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Thread: Mix of Fixed & Swivel Castor Wheels or All Swivel Wheels - Engine Stand

  1. #1
    Lionelgee is offline YarnMaster Silver Subscriber
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    Mix of Fixed & Swivel Castor Wheels or All Swivel Wheels - Engine Stand

    Hello All,

    I have a folding engine stand that has a mixture of fixed wheels at the front and three swivel castor wheels at the back.

    Unfortunately, there is no adjustment for the front fixed wheels and due to their angled arrangement the engine stand is extremely hard to push forward. The angle of the front fixed wheels effectively act as brakes.

    I have a mobile crane that has a similar mix of fixed and swivel wheels - however the front frame is actually dog-legged inwards so the fixed wheels face the direction of travel and run parallel to each other. This offset makes the crane easier to move about.

    Would replacing the fixed wheels with two more swivel wheels allow this engine stand to be more manoeuvrable or would it create further steering problems?

    The current arrangement on the engine stand is simply a total pig to use.

    Kind regards
    Lionel
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lionelgee View Post
    Hello All,

    I have a folding engine stand that has a mixture of fixed wheels at the front and three swivel castor wheels at the back.

    Unfortunately, there is no adjustment for the front fixed wheels and due to their angled arrangement the engine stand is extremely hard to push forward. The angle of the front fixed wheels effectively act as brakes.

    I have a mobile crane that has a similar mix of fixed and swivel wheels - however the front frame is actually dog-legged inwards so the fixed wheels face the direction of travel and run parallel to each other. This offset makes the crane easier to move about.

    Would replacing the fixed wheels with two more swivel wheels allow this engine stand to be more manoeuvrable or would it create further steering problems?

    The current arrangement on the engine stand is simply a total pig to use.

    Kind regards
    Lionel
    Could you adjust the pair of "flaired out" front wheels so they were parallel to each other like your mobile crane? Otherwise yes to the swivel wheels although the unit will then move like a shopping trolley!!!!!
    MY16 D4 TDV6 - with a little Cambo magic for towing "The Brick"
    MY95 RRC LSE Vogue Softdash "Bessie" (turning circle comparable to QE II) with MY99 TD5 and 4HP24 transplants. Back home Nov 22 after a magic overhaul by Chivalry
    SADLY SOLD MY04 D2a TD5 auto Classic and MY10 D4 2.7 both with lots of goodies

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    Lionelgee is offline YarnMaster Silver Subscriber
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    Quote Originally Posted by gavinwibrow View Post
    Could you adjust the pair of "flaired out" front wheels so they were parallel to each other like your mobile crane? Otherwise yes to the swivel wheels although the unit will then move like a shopping trolley!!!!!
    Hello Gavin,

    Unfortunately, there is no adjustment in the base plate of the wheel. The wheel base is bolted into captive nuts and everything is fixed. The steering of a shopping trolley would be a vast improvement from the engine stand's current state.

    I made the mistake of reversing the engine stand into a confined space. Pulling the engine stand towards you while you walk backwards is okay. Trying to push out forward from the confined space - where there was no ability to swing around using the swivel wheels to change direction of the engine stand is something I am only ever going to do once!

    I had a quick gecko on eBay; there are steel wheel castors that swivel. They are 90 mm diameter wheels and the same height of 115 mm vertical distance between the bottom of the wheel and the top of the base plate. Each wheel is rated at 500 kg - they might be worth a try. I checked our major hardware store and they only seem to stock nylon wheel castors. I will stick with the steel-type that the engine stand came with.

    Kind regards
    Lionel

  4. #4
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    cjc_td5 is offline ChatterBox Silver Subscriber
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    Did you assemble it?
    I think the fixed and swivel castors need to be swapped?
    My engine stand, though of a different frame layout, has the fixed wheels at the pylon end.
    Chris


    2014 D4 TDV6
    1954 86"
    1963 2A Forward Control (getting the full treatment, Isuzu 4JH1, MYY5T, LT230, Toyota Axles, extended cab ++)
    1980 Stage 1 v8 (gone)

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    Lionelgee is offline YarnMaster Silver Subscriber
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    Quote Originally Posted by cjc_td5 View Post
    Did you assemble it?
    I think the fixed and swivel castors need to be swapped?
    Hello TD5,

    Yes, I assembled it - as per the directions ... actually Point 1... fit two 3 inch swivel castors (#25) and one 3.5 inch swivel castor (#14) to the base frame (#17) using bolts (#15) and lock washers (#22).

    Point 2 involves fitting the front legs (#20) to the base frame (#17). The front legs come already fitted with the fixed castors. I took one fixed wheel off to see if there was any adjustment in the base plate slots - and there was not any wriggle room.

    Kind regards
    Lionel

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lionelgee View Post
    Hello Gavin,

    Unfortunately, there is no adjustment in the base plate of the wheel. The wheel base is bolted into captive nuts and everything is fixed. The steering of a shopping trolley would be a vast improvement from the engine stand's current state.

    I made the mistake of reversing the engine stand into a confined space. Pulling the engine stand towards you while you walk backwards is okay. Trying to push out forward from the confined space - where there was no ability to swing around using the swivel wheels to change direction of the engine stand is something I am only ever going to do once!

    I had a quick gecko on eBay; there are steel wheel castors that swivel. They are 90 mm diameter wheels and the same height of 115 mm vertical distance between the bottom of the wheel and the top of the base plate. Each wheel is rated at 500 kg - they might be worth a try. I checked our major hardware store and they only seem to stock nylon wheel castors. I will stick with the steel-type that the engine stand came with.

    Kind regards
    Lionel
    Pity you are so far away for a giveaway. I have a collection of HD trolley wheels in my storage unit some of which that I'm pretty sure would be ideal.
    MY16 D4 TDV6 - with a little Cambo magic for towing "The Brick"
    MY95 RRC LSE Vogue Softdash "Bessie" (turning circle comparable to QE II) with MY99 TD5 and 4HP24 transplants. Back home Nov 22 after a magic overhaul by Chivalry
    SADLY SOLD MY04 D2a TD5 auto Classic and MY10 D4 2.7 both with lots of goodies

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    discorevy is offline ChatterBox Silver Subscriber
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    They all need to be swivel castors Lionel . Somebody messed up .

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    Lionelgee is offline YarnMaster Silver Subscriber
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    Quote Originally Posted by gavinwibrow View Post
    Pity you are so far away for a giveaway. I have a collection of HD trolley wheels in my storage unit some of which that I'm pretty sure would be ideal.
    Hello Gavin,

    Thank you for the kind offer Gavin. I suppose it reflects back to Geoffrey Blainey and the Tyranny of Distance. Plus the inability to cross the Queensland border due to COVID 19. We cannot come out and play with our southern neighbours for a while yet!

    Kind regards
    Lionel

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    Lionelgee is offline YarnMaster Silver Subscriber
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    Quote Originally Posted by discorevy View Post
    They all need to be swivel castors Lionel . Somebody messed up .
    Hello Discorevy,

    Yes, it could be a design flaw that more than one manufacturer has copied from one to the other. Go to eBay and type in the words... "folding engine stand 900 kg" and there are a couple of clones with the same configuration.

    I was recommended to get this type of engine stand by people at Stovebolt the specialist old Chevrolet forum. The engines we handle include 216 and 235 Cubic inch Chevrolet motors. These engines are long and have a quite a bit of weight to them. A future engine will be a Perkins 6354 diesel that comes in at 602 kg over the length of 1631 mm.

    Plus, I wanted to be able to reduce the storage space the engine stand takes up when it is not being used to hold an engine.

    Kind regards
    Lionel

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    If it was mine, I'd take those front wheels off, weld on a suitable bigger plate to allow them to be refitted parallel to each other. I think castors in the front would make it a pig to manoeuvre , especially with a load. If that's too big a job, can you return the thing for a refund and get a better one. It's clearly not suitable for the job.
    Don.

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