Loading Capacity
Castors are integral to the loading capacity of all skates and dollies. Whilst small to look at, they are the principal load-bearing component of a furniture skate – so they need to be up to scratch. The maximum capacity your skates can withstand will of course be impacted by the quality of the castors (though at Evo Supplies we only ever use the best!) but this is also highly dependent upon what type of castors have been used.
All of our UK-made products feature the best, most appropriate set of castors for its intended purpose – so you can be sure that when we say a skate is built for those heavier items, the castors can and will handle the load. Many of our skates and dollies can even support loads of up to a tonne; this is thanks in large part to the sturdy castors.
Size
Ensuring that the correct size of castors have been used on each item is another crucial consideration; size is an important factor for ensuring the loading capacity required of your dolly. You’ll find that, in general, larger castors tend to feature on our more heavy-duty ranges, such as our Piano Skates (ideal for heavy loads of up to 900kg, with giant 200mm blue elastic castors) and our chunky Mighty Mover with its 1-tonne loading capacity and sturdy 125mm blue elastic castors.
Castor size can also impact skate functionality and manoeuvrability… there are certain removal tasks that may call for a smaller set of castors – for example, some of our customers within the office moves sector prefer 80mm castors, to allow stacks of plastic crates to be tipped at a shallower angle when they are loaded onto the skates. Overall, size-wise our 100mm blue elastic castors are the best-selling option for universal use, but where possible it’s worth considering some of the specifics of your removal tasks when selecting castors.
Material
For overall strength, mobility and versatility, we always recommend top-quality blue elastic castors which originate from Germany and China – only ever from suppliers who meet our stringent quality standards. Some customers prefer their skates to feature castors with wheels made of black rubber, or white polypropylene; of course, this is no problem, but we always make sure to highlight that you may lose out on some load-bearing capabilities and resilience, compared with those blue elastic versions.
If you’re looking for a certain castor that we do not usually stock, we’ll do our best to source them for you (subject to it meeting our quality and safety standards, of course). The Evo Supplies team have a wealth of experience and know-how to meet your specific requirements and create the right skate for you, whatever the removal task at hand.
Fixings
Ensuring that castors are firmly secured to the underside of the skates – preventing any wobbling or loosening that would interfere with mobility or cause safety issues – is important, so we always apply a little extra thought and expertise to get it just right.
Taking into account the thickness of the wood, we pair the optimal length of bolts with each set of castors, ensuring they’re long enough to go right through the board for maximum strength and resilience. The number of bolts per castor also is more impactful than you’d think… using four bolts to secure each castor to the dolly (rather than just one bolt as you may see other manufacturers use) means that those trusty castors just aren’t coming loose!
This is more than just theory, too; we have comprehensively tested our products against other brands and found that our approach to castors produced results that just couldn’t be surpassed.
There are a lot more options for customisation when it comes to selecting castors… braked or non-braked… swivel, fixed and locking multi-directional formats… there are thousands of different specifications! You can browse our stock of hard-wearing castors here – but feel free to call to chat through your needs with the friendly, knowledgeable team on 01206 386683 – we’ll be happy to talk about all things castors and recommend the right products for you.
