swivel vs fixed casters for welder cart?

For any cart that just moves a few feet in the shop (ie table saw base) I use 4 swivels so I can move it to exactly where I want it. Any cart that has to go a fair distance gets swivel casters under the handle and fixed casters on the other end. Much easier to steer it.

For sh> I'm designing a cart for a Miller DialArc HF plus Miller TIG cooler unit. >

My buzz-box that I bought used came with a cart, two fixed and two swivel. Better than no wheels, but someday when I'm at Harbor Freight and they have 5 inch swivel castors on sale (and in stock) the two fixed will be replaced.

Another thing to consider is whether or not the rubber wheels will be exposed to hot metal/slag. Steel wheels wouldn't care and nor do they develop flat spots from sitting awhile in one position. I have to prop up my oxy/acy cart or the wheels get flat spots...

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That depends on the wheel spacing VS the size of the load. Where is the center of gravity?

My Dialarc HF with water cooler came with a cart having two fixed and two swivel.

If you have to move it more than a few (2-3) feet, 2 fixed and 2 swivel. 4 swiveling casters is like dancing with a drunk fat lady......

Bob

You got that right. i made ONE cart with four swivels. never again.

Karl

In general, you will have an easier time moving the welder if you use only two swivel casters--with four the thing doesn't always want to go in the direction you are pushing. However, if you need to rotate it in place. four swivels are much easier to deal with. Has anyone heard of casters with swivel locks?>

Yes, and they're great, just not cheap. I've used them extensively on lab rigs. As all posters have pointed out, 4 swivel casters don't travel well. However, they're great for nudging a cart into position to make connections. The swivel locks work well.

Pete Keillor

I used 4 swivel. Reason? That's what I had handy :-)

Mark Rand RTFM

Ditto, with the proviso that the heavier it is, the shorter the 'fair' distance becomes. A wire rack that I can fully control with my two index fingers can have four swivel casters and go a mile without undue fatigue. Some 500 lb monster that needs to go across the shop may demand two fixed casters.

Clearly you should have two swivel casters and two casters that can swivel or get locked in place. You'll have to custom build them, but you'll be doing the work, so it's OK with me...

You can live with both, but four swiveling casters is harder to control, especially if you have some slope.

I agree with you, except that I haven't had the opportunity to dance thusly. I think if one does put four swivels, that they should put them farther apart than a 2-2 setup for tipping stability.

I also suggest that one gets those kind of casters with the brake so that the cart will stay put when you want it to, or on uneven ground.

For me, I'd use four swivels with brakes, and positioned far apart enough to make it stable. Even if I had to drop the frame a little (like a dropped front axle on a hot rod) so as to reduce center of gravity and put the wheels farther outboard.

Steve

I have some machines with 4 swivel, and some with 2 + 2 fixed. The ones with 4 swivels will take much tighter corners and pack together better in storage. The worst to maneuver is a 200 Lb Lincoln TIG. It isn't bad on the basement concrete but it is hard to control on my sloping driveway where I use it. The casters were second-hand off painters' scaffolding. I haven't had good results with hardware- store ones on heavier equipment.

The small air compressor and 4x6 bandsaw have 2 fixed 6" wheels. Both can be difficult to turn around in narrow corridors.

Outdoors a cart with 4 swivels is miserable to steer.

If you go with 2+2, you can put larger wheels rather than casters on the heavier end. The steel-hub 6" and 8" lawnmower replacement wheels will take several hundred pounds pretty well. When overloaded the outer edge of the hub dents or bends away from the rubber. The next step up is wheelbarrow wheels. Larger wheels roll over obstacles much more easily.

[ ... ]

Hmm ... and why not make an extension wing on two of the casters and a matching wing on the leg, so you can drop a pin or a bolt in there when you want to roll it some distance, and pull them when you need to maneuver in tight places.

Enjoy, DoN.

2 fixed and 2 swivel on the front. With a tank of gas on the back the fixed wheels make it much more stable. Especially if the tank is a large one.

I bought the stock Harbor Freight MIG cart (rather than re-engineer "the cart" from scratch) and threw out the rear rigid casters. Put two 8" pneumatic fixed axle tires mounted OUTBOARD of the cart tray (not under it) at the rear upright of the welder cart, forward of the bottle tray extension. (With the shielding gas bottles aft of the axle.) The two swivel casters are at the front with the handle.

For a Dialarc and a water cooler (two heavy boxes) you might want to play with the axle balance before fastening it down - Do what I did, and put the rear axle on a slider of two sections of angle. Once you get the balance right, drill four holes and bolt the axle slider to the base of the cart - and if loads change, you can relocate the axle.

The axle crossbar is two rod nuts welded to a chunk of 1" C Channel. The wheels are held on with large hex bolts sized to bottom the threads leaving the wheel bearings running on the bolt shank, and a few flat washers to take up any slack. If you ever get replacement wheels with wider hubs, you just get longer bolts.

The pneumatic tires take the brunt of the load and are wide enough to avoid tipping, and the swivel casters are along for the ride. The fixed tires make steering slightly awkward, but it stays vertical.

If you go all swivel casters and they all swivel to the inside, you better holler "Timber!!", if it's not perfectly balanced it's coming down. And small rigid casters mounted under the table aren't a lot better - you need a wide wheelbase with a heavy and tippy load.

Oh, and two 1/8" x 3/4" strap diagonal braces from the top shelf down to the rear of the bottle tray, just in case - plus it gives you a place to tie the bottles into the cart.

If you have to go over grass or dirt, you have the axle balanced so you can pick up the swivels and run it as a two-wheel hand truck mode to get through the rough patch.

Two 20-lb steel CO2 cylinders aft of the axle pretty much balances a Miller Challenger by itself, and the stored 'stuff' on the bottom shelf that adds caster weight can be removed for rough surfaces.

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Steve

There's a trick to it. The baggage carts in european airports have four swivel casters. Those crashing noises are from people who haven't yet learned how to "drive" them. Once the knack is accquired, they're actually easier than 2 fixed + 2 swivels.

I can say with some authority that crashing one into a Mercedes taxi in Zurich is a swell way to learn some colloquial German.