File this under great hardware finds. - I needed low-profile, high capacity wheels for an effect and stumbled onto these. They are load wheels for a pallet jack (the wheels pictured are Crown part number 44506 / McMaster 2670T58. The yellow caster mounts are shop built.)
44506 Load wheel specs:
- 2500 lbs load rating!
- 3” diameter x 3 7/8” wide
- Roller ball bearings
- Shore 90A polyurethane tread
- Slightly oversized 3/4” shaft (about 25/32”)
- $30 each from Mcmaster
- $45 each from a Crown distributor (price will undoubtably vary)
What makes these attractive? Comparably rated caster wheels tend to be much larger in diameter, cost more, and don’t usually feature roller ball bearings. (Mcmaster’s “High Capacity Nylon Wheels” come close, but they are a Shore 80D. That’s as hard as a hard hat!) Crown lists these wheels as “load wheels”, McMaster lists them as “Polyurethane-Tread Pallet and Lift Truck Wheels”.
Here’s a link to Crown’s wheel and tire catalogue (PDF.)
If you want to do your own research, a quick list of some pallet truck manufacturers: BT, Crown, Hyster, Lift-Rite, Multiton, Prime Mover, Raymond, Rol-Lift, and Yale.