Heavy Duty Castors.

What are Heavy Duty Castors?

Heavy-duty castors, also known as heavy-duty industrial castors or industrial casters, are the highest-capacity units in Accu’s Castors & Wheels range, built to carry between 500 kg and 1440 kg per castor while still rolling and steering under load. Each one is built around a broad rectangular top plate and a bulged fork that cradles a wide, hard-treaded wheel, so they look noticeably chunkier than a standard castor with the same size of wheel. That stiffness keeps the wheel square to the floor under heavy point loads, so a cart carrying a press tool or a machine base still starts, steers and stops predictably instead of flat-spotting its wheels or fighting the operator.

Each castor is listed against a European castor standard: EN 12532 for industrial equipment pushed or towed at up to 4 km/h or, on several of the KAPPA models, EN 12533 for industrial equipment moving at 4 km/h to 16 km/h. These industrial castors suit material handling and intralogistics, press shops, machine building and any site where heavy equipment has to be moved, positioned and then held firmly in place.

How Heavy-Duty Castors Work

Heavy-duty castors bolt to the underside of a frame or base through the four 11 mm holes in an EN R43 top plate, set on 105 x 80 mm centres, so the load passes straight from the frame through the fork and axle into the wheel. On swivel castors, the head turns on a double row ball race (or a taper roller bearing on the highest-rated unit), and the axle sits 48 mm to 60 mm behind the swivel axis. That offset means the wheel follows its pivot around as soon as the load moves, settling behind it in whichever direction the frame is pushed, while fixed castors have no swivel head and simply track straight. Tread hardness then decides how the castor behaves under load: a solid polyamide wheel barely deforms, so it takes less force to start rolling, while a cast polyurethane tread gives slightly, runs more quietly and is kinder to the floor.

Take a die cart in a press shop carrying a 2.4 tonne press tool on a 300 kg welded frame, steered from the push end by a swivel pair of castors and held on line by a fixed pair at the far end. Sizing for three castors in contact, because an uneven floor rarely lets all four bear at once, puts 900 kg on each castor. This is the exact rating of the 160 mm KAPPA castor with a cast iron wheel centre, or the 200 mm version at 1200 kg for some headroom. The fixed pair keeps the cart tracking straight down the aisle while the swivel pair steers it up to the press. Total lock brakes on the swivel castors stop both the wheel and the swivel head so the cart cannot creep while the tool is slid onto the bolster. Undersize those castors and the treads flat-spot, the bearings fail and a 2.4 tonne tool ends up stranded halfway to the press.

Materials Heavy-Duty Castors Are Made From

Accu’s heavy-duty castors combine engineering-grade metals and polymers, each chosen for the job it does in the castor, whether that is carrying the load, resisting corrosion or protecting the floor:

• Steel: Forms the extra-heavy-duty pressed steel housings on the ZETA series, shaped into a reinforced, bulged fork and blue passivated for corrosion protection.
• Cast Iron: Used for the cast and forged housings of the KAPPA series and for the grey cast iron wheel centres behind the polyurethane wheels rated up to 1200 kg.
• Stainless Steel: Used for the ALPHA STAINLESS housings, which carry a corrosion resistance rating of Excellent (5 of 5) and pair with polyamide wheels rated from -40 to +80 °C, suiting cold stores and wet or corrosive areas.
• Aluminium: A light, rigid wheel centre with the polyurethane tread cast directly onto it, keeping the wheel round and true under load.
• Plastic - PUR: A premium cast polyurethane tread at 42 Shore D that runs quietly, grips well and is gentler on finished floors than a solid plastic wheel, with wear resistance rated Very Good (4 of 5).
• Plastic - Nylon: Solid heavy-duty polyamide at 75 Shore D, offering very low rolling resistance on smooth, hard floors and the highest load rating in the range, at 1440 kg on the extra-heavy-duty KAPPA wheel.

Pressed steel and cast iron housings are blue passivated, while wheels come in honey yellow (polyurethane), natural (polyamide) or black on the extra-heavy-duty KAPPA wheel.

Sizes & Types of Heavy-Duty Castors Available

Accu’s range of heavy-duty castors is available in a variety of wheel sizes, load ratings and configurations to match the load, the floor and the duty cycle:

• Wheel Diameter (D): 125 mm to 200 mm.
• Wheel Width (T): 40 mm to 50 mm.
• Mounting Height (H): 164 mm to 245 mm.
• Approximate Load Capacity: 500 kg to 1440 kg.
• Static Load Capacity: 1000 kg to 2400 kg.
• Castor Type: Swivel Castor or Fixed Castor.
• Brake Type: Total Lock Brake, Leading or Total Lock Brake, Trailing.
• Fixing Type: Rectangular Plate, EN R43, 137 x 105 mm.
• Plate Fixing Hole Centres (ExG): 105 x 80 mm.
• Fixing Hole Diameter: 11 mm.
• Tread Hardness: 42 Shore D to 75 Shore D.

Every castor at this load level fixes through the EN R43 plate, so there are no bolt hole or threaded stem options. Load ratings are given at 4 km/h, roughly walking pace. Not every combination exists either: the 1440 kg rating is only available at 125 mm, on a swivel castor with or without a brake, with no fixed version. The ALPHA STAINLESS castors stop at 500 kg, come in 160 mm and 200 mm only and run on plain bearings rather than ball bearings, while the polyamide ZETA castor is only offered with a brake at 125 mm. Matching heavy-duty castor wheels for most ZETA and KAPPA castors are sold separately alongside Accu’s other industrial castor wheels in the Castors & Wheels range.

For less demanding loads below 500 kg, or where a soft, non-marking tread matters more than outright capacity, Accu’s Swivel Castors and Rubber Castors ranges cover lighter duties with a wider choice of wheels and fixings.

FAQ

Q: How much weight can heavy-duty castors hold?

A: Each castor in Accu’s heavy-duty range is rated for 500 kg to 1440 kg on the move at 4 km/h and 1000 kg to 2400 kg when the load is standing still. For a set of four, work out the combined weight of the equipment and its heaviest load, then divide by three, since one castor is often lifted off by an uneven floor. A 2000 kg static rating covers a machine standing in place, but the castors still need a dynamic rating that matches the load whenever it’s moved, however rarely, with extra headroom if it’ll be towed faster than walking pace.

Q: What are the strongest castor wheels?

A: The highest-rated option in Accu’s range is the 125 mm KAPPA castor with a black extra-heavy-duty polyamide wheel, rated at 1440 kg dynamic and 2400 kg static. Strength comes from the whole assembly rather than the wheel alone: solid polyamide and cast polyurethane on a cast iron centre carry the most, while the fork, axle and bearings decide whether that load reaches the frame safely. Where a larger wheel is needed to roll over floor joints and debris, the 200 mm KAPPA castor with a cast iron centre is the strongest choice at 1200 kg.

Q: What are the best heavy-duty castors for moving equipment?

A: It depends on the load, the floor and how often the equipment moves, but most heavy equipment is set up with braked swivel castors where the operator pushes and fixed castors at the opposite end, which gives easy steering, straight tracking and a secure parked position.

Bespoke Heavy Duty Castors Manufacture.

High precision, bespoke manufacture of Heavy Duty Castors to customer specification. State of the art facilities specialising in both small batch prototyping and large scale manufacture.