180kg on 18mm chipboard floor-castors?

[Racers]

Hi,

We had a UPS delivered at work, they knew the weight and got the mechanical engineering department to work out it the computer room floor would stand the weight which they said it would.
But they forgot that the removable floor tiles are only supported at the corners so when they slid it in the tiles broke!
It’s the point loading you will have to watch out for not the total weight, it’s the old thing about an elephant and a woman in stilettos standing on tarmac the woman sinks in, because the point loading on the heels is greater than the elephants weight spread over the area of its feet.


Pete

 

[Benchwayze]

Thanks Pete,

I got my wheels from a specialist supplier, who asked me the weight of the machine, so they could do exactly that; thus I know these castors will support my 350kg Machine. But they sent me two fixed and two swivelling wheels, and I never noticed until I came to use them!


So I took a chance on some 4" castors from another supplier. As my planer only moves along one side of the shop, depending on the length of timber I am planing, then NP! 8)

 

[ossieosborne]

In answer to one of the OPs' questions:

To calculate the Safe Working Load (SWL) for each castor, take the weight of load in kilograms and divide by the number of castors minus one, e.g. 180kg divide by 3 (4 wheels minus 1) = 60kg. So each castor should accommodate a SWL of 60kg or greater.

HTH

Oz