One of the most common types of Castors, are Swivel Castors.  Swivel Castors are utilized within all industry areas, and most applications that require Castors.  Swivel Castors play an effective role in the Material Handling and Portable Equipment/Accessories Industry, carrying heavy weights and transporting goods from one location to another with minimal effort. There are several features of Swivel Castors, which we will explain below:

  • Maneuverability

Swivel Castors are generally manufactured with a double ball race swivel head (Ball Bearing Swivel).  The Swivel Head allows for 360 degrees of rotation, allowing the installed equipment to be moved in any chosen direction.  95% of Castors manufactured and sold by Bulldog Castors Ltd are of Swivel format.  (the other 5% being Fixed Direction Castors).  In most instances the double ball race (Ball Bearings) are enclosed and maintenance free, however there are some versions of Castor, such as High Speed Castors, which have a lubrication lug for service and maintenance.   Swivel Castors can be supplied with and without Brakes, as well as Directon locks, which allow the user to lock the equipment into one direction of movement.

You will also notice that the centre line of the Castor wheel if offset from the centre line of the top fixing.  This is an intentional design feature of all Swivel Castors.  The off-set ensures that the wheels rotate to the direction of movement when the equipment is moved.  Without the off-set Castor flutter and difficulty in movement would be experienced.

  • Load Capacity

Swivel Castors are used on many type of application within the Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Sectors. From Office Chairs, to Trolleys, to Large Industrial Machines, you will find Swivel Castors of all shapes and Sizes.  Service Castors from to 30mm Diameter, carrying loads of around 15Kg, upto Large 200mm Fabricated Castors Carrying over 10 Tonnes per Castor.  The double ball race castor (mentioned above), allows for easy of rotation regardless of size of castor.  Larger castors use larger ball bearing swivels in order to allow the ease of movement. 

Increased Load Capactiy for heavy duty or high use applications can be acheived by utilising our Fabricated Swivel Castors, where the Castor Fork is Fabricated from increased thickness steel, instead of the more common pressed steel castor.

  • Environmental Conditions:

Our Swivel Braked Castors are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.  The Castor Forks are normally Zinc Plated to offer excellent levels of corrosion resistance.  Whilst our Swivel Castors can be used in many environments, life will be prolonged if kept indoors when possible.

Swivel Castors can be supplied in heat resistance materials, upto 200 degrees C for our flexible materials, and even higher temperatures for our hard wheel castors.  Bulldog Castors Ltd have invested in R&D to develop the best performing materials for use in extreme temperatures.  Customer should enquire for special applications.

  • Materials

Swivel Castors can be supplied in all standard Castor Materials, such as, Nylon, Rubber, Non Marking Rubber, Polyurethane, Cast Iron and many more.

Swivel Castors comprise of a wheel mounted into a fork, in which the fork has a ball bearing swivel mechanism allowing the wheel to rotate 360° around its pivotal point.  This rotation allows the wheel, and hence the equipment, to move in any chosen direction with ease, ensuring the operator can effectively manoeuvre the equipment in any direction without changing its orientation.

Swivel Casters normally have a slight offset between the wheel hub centre and the centre of the top fixing.  The reason for this design feature is to ensure that when the equipment is moved, and the wheel is not positioned in the correct direction of movement, the counterbalance will bring about the wheel to turn around pivotal point to the direction of travel. Without this offset the wheel wouldn't change it's position and would simply dragging over the ground.  Secondly, the offset helps to reduce the phenomenon “Castor Flutter” which is where the Castor shakes (flutters) as it is being pushed (you may notice this occasionally on a Shopping Trolley)

Top Plate Swivel Casters are perfect for mounting to flat surfaces and are slightly more common than their Single bolt hole counterpart.   Depending on the application, there are various configurations in which you can install the castors to a piece of equipment, which may also utilize fixed castors in order to gain the most control.  Customer can contact us for a data sheet on the different configurations and their benefits.

Swivel castors are available in all materials, including Rubber Casters, Polyurethane Caster & Nylon Casters.  The brackets can also be produced in Industrial and Food Grade Stainless Steel, most commonly Grade 304 Castors and Grade 430 Castors. (Other grades including 316 are also available).

Our Swivel Castors Wheels Products Click Below For More Information.