Month: August 2019

Durometer Measurements Explained

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While looking at caster wheels, you may come across the term “Durometer” and an associated number and letter. What do they mean?

Well, here’s the skinny: Durometer is both a measurement and a tool for measuring.

“But what exactly is a durometer measuring?” You wonder.

Well, it measures the hardness of an item.

There are many durometer scales represented by a letter (in the caster and wheel industry we use Shore A and Shore D) ranging in numerical value from 0-100. The higher the number, the harder the item is. For instance, a rubber band has a durometer of 25 A. Skateboard wheels (or many of the polyurethane wheels we sell) might be between 85-95 A. This doesn’t mean that they are extremely hard, just that they are one of the hardest materials the Shore A scale can measure.

The durometer of a wheel can help the user figure out how the wheel will react to its environment and the floor it is on.

What happens when an item is harder than the Shore A Scale can measure? We move on to the Shore D scale. Any of our harder wheels, such as a phenolic resin wheel, will be measured on the D scale. A phenolic resin wheel has a durometer of 90 D. Another example of an item on the D scale would be a hard hat, which has a durometer of around 75 D.

Still have questions? Give us a call at 1-800-215-8220.

A Tyler of All Trades

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We love to highlight empoloyees for their contributions to the team. Today the spotlight goes to Tyler, one of our sales representatives and our marketplace coordinator. In these roles, Tyler assists customers with finding the proper casters and wheels for their needs, handles all customer service items with our marketplaces, and assists our marketplace team with listing new products.

Tyler has been at Service Caster, which is a family-owned business, all of his life, but he officially became an employee in March of 2010. There are so many things he loves about working at Service Caster, but he is especially fond of his coworkers who he says are “all one big happy family and we all work together so well. This is especially important as our great relationships allow us to work together to locate the best casters and wheels for our customers”.

When Tyler isn’t at work he enjoys spending time with his fiancé Jen and son Brayden. He also enjoys playing golf because it enables him to have a great time being outside with friends and family.

Tyler’s favorite Service Caster memory is when the Service Caster team had their own softball team. He said, “Although I was very young at the time, I had a blast going and watching all of them stink it up on the field. They may have not been very good at softball, but they sure are good when it comes to casters and wheels! We all can’t be good at everything right!? LOL.”

Need casters or wheels? Give us a call at 800-215-8220. Who knows, you might get Tyler on the phone!

Toolbox Casters

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One of our most popular products is our sets toolbox casters.  Customers in many industries, from DIY and “garage shop” users to mechanics and other technicians, have found our toolbox casters especially useful for their light and medium duty toolboxes, as the polyurethane wheels will not develop flat spots from periods of inactivity.

The wheels roll smoothly with integrated ball bearing design. And the polyurethane wheel will not mark or mar floors, performing well on most surfaces and excelling on hard surfaces like concrete, tile, and wood. 

Alternate uses for these wheels also include material handling, carts, equipment, and shop projects. 

Ready to order some for yourself?  Call 800-215-8220 or order online.

What kind of grease should I grease my casters with?

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This is a pretty popular question posted to our customer service team at Service Caster and, unfortunately, we don’t have a simple answer for it.

All caster bearings need to be lubricated with a high-quality multi-purpose grease. The grease should have good extreme pressure, anti-wear characteristics, and should be able to withstand the temperature range that fits the application requirements.

Everyone uses their casters and wheels differently, so some may be required to grease their casters and wheels more often than others. Wheel and swivel bearings last longer if they are regularly lubricated. We recommend applying grease to friction points on the wheel hub, washer, and leg surfaces. This will reduce drag and improve rollability. Normal conditions may require lubrication every six months where extreme conditions may require lubrication monthly.  Extreme conditions include corrosive or exceptionally dirty environments. Finally, if the application experiences wash downs, lubrication may be needed after each wash. 

Using the correct grease for your casters and wheels is vital to their lifespan and performance.   Have questions? Give us a call at 1-800-215-8220 and we’ll help you out.

Three Tips to Make Lawn Maintenance a Breeze

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It’s summer.  The grass is growing.  And growing. And growing.  It grows so fast that you barely have time to enjoy the fruits of your lawn mowing labor before you’re back at it again.  And that cute little flowerbed you planted in the spring? Well, now it’s a bed of weeds interspersed with flowers.  

Lawn care is serious business.  And, apparently, also a competitive one. Who hasn’t looked over at their neighbor’s lawn and gotten a case of comparisonitis?  When your lawn looks better, there’s an added swag to your step. When it looks worse, well, you make a beeline to wherever you store your lawnmower and fire it up.  

But these three tips can help make lawn maintenance a little easier on you.  Of course, all our tips involve the use of wheels. But, hey, we’re a caster company, so some shameless self stealth promotion is to be expected.

Hack Your Weed Wacker

A few weeks ago we had an elderly customer call into us to order wheels for his weed wacker.  It seems that due to some physical issues, he was no longer able to hold it up for long periods of time.  So, he thought, “Why not put some wheels on it?” Then he could push it around like a lawnmower. Pretty cool, huh? 

Make Your Garden Tools Mobile

So, that flowerbed we mentioned that’s overgrown with weeds?  Well, you probably won’t want to use a weed wacker on that because the flowers you so painstakingly planted will become collateral damage.  And you definitely don’t want to use one on that garden you planted lest your hard work cultivating those fruits and veggies will be for naught.  We can’t make pulling the weeds by hand any less painless for your lower back, but sharing our hack for keeping your tools close at hand will at least make the process a little easier and save you the inconvenience of having to travel to the shed or garage for the one garden tool you need at that moment.

Use a Utility Cart

Utility carts and wagons are great for hauling away those freshly-pulled weeds to your trash can or another area of the yard.  Coincidentally, they’re also useful for transporting the flowers from your car to the flowerbed in the first place. (Got kids toys strewn all over the yard?  You can go through the yard, pick them up, and put them in the cart instead of running them back to your toy storage one by one.)

Check out our Pinterest board for visuals of each one of our tips and then let us know which one you think will be most useful for you.  

Need some wheels?  Give us a call at 800-215-8220 and we’ll hook you up.