Many jobs require you to move several items at a time. Unless you’re Superman, doing this on your own all day would be impossible. So, to make life easier, people use carts to transport these loads.
However, not all carts are created equal. Some are easier to navigate than others. If you’ve ever had a grocery cart that seemed impossible to move, did you ask what caused it?
This rigidity comes from the type of caster on the cart. There are two primary types: rigid casters and swivel casters. Swivel casters have much more versatility than their rigid counterparts.
Having four swivel casters can make a cart or chair must more moveable. The question is, can you do this? We’ll explore the answer in the guide below.
What to Know About Swivel Casters
To understand how swivel casters work, there are some things you must comprehend about how they function. We’ll examine some of these facts in this section.
First, these casters can spin 360 degrees, allowing you to change their direction with ease. They can often hold 1.5 tons to 12.5 tons of weight on each skate.
However, navigating a heavy load on swivel wheels can become a challenge. It requires a solid push to keep all of the casters following in one direction.
This feature also makes it difficult to travel long distances with a car. The reason for this is that people design these swivels for short distances.
Mitigating Features for Swivel Casters
You can mitigate some of the drawbacks of swivel casters with specific features. For example, you may use locking swivel casters that help keep the wheels on track. These will prevent the wheels from spinning and derailing the cart.
Another possibility is to use heavy-duty swivel casters that have a design suitable for carrying heavier loads. However, heavier-duty casters also require more casters. Instead of four casters, they may need six to keep the cart stable.
Sometimes, you can also use a mixture of swivel casters and rigid casters. You may see grocery carts with two swivel wheels in the front and rigid wheels in the back. These allow you to point the cart in different directions but continue to follow a straight path.
If you want to purchase high-quality casters, visit this link: https://www.shoplinco.com/swivel. You can find the swivels here to meet your needs.
Can You Place Four Swivel Casters on a Cart?
The answer is, it depends on what you need from the cart. As you’ve seen above, swivel casters are not conducive to carrying heavy loads for a long distance. However, for short distances and lighter loads, these are much more helpful tools.
You may be able to use these swivels for other purposes, though. One of those may be swivel dining chairs, making it easier to move your chairs across the floor.
You may also find ways to mitigate the downsides of swivel casters, as we’ve discussed above. However, it may be simpler to use rigid casters for heavy loads.
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