Buy Castors & Wheels Online in Australia
Common Questions about Castors and Wheels
What is a castor wheel?
A castor — also spelled caster — is a wheeled assembly mounted under furniture, trolleys, machinery and equipment to allow rolling movement. Each castor includes a wheel, an axle, a mounting bracket — top plate or threaded stem — and on swivel castors a bearing that allows the wheel to pivot under load.
What is the difference between a fixed and a swivel castor?
Fixed castors roll in one direction only — the wheel is locked square to the bracket. Swivel castors rotate freely under the bracket, letting the wheel point any direction. A typical trolley setup has two fixed at one end and two swivels at the other, giving directional stability with steering at the steering end.
How do I choose the right castor for my application?
Three things matter — load per castor calculated by total weight divided by number of castors with a safety margin, wheel diameter where larger handles obstacles better, and wheel material — rubber for shock and floor protection, polyurethane for durability, nylon for heavy loads on smooth floors, steel for industrial. Match to floor type.
What is the difference between a top plate and a threaded stem castor?
Top plate castors mount via a flat bracket with four bolt holes — used on trolleys, racks and heavy equipment where bolt-through fixing suits. Threaded stem castors screw into a threaded socket — used on furniture and light equipment where a clean mount and no bracket footprint matters. AIMS stocks both bracket types.
Are braked castors worth getting?
Yes for any wheeled assembly that needs to stay still under load — workshop trolleys, equipment racks, hospital and retail fittings. Brake castors have a foot-pedal lock that grips the wheel and sometimes the swivel when set. AIMS stocks brake and non-brake castors across the common load and wheel ranges.
Castor & Wheel Selection — Quick Reference
Industrial castors are selected by mounting (plate/stem/bolt-hole), wheel material (compound for the surface and load), and capacity per castor. Underrating capacity is the #1 cause of failure — use 4 castors but rate for the load on 3 (one off the floor on uneven surfaces).
| Wheel Material | Floor Type | Load Range (per castor) | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polyurethane (PU) on Cast Iron | Concrete, steel, mixed | 150 – 1,500 kg | Heavy industrial — quiet, floor-friendly, long life |
| Solid Polyurethane | Smooth concrete, vinyl | 100 – 600 kg | Workshop trolleys, warehouse picking |
| Rubber (Soft / Thermoplastic) | Tiled floors, vinyl, timber | 50 – 250 kg | Hospitals, offices, food retail — silent rolling |
| Nylon (Solid) | Concrete, ovens, washdown | 100 – 1,000 kg | High temp, chemical splash, wet environments |
| Cast Iron | Foundry, hot work | 200 – 1,500 kg | Heat resistance — DON'T use on finished floors (marks) |
| Pneumatic (Air-Filled) | Outdoor, gravel, uneven | 50 – 250 kg | Yard trolleys, garden carts — needs inflation maintenance |
| Flat-Free Foam | Outdoor, mixed | 50 – 200 kg | Pneumatic feel, no flats — site work |
Mounting types: Plate (top-plate, bolted — industrial default) | Stem (threaded or grip-neck — tube-frame trolleys) | Bolt-hole (single through-bolt — shop fittings, light racking). EasyRoll is the AU industrial leader stocked across the range. For castor selection guidance see all castors, replacement wheels, and the EasyRoll brand range.
Castors & Wheels for Industrial Equipment
Mobile equipment is only as good as the wheels it rides on. AIMS Industrial stocks the EasyRoll castor and wheel range — Australia's leading industrial castor brand — covering swivel, fixed and braked castors plus standalone wheels for trolleys, conveyors, racks and custom equipment builds across workshop, warehouse and manufacturing applications.
Browse castors and wheels by type:
- All castors — complete assemblies, ready to bolt or insert
- Plate (top plate) castors — bolted mounting, the standard industrial fitting
- Stem castors — threaded or grip-neck stem, for tube-frame trolleys
- Bolt-hole castors — through-bolt fixing for shop fittings and racking
- Standard wheels — replacement wheels and custom-build wheels
- Pneumatic / flat-free wheels — outdoor and rough-terrain mobility
- Conveyor skate wheels — for gravity rollers and skate conveyors
Castors vs Wheels — quick clarification
The terms are often confused but the distinction matters when ordering:
- Castor — a complete assembly: a wheel mounted in a swivel or rigid fork or yoke, with a top plate, bolt hole or stem ready to attach to your frame. Swivel castors rotate freely; rigid castors stay fixed in one direction; braked castors lock the wheel, swivel or both.
- Wheel — the wheel alone, designed to be mounted in a custom fork or used as a roller. Used in conveyor systems, custom-built trolleys and where a non-standard fork is required.
Wheel materials & load ratings
Wheel material is the single biggest factor in castor selection. AIMS stocks the EasyRoll range in:
- Polyurethane (PU) — quiet, non-marking, high load capacity, kind to floor finishes. The go-to for workshop and warehouse trolleys on concrete or sealed floors.
- Rubber / TPR — shock-absorbing, quiet, suitable for delicate loads and uneven surfaces. Lower load capacity than PU.
- Nylon — high load capacity, hard, low-friction. Suitable for smooth floors and high-load racking. Marks soft floors.
- Cast iron — extreme load capacity, heat-resistant, used in foundry and hot-process environments. Hard on floors.
- Pneumatic — air-filled rubber tyre for outdoor use over gravel, cobblestone and uneven terrain.
Load ratings on the EasyRoll range span from light-duty (~50 kg per castor) through to super-heavy-duty (1,000 kg+ per castor). The general rule: select a castor with a per-castor capacity equal to or greater than the total equipment weight divided by three — assume only three of the four castors carry the load at any moment on uneven floors. Castors and wheels manufactured to AS 2693 carry verified load ratings under standard test conditions.
Mounting types
Mounting matters as much as the wheel. AIMS stocks the three standard industrial fittings: top-plate (bolted plate with four mounting holes — the most common workshop fitting), bolt-hole (single through-bolt — used for racking and lighter equipment), and stem (threaded or grip-neck — used for tube-frame trolleys, scaffold towers, hospital beds and chairs). Adaptor brackets are available to convert between mounting types where a frame can't be modified.
Common applications
EasyRoll castors are specified across workshop trolleys, parts dollies, fridge and machinery trolleys, panel and sheet stock trolleys, scaffolding bases, mobile workbenches, conveyor systems, shop fittings and racking, hospital and aged-care equipment, and outdoor garden and construction trolleys with pneumatic wheels. For an application not listed, contact us — castor selection is one of the easier specification calls but the wrong wheel material costs you a floor.
Browse the wider mobility range
Castors and wheels sit within our broader material handling and storage range. For complete mobile units, see trolleys and trolleys, dollies and jacks. The full EasyRoll brand range is catalogued separately.
Need help speccing a castor or wheel for a specific load, floor type or environment? Call (02) 9773 0122 or contact our team — we'll match load rating, wheel material, and mounting style to the job.