Castors on the rise

Castors are traditionally known for their horizontal manoeuvrability, moving equipment and machinery in offices, domestic homes and industrial environments all over the world.

Castors are traditionally known for their horizontal manoeuvrability, moving equipment and machinery in offices, domestic homes and industrial environments all over the world. However a recent invention of a jacking castor has enabled equipment and machinery to not only be moved horizontally but also vertically. Jacking castors are heavy duty castors with an extended bracket attached. This bracket can be secured against any piece of equipment by a side plate and the internal jacking mechanism can be raised or lowered manually by ratchet or even integral handles.

There are a range of jacking castors on the market, some hydraulic, and others manually powered. Manually powered jacking castors are able to take loads of up to one tonne each, especially when using the extra heavy duty jacking castor. There are three types of jacking castors that are most commonly used, medium duty jacking castors, that can lift up to 200 kilogram's, heavy duty jacking castors that can take more weight of up to 600 kilogram's each and the heaviest duty jacking castors that can take up to one tonne each. The vertical lift of jacking castors varies from 76 millimetre lift up to 200 millimetre lift. Which means any piece of machinery or equipment can be raised, moved into location and then lowered safely and with great ease.

In order to operate jacking castors, there are two main types of lifting and lowering mechanisms. The first is by use of a ratchet, as jacking castors are fitted with a hexagonal head, suitable for sockets or spanners. This movement of the socket allows the jacking castor to be raised or lowered as required. A popular model of jacking castor is the Heavy Duty Jacking castor with an integral handle. The winding motion of the handle causes the internal thread to rise or lower, therefore moving the jacking castor up or down into position. With either type of jacking castor mechanism for movement, allowances have to be made for access. For example the ratchet version requires access to the head of the jacking assembly; alternatively the handle version requires side access to the jacking bracket. With such a range of options to choose from, there are jacking castors to suit most applications.

As well as bracket and lifting mechanism choices, modern jacking castors offer a range of wheels supplied within the castor housing. As different working environments, have a variety of floor surfaces, the choice of wheel often can be a crucial decision. The simple rule of thumb is that hard wheels, such as cast iron wheels, polyurethane wheels and nylon wheels can take more weight. Whereas softer wheels, such as rubber, can take less weight. However ingenious wheel designers have made a combination of a rubber wheel, with a cast iron centre, that is one of the strongest wheels on offer in the market. With such variety and choices, jacking castors are now, by far, the most manoeuvrable castors on the market and their future growth within industrial environments is looking to keep on rising!