Once fitted with casters, a warehouse cage becomes a mobile material cart; choose the wrong casters and you may struggle to push it—or in the worst case, the wheels shatter and the cart tips over. Choose casters by total load first, then floor material, and finally decide on brakes—the order must not be reversed.
Load calculation: four casters share the load equally, so load per caster = (cage self-weight + max cargo) ÷ 4, then times a 1.3 safety factor. For example, if cage plus cargo totals 800kg, each wheel must carry 260kg or more; choose wheels from the manufacturer's catalog using this figure—not by matching the whole 800kg cage.
How to choose material: polyurethane wheels are quiet and wear-resistant, suit epoxy floors and workshops, and typically carry 150 to 300kg per wheel; nylon wheels carry heavier loads and resist oil, but are hard and noisy, suiting concrete floors and heavy-duty scenes; rubber wheels absorb shocks well but have lower load ratings and are not recommended for heavy warehouse cages.
Dual brakes or single? For heavy-duty cages we recommend brakes on all four wheels—at least on the two swivel casters. Once stopped, the brake locks both the wheel and the swivel to prevent the cage from rolling away. Near ramps or at AGV docking points, brakes are mandatory.
Pay attention to mounting too: threaded holes or expansion sleeves must match the embedded plate at the cage base. Nanjing Tongnuo Warehouse Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. helps select caster brands and specs according to the customer's operating conditions, and runs full push tests before delivery.