Great Lakes Casters on 21" Bandsaw

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Turtlewood

New User
Kevin
All,

This afternoon I finally got around to putting mobility into my Grizzly G0566 21" bandsaw.

All I can say is wow, that bandsaw can dance across the floor!

The saw weights almost 600lbs and was a beast just to get delivered. It took 4 guys to get it safely down the ramp on a hand truck.

Now it moves with ease, and quite frankly much less effort that I would have thought. In addition, since all 4 casters swivel it can turn on dime... no 5 point turns that we've all come to expect from mobile bases with 2 fixed casters.

Once you lower the rubber feet to lift it off the wheels, the sucker is solidly planted and registered to the floor. This is because the feet are directly below the stem while the wheels are off center.

The 3rd great part is that you can use the feet to level the machine on the uneven garage floor.

Oh, and they're way cheaper than the zambus casters some have mentioned on the various woodworking forums... only 11 bucks each!

Again, they just far exceeded my expectations.

Here's a link to the casters:
http://www.greatlakescaster.com/products.php?cat=262


Here's some photos after the install:
Caster_1.jpg



Caster_2.jpg


Caster_3.jpg
 
Last edited:
M

McRabbet

Kevin,

Excellent! And for your new [strike]toy[/strike]... er tool, you deserve a nice smooth rolling ...
[pie]YOU SUCK![/pie]
 

WoodWrangler

New User
Jeremy
These are the same ones on my Laguna and they are extremely a great value at the price. The saw moves effortlessly, and when the stops are put down it's stable and solid.

Nice score ...:icon_thum
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
I'd like to get those for some of my tools. Just two problems:
1. I don't own any tools heavy enough to need them unless you count a metal lathe (which shouldn't be rolling around).
2. My shop floor will NEVER be that clean.

Good idea, though. :icon_thum
 

WoodWrangler

New User
Jeremy
How do you lower the foot down? They look great.

There is an adjustment knob built into the wheel that you just turn ... which in turn lowers the rubber foot. It's a bit tight in the space where you do this, but these aren't intended for tools that need to be parked, then move, often.
 

Bernhard

Bernhard
User
Kevin,

Dang! I got the same casters for some of my stuff....but bought them from Zambus for twice as much! They look identical. Next time it will be Great Lake Casters.

Cheers,
Bernhard
 

Turtlewood

New User
Kevin
Tom,

Here is an animated image of how they work:
leveling.gif


Bernhard,

That's one of the main reasons I wanted to get the word out on these specific casters. I was in love with the Zambus, but the cost was quite high.

I was concerned that these cheaper ones wouldn't work as well. There are a lot of reviews on the Zambus, but close to none on the Great Lakes brand. But for the price, I was willing to give it a try. Glad I did!

-Kevin
 

mshel

New User
Michael Shelley
Tom,

Here is an animated image of how they work:
leveling.gif


Bernhard,

That's one of the main reasons I wanted to get the word out on these specific casters. I was in love with the Zambus, but the cost was quite high.

I was concerned that these cheaper ones wouldn't work as well. There are a lot of reviews on the Zambus, but close to none on the Great Lakes brand. But for the price, I was willing to give it a try. Glad I did!

-Kevin

Kevin,

Both cpowell and I have them on our MM16 and if you look on their site, you will see a review by Chuck. I even installed a set on my Performax 22-44 base. Makes wheelin it around effortless.

Mike
 

sapwood

New User
Roger
Oohs and aahs all around, Kevin! Thanks for sharing the tip. I've really been enjoying sitting here watching those wheels go up and down and up and down :icon_thum

Roger
 

cpowell

Chuck
Senior User
I agree they work very well. I've had them on my MM16 for a while now. They offer much better mobility than the worthless "mobility kit" that MM offers.


Chuck
 

Turtlewood

New User
Kevin
Marcus,

In the animated image, the orange part is a toothed wheel that you turn to raise/lower the feet.

Hope this helps,
-Kevin
 

CaptainCowie

New User
Marcus
Ah OK, I see now. Do you find the wheel hard to turn to lower the wheel? These look like they would be great for a workbench that could be moved with ease and yet still have a nice firm platform for when it is in use.
 

Rocker

New User
John
these look great. Where do you get them? How did you get them on the bandsaw? Tip it over? I'd like to put them on mine.
 

WoodWrangler

New User
Jeremy
these look great. Where do you get them? How did you get them on the bandsaw? Tip it over? I'd like to put them on mine.

You can buy them online for less than $12/ea at http://www.greatlakescaster.com/products.php?cat=262 (this company has a lot of good looking and low price casters -- guess that's what happens when the middleman gets removed from the pricing?)

To get mine on, we leveraged the saw up on 2x4's until the base was off the ground, then just attached them with 3/8" bolts (I believe).
 
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