Garage organization: best source for casters?

So in my quest to actually beat the shop into some sort of shape, I need to make a few things mobile (welder, drill press, etc). What's the best source for casters that's reasonably affordable, but won't fail after a year of occasionally being wheeled around the shop?

Right now I have two things on harbor freight furniture movers, and those wheels suck, they don't turn nicely, they get stuck on everything, ya know.. Is tractor supply any better?

Home Depot has a decent selection. That is what is on two of my welding carts, my tube bender, my engine stand, etc.

Biggest mistake I see is people buying them too small. For a shop, I want at least 2.5" casters. Also, I'm a fan of the two rigid / two swivels arrangement.

DILYSI Dave wrote: Home Depot has a decent selection. That is what is on two of my welding carts, my tube bender, my engine stand, etc. Biggest mistake I see is people buying them too small. For a shop, I want at least 2.5" casters. Also, I'm a fan of the two rigid / two swivels arrangement.

What he said.

What about McMaster-Carr? They've got a HUGE selection of casters of just about every kind of material and load capacity. I mean, if you're looking for a really specific metric size you may have issues, but if you overshoot on the load rating you'll probably be really happy.

Thanks lads, I'll figure out what I need and cross shop lowdepot's and mcmaster.

i don't know where in the world you are located, but here in MN we have a magical place called "Mills Fleet Farm" that has exactly what you are looking for, and a bunch of stuff you aren't looking for, too..

Harbor freight should be fine for that.

novaderrik wrote: i don't know where in the world you are located, but here in MN we have a magical place called "Mills Fleet Farm" that has exactly what you are looking for, and a bunch of stuff you aren't looking for, too..

I'm in NE Connecticut. I used to have a store nearby that was awesome for things like this when I lived in central pa called surplus city, but I haven't found anything quite like it here.

Kenny - do the bigger HF ones hold up ok?

Www.surpluscenter.com

WonkoTheSane wrote: Kenny - do the bigger HF ones hold up ok?

I don't know if I'd trust them at their stated capacities, but they're probably the same casters you'd find at a farm store or HD, for less money.

If you need to get them cheap do what I did. Go to Harbor Freight and but 1-2 of the 12 X 18 furniture moving dollies. They come with 4 HD rubber tired casters. I purchased some for less then $8 with a coupon! http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-mini-movers-dolly-61899.html

jimbbski wrote: If you need to get them cheap do what I did. Go to Harbor Freight and but 1-2 of the 12 X 18 furniture moving dollies. They come with 4 HD rubber tired casters. I purchased some for less then $8 with a coupon! http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-mini-movers-dolly-61899.html

Those are the ones I have that keep dropping bearings all over the place, they're deteriorating rapidly..

For shop equipment I wouldn't get anything less than 3" diameter and 1 1/2" wide. Other than that I go to the store and check them out just like you check for bad wheel bearings on a vehicle (pick it up and wiggle the wheel to check bearing slop).

old_ wrote: Www.surpluscenter.com

this ---^

Love surplus center

WonkoTheSane wrote:

jimbbski wrote: If you need to get them cheap do what I did. Go to Harbor Freight and but 1-2 of the 12 X 18 furniture moving dollies. They come with 4 HD rubber tired casters. I purchased some for less then $8 with a coupon! http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-mini-movers-dolly-61899.html

Those are the ones I have that keep dropping bearings all over the place, they're deteriorating rapidly..

Man what are you moving. I used to keep a few of my cars on those things so I could slide them around the garage or closer to the welder when they did not have engines. All of mine are still kicking.

I bought a special dolly for my table saw. 2 levers on one side drop the wheels down and the casters are up and the saw is stable on the ground. Kinda nice.

44Dwarf wrote:

old_ wrote: Www.surpluscenter.com

this ---^ Love surplus center

Ditto!

I've bought bookoos of stuff from them; wheels and casters, hydraulic cylinders, air cylinders, push pull cables, and even an engine.

Shipping isn't always that great time/price/weight but I've always been happy.

wearymicrobe wrote: Man what are you moving. I used to keep a few of my cars on those things so I could slide them around the garage or closer to the welder when they did not have engines. All of mine are still kicking.

I lost two in the great lift installation saga, and I think a third one was just straight up defective (half-died moving the snow plow around), and I guess one of them is still holding up alright... So I guess I was a bit harsh, I've had 25% of mine that aren't (or haven't yet) dropped bearings :)

The problem seems to be if you load them up near the limit (for HF stuff, the limit is 50% of advertised load :)) the wheels don't turn well, and then the carriers deflect and the unloaded balls can fall out the side, then you have less bearings taking the load, so it fails faster next time, until the wheel folds sideways.

I used them in my past to move heavy test equipment around. All from McMaster. I have learned this:

Two fixed and two pivots is a great thing if you plan on moving your thing plenty of straight distances. For "a few inches here or there every few months", lockable pivots at all corners is far better. Especially true if the thing is heavy.

Wheel material is important. We used some hard durometer rubber stuff a few times but found that it was really hard to rotate the casters. It took multiple people. For moving where you aren't particularly concerned with speed (slow walking pace) or noise, steel wheels were best.

Size is super important. Bigger is better so you can run over stuff like scratches in your concrete without skidding.

This can get expensive quickly, though.

If you are building the carts you need casters for and 4 of the biggest HF furniture dolly casters aren't up to the task it's probably cheaper to just use 6 or 8 HF casters than the next alternative.

I was in a shop the other day where all the heavy stuff, like the stick welder and a giant metal welding bench were rolling around on a pair of car tires. Most looked to be GM FWD car rear hub/bearing assemblies and had two tires just off center and a pair of handles to move them around like a wheelbarrow.

tuna55 wrote: Two fixed and two pivots is a great thing if you plan on moving your thing plenty of straight distances. For "a few inches here or there every few months", lockable pivots at all corners is far better. Especially true if the thing is heavy.

Yes yes yes. My grill came with two rigid and two pivot wheels (I assume to manufacture more cheaply) and it is the most infuriating setup for me ever. Every time I move the grill its like trying to parallel park it. To add insult to injury, the rigid wheels are not at the 'edges' of the grill from a bird's eye view, which means there is now swing to deal with as well. You can never push its back right up against something for storage. You either have to lift it, or live with 2-3 inches of space between the grill and the wall because of this swing phenomenon. Classic case of an engineer who either doesn't use the product, or is over-ruled by a bean counter.

I am planning to get 4 swivel casters for it (but admittedly I will likely just grab a furniture dolly from HF and use those) soon.

My local Home depot stocks very few casters. My local harbor Freight had a great selection until they moved now the selection is half what it was still 4 times what my home depot stocks.

Just for the record at my local hf the swivel casters with a lock were much better feeling than the furniture movers casters, so I'm rolling the dice on them..