1. Home
  2. ⏣ General Metalworking
  3. Machinery rollers/skates

Machinery rollers/skates

I have several machinery skates/rollers, such as the one pictured here:

formatting link

While they roll and handle the weight, they have two problems:

1) They are impossible to turn while loaded.

2) Even small obstacles (say a 1/4" bolt) get them stuck and stopped.

I am aware of, but do not have, carerpillar style Hilman rollers, such as these ones:

formatting link

I would like to know if anyone used such rollers. Do they allow a turn during move, under load? Are they any better at handling small bumps and obstacles?

thanks

i
Reply to
Ignoramus16807
Loading thread data ...

I used the Hilman rollers a lot 35 years ago to move sailboats up to

45 feet and 15 tons. The individual rollers are quite small, so do not handle rough floors or obstructions well at all.

They will turn under load if you can position them where you can get the handle in a usable orientation. Note that the handle only attaches front and back, which means that unless you can put the rollers at the end of the load, the handle is going to be parallel and low to the floor. I modified a set with a side attachment for the handle, which made them much more convenient to use. But you'll still get in situations where there's no clearance around the load to use the handle.

They also seem to be more prone to getting knocked out of alignment than the Hevi-Haul rollers you pointed to, and thus require more attention while the load is moving.

My main customer is constantly shuffling large machinery within their plant, and they use the Hevi-Haul type.

Having used both, I prefer the Hevi-Haul.

Reply to
Ned Simmons

OK, thanks, this was very useful.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus16807

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.