and a soft rubber but in most cases the polyurethane is the way to go. All wheels and casters are available in  4" and 5" diameters.

Replacing these casters and wheels is as easy as removing one nut and bolt and the new ones simply bolt back up into place, often times when removing the old bolts and axles they may become damaged due to corrosion and rust, new axles are available at an affordable price.

Check out our wide selection and great prices on our website www.buycasters.com or call Toll Free 1-855-943-3511for assistance. Quantity discounts are available on the website or by request.
 

What is a Caster and where are they used?

Look around casters are every where there is rarely a industry that doesn't used casters and wheels in some aspect. Hospitals, grocery stores, offices, industrial plants, delivery and warehouses, laboratories, industrial plants & your home, just to name a few. 

A caster (or castor) is an un-driven (non motorized), single, double, or compound wheel attached to a swivel or rigid caster fork. They are designed to be mounted to the bottom of a larger object, like a cart, dolly, display, furniture or equipment, so as to enable that object to be easily moved. They are available in various sizes, and are commonly made of steel, rubber, polyurethane, plastic, nylon, aluminum, or stainless steel.
Casters are found in numerous applications, including shopping carts, office chairs, and material handling equipment. High capacity, heavy duty casters are used in many industrial applications, such as platform trucks, carts, assemblies, and tow lines in plants. Generally, casters operate well on smooth and flat surfaces. There are options like pneumatic casters that are air filled that will work well on all surfaces and absorb bumps and cracks.

There three most common casters types are as followed...

Rigid Caster                             Swivel Caster 

Rigid Casters: A wheel mounted to a stationary fork with an axle and nut that allows the cart or equipment to roll but will restrict lateral movement.

Swivel Casters: Similar to the rigid in that it is a wheel mounted to a fork, but the swivel will have a pivot to allow the wheel to rotate freely to help with movement and steering.

Locking Caster: Locking casters are usually but not always swivel. These casters are equipped with a brake mechanism to prevent the wheel from rolling when activated.

Casters & Wheels, Choosing from the assortment of options.

There are a wide selection of caster and wheel options like brakes and bearings. We will hopefully give you some insight into choosing the correct options for your application.

First, after choosing your caster size and whether it is swivel or rigid and the wheel you would want to decide on a bearing. There are several choices and we have listed the most popular below.

Plain Bore: With this type there is actually no bearing, the axle rides directly on the hub of the wheel. This is often used in extremely heavy duty applications with very high heat or very light duty like displays and furniture. 

Roller Bearing

Roller Bearing: This is the most popular choice, the axle rides on a greased roller supplying an easy and smoother ride, coupled with a axle with a grease zerk, it is easily maintained. Great for indoors and dry environments on dollies, carts and equipment.

Precision Ball Bearings: These bearings are sealed and need no maintenance or lubrication and are great indoors, outdoors, Perfect for most light to medium duty applications. They offer easier, quieter & smoother rolling characteristics than the roller bearing. Some examples; Medical equipment, lab carts, shopping carts, and dollies

Delrin Bearings: Delrin is a thermoplastic that is used a lot with stainless steel and in wet applications because they will not corrode. They roll better than plain bore but not as well as roller or precision bearings. They are also good in food industries, laboratories and bakeries for steam cleaning, there is a high temp delrin also available.

Tapered Bearings: Tapered are used in heavy duty industrial applications due to the nature of the tapered bearing it can handle much more weight. They are also recommended if you are using a tugger to pull your carts or if they are in a tow line, these bearings can handle higher speeds without over heating and failing. 

Next options are the brakes to turn your casters into locking casters. Mostly brakes are only used on the swivel caster not the rigid.

Top Lock

Top Lock Brake: This brake attaches to the caster and when the lever is pressed it applies pressure to the top of the wheel.This is our most popular brake for locking casters.

Cam Brake: This style has a larger pedal on the side that when depressed pinches the caster at the bearing and prevents it from moving. This style brake works well but only with roller bearing and plain bore wheels.

Tech Lock Brakes: These are a front pedal brake that also puts pressure on the wheel. This option is easier to operate that the rest but increases your swivel radius.

Total Lock: This brake is similar to the reck lock but also locks the swivel on the casters as well as the wheel. Perfect solution for that cart or table that can have no movement at all.

*All the metal bearings and brakes are also 
available in stainless steel for corrosion and rust prevention.

Product Review: Phenolic Caster Wheels for Heavy Duty Applications

Phenolic Swivel Caster

Phenolic Caster Wheels are some of the most widely used and cost effective wheels on heavy duty industrial carts, dollies, equipment and racking. These resin based wheels are a best seller and a favorite of ours at Buy Casters. 
First off, what is a phenolic wheel? Phenolic is a resin mixed with macerated canvas which creates a high capacity, high impact resistant wheel that has many years of proven reliability in the industry. These wheels are nearly as strong as steel wheels and have similar weight capacities, but will not rust, corrode or cause sparking. While they do not offer great floor protection with heavy loads, they are better than steel or metal wheels in that regard.
These exceptional caster wheels come in and abundance of sizes and are offered with most every bearing available, and are in stock and ready to ship out today.

How can I tell a phenolic wheel from black plastic? If you look carefully at the wheel tread face there usually is a stripe down the center of the wheel that is not polished and you can see the grain of the resin there. Also if you tap it with a hammer it has bait more metallic sound than the plastic wheels due to its hardness.

High Temp Phenolic Wheel

Where can I use Phenolic wheels? They can be used most any where, from warehouses to production plants, you will find phenolic wheels everywhere. Phenolic casters are not recommended for high moisture or wet applications like outdoor storage, wash downs and stem cleaning. The excessive moisture can cause cracking and possibly failure, glass filled nylon wheels are a great substitute for wet applications.


We also offer a high temperature phenolic wheel, this version offers higher heat tolerances while maintaining the high load capacities. These wheels like dry heat like ovens and bakeries, if you used in humid or wet applications we recommend high temp nylon. 

All in all we highly recommend the phenolic caster wheel whether on heavy duty industrial carts or medium duty stem and swivel casters for equipment or light or general duty casters for racks and dollies, the phenolic wheel will serve you well. 
Browse our selection of phenolic caster wheels online or call our knowledgeable sales staff toll free today 1-855-943-3511, we will be happy to help.

Why Kingpinless Casters for your Heavy Duty Industrial Applications

Heavy duty industrial, manufacturing, freight terminals, warehouses, air cargo, trash containers and many other industries that utilize heavy loads and abusive situations to carts, dollies, platform trucks, tow lines and heavy equipment can benefit from the use of a Kingpinless swivel caster. 
The swivel casters weakest point is the kingpin, this is the pin / bolt that connects the caster legs to the bearing raceway and top plate. When used in heavy shock loading situations like dropping or throwing the loads on to the cart and continuous heavy side loading. This will cause stress on the caster due to the shock of the side impacts on that kingpin. Also heavy loads on carts and equipment rolling over cracks in pavement, transitions from room to room, loading on and off docks and towing applications. If these carts are rolling at any speed this could cause catastrophic failure to the caster. At Buy Casters we recommend Kingpinless Casters to solve these issues. The Kingpinless casters are designed with no kingpin, these casters are made out of ASTM1045 steel and have a drop forged top plate integrated with a forged and precisely machined raceway with a single row of hardened ball bearings. The legs are formed and double welded to the outer raceway for maximum strength. This allows these casters to carry the maximum weight of the bearings used, without horizontal wear, kingpin failure or fracturing of welds, these advantages enable our kingpinless casters to handle extreme side thrust force.

If you are using casters in these applications or are looking for an excellent heavy duty swivel caster and wheels that utilizes a top plate, the kinpinless casters may be just what you need. While the kinpinless casters cost a bit more initially the savings will come from a longer lasting caster and a safer workplace. 
Browse our selection of kinpinless casters and wheels today. If you have trouble finding what is right for you, please call us toll free at 1-855-943-3511 (1-855-WHEEL11) we will be happy to help you!