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[Bob Faulkner]

Anyone recommend a good caster-board to support about 200-300 lbs of cased gear?  I have several EWI cases with various racked gear (amps, UPSs, Voltage Regulators, equipment drawers).  Need something I can stack a couple of cases on (about 200 lbs max) for moving gear around during load-in/load-out and possibly for storing gear on.

They probably don't need to be the best.  Was looking at Gator, Odyssey, LD; something that is agnostic to what it may be carrying.  Looks like Gator may only sell caster-boards that fit their cases. 

[Steve Eudaly]

24" wood square (3/4" plywood, maybe two pieces on top of each other for extra durability, cut a hole/handle in it, paint it black. Add 3" or 4" casters and you're good to go. Can add 2x4 runners on the bottom to bolt the casters to for extra beefiness.

[Dave Pluke]

24" wood square (3/4" plywood, maybe two pieces on top of each other for extra durability, cut a hole/handle in it, paint it black. Add 3" or 4" casters and you're good to go. Can add 2x4 runners on the bottom to bolt the casters to for extra beefiness.

Agreed, with the following notes: I've given up on 3" casters.  Only 4" (or larger, depending) from now on.  I also like to chamfer the corners of caster boards, to lessen the likelihood of gouging ankles.

Another note: if using a combination of locking and non-locking casters, make sure they're the same height (not all are, especially the cheaper ones).

Dave

[Chris Hindle]

24" wood square (3/4" plywood, maybe two pieces on top of each other for extra durability, cut a hole/handle in it, paint it black. Add 3" or 4" casters and you're good to go. Can add 2x4 runners on the bottom to bolt the casters to for extra beefiness.

T-nuts and locktite to hold the casters on......
3/4" ply is plenty beefy.
Chris.

[Bob Faulkner]

Thanks.

Good to see the reference to 4" casters.  Yep, I'm thinking that is the "new" minimum size.

Well... I was hoping to avoid building my own.  I can build a house, a deck, lay footings... but I am terrible at precision work.  If I had the right tools (table saw, router, correct router bits), I would be all over this. 

[Dave Pluke]

Well... I was hoping to avoid building my own.  I can build a house, a deck, lay footings... but I am terrible at precision work.

If I can't slather it in black paint, I'm not going to build it!  This ain't rocket surgery!

The attachment (if it works) was done with handheld 20V B&D tools.  It is, for the record, the last time I will use 3" casters.  These are from Northern Tool and make a gawdawful clicking racket when rolling.

Dave

[Dave Pluke]

Top side pic attached:

Dave

[W. Mark Hellinger]

3/4" ply is plenty beefy.
Chris.

Correct:  There's the old saying:  "Most anyone can build something super beefy, but it takes an engineer to build something just beefy enough."  With that, I'll suggest to "engineer" the caster board to be the fail point... if per-chance some portion of your case's irresistible force meets an immovable object.  You want the caster board to fail before the bottom of the case, as a broken caster board is easier to replace than the bottom of a case.

[Dave Garoutte]

Cheap Home Depot carpet rolled well over the edges.
More traction, looks super pro (never have to re-paint), soft on the ankles, easy on the 'furniture'.

[Ed Hall]

3/4 inch plywood is fine. Highly recommend the 4" casters over the 3". The smaller get caught on too many things.  I made this one not long ago and attached it to the lower case. The upper case is strapped on top. Together they're very secure and roll nicely. This is my small system for small clubs, meeting, talking heads, etc. Roll this in with mains, subs (if needed), monitors; mics and related gear on top and its 4 trips and done.

[Riley Casey]

While we do have cases and racks on wheels what we have even more of is empty caster boards and ratchet straps. The boards are cut to 22.5 x 30" which is the same size as many of our racks and smaller cable cases. This means that as long as what ever is stacked on the board doesn't stick out over the edge that strapped together stack of gear will fit in a three wide or four wide row of cases in a truck. All our speakers have soft covers and stack on the caster boards. For smaller, odd shaped speakers we have 'top' boards  the same size as the caster boards to make a sandwich for the strap to go around a stack. It makes it a lot easier to find dead case storage when its all soft covers and wheel dollies rather than full size cases for wedges and such.

[Rob Spence]

I buy casters from audiopile.net. These are the same ones used on their EWI cases.
Not the best but good enough for me. I usually have a few around for when one does explode. The price makes it good for me.

[Bob Faulkner]

Thanks for the photos of your work!  Nice!!

I have learned soft casters are worth it.  The Audiopile casters (for my use) have been excellent.  I have a small long case (w/snakes, power, speaker cables), with rack cases that sit on it... the whole thing glides across a cement floor, and does very well on asphalt.

Looks like I may need to try to make my own.

[Nimrod Webber]

My (DIY'ed) caster boards are 3/4" Baltic Birch with 4" Rezilex (blue rubber) casters.
They have grabbing slots on all four edges. these make It easier to schlep the board when empty and also serve as through holes for the ratchet strap that ties the load.
I also attached a pulling strap on the narrow side of the board (just sandwiched the ends between the castor mounting plates and the board)
This is very helpful when you need to jump a small step, or when going through a rough terrain. When not in use, this strap is simply tacked under a spring handle of one of the on-board cases.

      

[Rob Spence]

On several of my DYI carts (monitors etc) I put single slot e-track sockets on right angle aluminum extrusions underneath. I also, as above, cut a slot for the strap. This way, the strap is captive to the cart but can be easily removed if needed.

[Frank Koenig]

On several of my DYI carts (monitors etc) I put single slot e-track sockets on right angle aluminum extrusions underneath. I also, as above, cut a slot for the strap. This way, the strap is captive to the cart but can be easily removed if needed.

This is cool, along with some of the other suggestions upthread. I've got a bunch of extra L-track and fittings. You got me thinking. Thanks. -F

[Dave Garoutte]

On several of my DYI carts (monitors etc) I put single slot e-track sockets on right angle aluminum extrusions underneath. I also, as above, cut a slot for the strap. This way, the strap is captive to the cart but can be easily removed if needed.

Definitely bonus points for this idea!

[ProSoundWeb Community]