Jacking Castors take the weight!

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Author: Louise Home

A Jack is defined as a mechanical device to assist in the vertical adjustment of a product. Jacking castors have been developed for the added benefit of not only enabling vertical lift, but once jacked onto the castors the unit or product can then be manoeuvred horizontally as well as vertically. Lowering the jack once again ensures the unit is then stationery. This ingenious development can be evident on gantries, mobile platforms, tiered seating and machinery. Jacking castors can be adapted to suit a variety of environments, and can be available to suit a wide range of load capacities from 100 kilos to over two and a half tonnes.

Jacking castors are designed to house swivelling castors, with an elongated shaft, and a side plate for attaching to the unit which is to be moved vertically. The wheels within the castors can either be rubber wheels, polyurethane wheels, nylon wheels and even cast iron wheels for those heavy duty applications. The vertical lifts achieved on the jacking castors range from 75mm up to 150mm. Once the jacking castor has been attached to the machinery or frame to be moved, it can be adjusted by a fold away handle, threaded stem or a spanner adjustment. Take care to ensure that if you fit more than one jacking castor to a unit, that you adjust them at the same time to evenly distribute the load!

As jacking castors are a specialised product, their load capabilities are slightly different from normal castors. The general rule of thumb with standard castors is that if you are fitting four castors to a unit; ensure the total weight of the unit can be carried by a maximum of just three castors. This allows for a margin of safety, for example if the floor surface is uneven and only 3 castors are taking the weight at any one time! Jacking castors however are a different kettle of fish! There is more opportunity whilst adjusting jacking castors for the weight distribution to be uneven. This means that for any piece of machinery, frame or mobile platform the jacking castors will support only half of its total weight. Once this weight has been calculated you can then choose the most appropriate jacking castor to suit the job. Remember some of the heavy duty jacking castors can take over two tonnes each. So you still have many options to choose from.

A lighter duty option, and indeed an alternative to the jacking castors, would be a Footmaster castor. These nifty little castors are designed to have an anti vibration pad, that can be height adjusted to allow the enclosed castor to operate. These castors allow a complete swivel radius of 360 degrees, and can be fitted to platforms and machinery by either a top plate fitting or a single stem fitting. Height adjustment can be achieved by either an enclosed hand wheel, ratchet or spanner adjuster. These multifunctional castors can take dynamic loads of up to 500 kilos each and offer a competitive alternative to the light duty jacking castors.
Jacking castors and foot master castors offer the end consumer complete mobility when and wherever required. These sturdy jacking castors and foot master castors not only allow flexibility of movement with their integral castors, but also offer security of a stationery position, levelled with accuracy and safety. These castors really can take the weight!


Castors have been our primary business for the last 40 years. Our Blue Elastic Rubber Castors & Wheels are utilised in a wide variety of industries, along with our Tube Fittings and Adjustable Feet. Whether you are a hospital requiring a Medical Castor such as Non Marking Rubber Castor, shop fitters wanting a Plastic Castor, food manufacturers requiring Heat Resistant Castors, a theatre requesting a Scene Shifter or a garden centre looking for  Garden Equipment Castors we can meet all your need! Our aim is "Quality in Quantity" which means you can purchase the right castor at the best possible price and have them delivered to you in 24 hours. Our extensive stocks and low minimum order requirement make it even simpler for you! However if price is a factor, we can also supply cheap castors and budget castors.We sell a range of castors for different applications, including industrial and retail areas. Please visit our website at http://www.rosshandling.co.uk for further information.
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