Well that makes sense

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Today I put a set of Bora caster/lift set under my bandsaw. Really nice. To get it on, I used my engine hoist, just cranked it up. But the darn casters on the engine lift are garbage and don't swivel. So, I went looking for replacement casters. 3 1/2 inch. Guess what? Wheels that size are rated for about 350 pounds. 2000 pound lift and needs to support almost full weight on one end. About 700 Lbs per caster would be a good design. Thank you Harbor freight for grossly under designed garbage. Had to order more garbage casters as I will need the hoist to get my new saw off the pallet next week. Next design is a frame for the saw, extended to the side to support the router table.
 

Pop Golden

New User
Pop
Hi tvrgeek, You & I both know HF has good tools & bad tools. 1: Their good tools are not much cheaper than anybody else. 2: The cheap stuff is what it says it is CHEAP. That's price & quality. 3: Replacements parts are few & far between. 4: When I go to HF I think about what I'm buying. Is it a make do tool? If it's a one use thing I buy cheap. If I'm going to go for the long haul, then I look at their stuff, and most likely buy their expensive stuff or buy somewhere else. I guess this boils down to the old saying "you get what you pay for."

Pop
 

Henry W

Henry
Corporate Member
well Pop, there are items that I regularly buy from HF, items I consider bargains
- cheap disposable paint brushes I use for oil based primers ($1-1.50)
- nitrile gloves (7 or even 9 mil are best and very re-usable) - whenever they get them back in stock. Last box I bought was at Sherwin WIlliams - called thickster. These are about as re-usable as those yellow elbow length kitchen gloves that my Mom used to use (forever).
- F style clamps - there quick clamps are useless, and their al bar (notched) clamps do not hold up (at least not he pair I had) but the F clamps have worked great for me (only stripped out one thread).
- the dozuki razor saw (pull cut) for under $10 works great as a inexpensive job site handsaw when needed. Now have one in my shop too.
- I have other products, including a $10 spray gun that I have not tried, and a few other things.
I try to minimize purchases that have moving parts, and certainly have not purchased anything with a motor from there (yo do get what you pay for, but there are items there that work very well for me.

I can't comment on castors or hoists from HF.

-
 

Wiley's Woodworks

Wiley
Corporate Member
Rockler makes casters with red polyurethane wheels. The larger the wheel diameter the higher the weight rating. 5" wheels are rated at 600#. Also, check Grainger and see what's in their catalog. BTW the larger the diameter the easier the load rolls around your shop and over bumps and thresholds.
 

zdorsch

Zach
Corporate Member
I had zero luck with HF wheels. I’ve used several sets of cast/poly wheels that are sold on Amazon and eBay.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Both Amazon and Aliexpress have 1250 lb rated wheels, rule of thumb if you want great rolling wheels, always try to make sure one wheel's rating is higher than the total weight. Also look at the bearing assembly. The HVAC refrigerent wheels are amazing, not cheap, but the bearing design is really stable.
 

Endless Pursuit

New User
Jeff
Today I put a set of Bora caster/lift set under my bandsaw. Really nice. To get it on, I used my engine hoist, just cranked it up. But the darn casters on the engine lift are garbage and don't swivel. So, I went looking for replacement casters. 3 1/2 inch. Guess what? Wheels that size are rated for about 350 pounds. 2000 pound lift and needs to support almost full weight on one end. About 700 Lbs per caster would be a good design. Thank you Harbor freight for grossly under designed garbage. Had to order more garbage casters as I will need the hoist to get my new saw off the pallet next week. Next design is a frame for the saw, extended to the side to support the router table.
A friend of mine solved the same problem by adding a second set of swivel casters immediately behind the original one’s basically creating a “dullie” hoist. He can max out the lift cylinder and still roll and steer a load.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
3 1/2 inch wheel. Raising it on larger casters causes an issue with it getting under a car.
Advice from the MG forum is older ( better) hoists did have fixed front rollers and larger casters on off-set plates on the rear.

Last notice was my saw was in Texas on it's way here. Hope it was not in the 100 car pileup. Probably will be delayed though.
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
Have you considered steel casters? Tractor supply has decent ones.

Dump HF everyone knows Northern Tool has the good China stuff

I avoid HF takes a day to get rid of Chinese rubber smell.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
It HAS steel casters. TS has 3 inch and 4 inch. One of the 4 is reasonable load rating but raising the hoist causes issues with it not clearing suspension components.
Yes, Northern is usually better, but it is 30 miles away. No, they don't have a proper 3 1/2 inch caster either.
( They carry the Klunth drill press, which looks like a very decent bit of kit at least on paper)

Found some. Faultless Caster. 3 inch with a 1000 Lb rating for $30 each. Need to quit letting my "secure" browser do the search.
 

Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
Quite a few years ago I attached fixed casters to the sub-base (or directly to cabinet) at the back and a Rockler step caster to the front of all my machines- instant, integral mobile base. I don't remember where I bought the fixed casters, maybe Hartville Tools. They are substantial, have sturdy mounts, good bearings and dust shields. They have worked great. However . . . . even though I have AC in my second story shop I'll go several days or longer when I don't venture up there, so leave the AC off. Over time, the heat destroyed the thick red outter (cheap silicone/vinyl?) layer on the casters. It self-destructed, separated from and came off in large chunks. Luckily the hard black rubber/plastic(?) inner wheels seem to be holding up so I don't need to replace them. I should have suspected something when I started seeing red marks on my shop floor. Sorry, no pics of the destroyed wheels.

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tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
I used that type of lift caster on my joiner. I used 4 which was a bad idea as it is top heavy and gets tipsy. Two fixed and one lift makes far more sense. I can cut apart the crap casters from the engine hoist and get nice 3 1/4 inch iron wheels.

With the TS extension wing and router table, I think I need to do a full wide frame so I never stress the wings. Might just use wheel chocks instead of lifts. It wil latch to a 4 x 5 outfeed table.
 

Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
I never liked the Delta TS extension table and mobile base- it was flimsy and the lower frame and step caster took up space where I wanted to put a rolling cabinet so I removed it all and designed a new mobile base and extension table unit.

I ran two pieces of heavier angle across the front and back of the saw and extended them to frame a new (partial torsion box) extension table top. I ran a new set of legs near the end of the frame and mounted a step caster to the cross piece at the bottom . I added fixed casters and leveler feet to the saw cabinet subbase. I also built and added a partial torsion box outfeed table that is supported by the extension frame on one side and by lightweight adjustable legs that are hinged where they connect at the top so I can swing them away when sweeping or vacuuming. I also added a second, smaller, drop-down hinged extension table behind the saw. The torsion box table frames are covered with 1/2" MDF and laminate. Everything is holding up extremely well.

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