How Often Do You Really Need to Perform Caster Maintenance?

How Often Do You Really Need to Perform Caster
Maintenance?
Casters play an important role in many different industries. At their very core, they are responsible for the safe
movement of products and materials from one location to another, so keeping them in good working order is crucial for
improving productivity, morale, and safety. Learning how and when to perform caster maintenance is important for
these reasons. How often should you maintain casters? The answer can vary a great deal.
Standard Caster Maintenance
Maintaining casters is a step-by-step process that involves several unique actions. Some of the most important steps
involved in caster maintenance include:
● Checking Fasteners – Ensuring that wheel frames and fasteners are tight and secure is important for safety.
Check nuts, bolts, welds, and more, and address any possible issues immediately.
● Inspecting Wheels – Tread wear and flat spots can be detrimental to your company’s productivity, and when left
too long, they can cause injuries or damage to loads. Check wheels regularly for wear and replace them as
needed.
● Lubricating Fittings – Though many of today’s casters are precision sealed and require no lubrication, this is not
always the case. If your casters require lubrication, you should develop a schedule based on factors like caster
material, lubrication type, and caster usage. On average, grease fittings should be lubricated every six months;
casters used in wet areas or where corrosive materials are present should be checked more often.
Ideally, you should check fasteners and wheels about once a month, and you should do this by emptying carts or racks
and turning them on their sides. Though it may seem time-consuming to do so, this maintenance can extend the life of
your casters and save you thousands of dollars in the long run, and it could even prevent injuries.
Understanding Maintenance-Free Casters
Maintenance-free casters have been designed in such a way that they do not need the same level of care and
maintenance as their counterparts. For some, this simply means that the bearings have been sealed and grease fittings
are not present, so they never need to be lubricated. Swiveling casters are designed with materials like neoprene, which
offer smooth rotation without the need for lubrication.
With certain types of casters, even the tread material and fasteners have been designed in such a way that they last
longer and require less frequent maintenance, but this does not mean that they should not be inspected regularly. Even
in this case, materials lodged in the tread or strings wrapped around the caster can pose issues, and in many cases, the
only way to pinpoint these issues is with a monthly inspection.
With all this information in mind, it is necessary to perform caster inspections once a month. This will give you some
idea of how much wear and tear you should expect based on your application. Though lubrication is required every six
months, on average, this is not set in stone and there are many other factors that could influence the greasing schedule,
so be sure to keep these in mind.