Will welding damage casters?

Stan in Oly, WA · Oct 15, 2017

I told my nephew that for his birthday I'd build him a dolly capable of supporting a thousand pounds for him to move his boat engine around in his shop. I'm going to put two fixed casters and two swivel casters on it. It would be much easier to weld the casters to the angle steel frame than to drill sixteen holes through it and the gussets I've added at the corner joints. I don't foresee any problems with the fixed casters, but I wonder whether the heat of the welds will hurt the ball bearing swivel mechanisms. Advice? Thanks.

Stan

Southern Ray · Oct 15, 2017

If the ball bearings have a nylon cage retainer it could be affected. You are just tack welding the corners. Shouldn't get too hot.
You might try one with a wet rag wrapped over the wheel and swivel. May have to repack the bearings.

JMS/.MN · Oct 15, 2017

I would make sure the ground is on the frame...so the bearings are not the electrical path. Then stand by to douse the assembly with water right after welding.

Steve@Advance · Oct 15, 2017

I've welded them on before, no problems. Just hit the corners, no need to weld solid.

As long as the bearing area doesn't get hot enough to discolor should not hurt them.

Janicholson · Oct 15, 2017

Agree, tack weld, then do a different one, then add a bit of weld to the first, tack the third and reweld the second. No real issue. Jim

Stan in Oly, WA · Oct 16, 2017

Thanks guys. Good advice.

Stan

markct · Oct 16, 2017

Should work just fine, that being said I would drill the holes and bolt them on for a more professional look and easier replacement later if needed, 16 holes is pretty quick really after spotting them with a transfer punch

Fred Werring · Oct 16, 2017

Welded casters on the bottom of my 20 ton shop press, just tack the corners, no problems

Fred

ztrmowers · Oct 16, 2017

casters under everything in my shop, to do over again thou i would bolt on instead cause you will find out sometimes you wish it had 4 swivels instead two,etc etc. i also use old ztr mower frames for tables, welders etc etc.

Stan in Oly, WA · Oct 16, 2017

Southern Ray, These are not expensive casters; the housing of the bearing can't be taken apart and there is no zerk fitting. I'll probably take your suggestion of wrapping the bearing in a wet rag because I tend to err on the side of caution, but if I needed to repack it, how would I do that? My only experience with manually repacking bearings was long ago with automobile wheel bearings, and that was an entirely different situation.

Thanks,

Stan

dr sportster · Oct 16, 2017

Welded H-F casters to an engine stand . Worked well.

Stan in Oly, WA · Oct 16, 2017

Which H.F. casters did you use? My plan is to use 4 of the 5" polypropylene tread on cast iron rim ones which are rated for 330 lbs. each. Probably no good for moving equipment across a gravel parking lot, but ought to be okay otherwise.

Stan

dr sportster · Oct 16, 2017

Stan , I think I got the heaviest rated due to the weight of the engine.

Stan in Oly, WA · Oct 16, 2017

Dave, that puts me in kind of a quandary. The thing my nephew would be using this for initially would be to move the inboard engine of a boat around in his shop, so of course I want the dolly to be strong enough for that. But the reason I offered to build it was partly because I'm trying to use materials which have been taking up space in my garage forever, and I have a whole cabinet full of casters for some reason---easily eight or ten sets of four. It would sting to have to go out and buy more. I guess I'll probably proceed as planned and hope for the best. If the casters turn out not to be strong enough, I suppose I'll have to take the dolly back and replace them. But it's not like it will cause an accident on the highway.

Stan

Southern Ray · Oct 16, 2017

I haven't used one but I understand there is a hypodermic style grease dispenser that is used to inject grease into sealed bearings.
needle

BarnyardEngineering · Oct 17, 2017

Yeah if you run a solid bead of 7018 at 125 amps around the whole base of the caster all at once, you'll probably cook it.

It doesn't need to be welded that much anyway. 1" of weld in a couple of places on a couple of sides will be more than adequate, and will make removing them later much easier, just in case.

D beatty · Oct 18, 2017

I would bolt them on. If you weld them on and some where down the road one goes bad or you want to replace with different type of caster you will have to burn the welds to get them off.

kevinthefixer · Oct 19, 2017

(quoted from post at 09:49:07 10/16/17) but if I needed to repack it, how would I do that?
Stan

Couple suggestions. You can buy a grease needle with a zerk on the end at any auto parts store, it's a standard tool. Or just get a can of spray white lithium grease with a straw. Keep in mind most of these casters have two layers of balls in them. I do wish they would make them with a bolt instead of a rivet so that you could easily disassemble and clean them before packing.

JMOR · Oct 20, 2017

Coming up on a week now since question, so if he hasn't
attached casters yet, he probably won't, so you guys can stop talking to an empty room. :wink:

Leroy · Nov 8, 2017

Those only work if it has rubber seals not if the seals are steel

Will welding damage casters?

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