If you’re looking for a wheel material that’s suitable for a wide number of applications and offers a host of benefits, you’ve likely come across polyurethane. But are polyurethane wheels good and actually worth your investment?
The simple answer is yes! These are just five of the broad number of benefits that polyurethane wheels offer.
Floor protection
Polyurethane is one of the softer materials you can make wheels out of. While this doesn’t affect their durability, which we will discuss later, it does mean that your floors will be protected. Wheels can cause considerable damage to the flooring in high-traffic areas – scuffing, pitting, and marks look unpleasant to the eye, and damage to flooring can present a safety risk. Polyurethane wheels, however, offer complete protection.
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Noise
Polyurethane wheels also offer minimal noise during travel, which is desirable for obvious reasons. Making the working environment quieter improves employee well-being considerably. Polyurethane can act as a much more efficient shock absorber than traditionally steel, iron, or even nylon wheels. This means that even when the flooring surface is uneven, polyurethane wheels offer considerably quieter operation.
Durability
Though polyurethane is a softer-touch material than some other wheel choices, it’s actually highly durable. This makes it the ideal wheel choice if you’re looking for something capable of carrying heavy-duty loads securely and safely. That improved shock-absorbing character of polyurethane wheels not only makes them quieter and smoother to operate, but also minimises the damage caused by any impacts incurred through use.
Friction and traction
Compared to other wheel materials, polyurethane offers excellent friction, which can be especially useful when towing heavy loads on smooth or uneven flooring. This can be especially useful if you’re considering polyurethane for use in driven wheels, as it can help provide more traction. Ultimately this means equipment with polyurethane wheels is less likely to tip over and slide, and less likely to become stuck.
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Price and product lifespan
Prices for polyurethane wheels vary considerably, as do all wheel materials, depending on the specific application you need them for. What polyurethane wheels do offer, however, is excellent value for money thanks to the aforementioned characteristics. This means you’re making a longer-lasting investment. When treated carefully, polyurethane wheels can continue operating perfectly reliably for many years – even in heavy-duty applications.
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Are polyurethane wheels right for you?
If you’re looking for a reliable, durable, and rugged wheel material that you can rely on, polyurethane makes a compelling choice. Polyurethane is a highly versatile material, which means wheels can be made to suit a wide number of applications in a number of sectors. Whether your requirements are for gentle weights or heavy-duty loads, there is going to be a polyurethane wheel available to suit your budget.
Spend less time worrying about damage to your flooring, awkward handling, instability, and more time actually working. Polyurethane wheels considerably reduce downtime, because of their durability and impact protection, meaning less time spent on maintenance. Every minute a piece of equipment is not operational costs you money, which makes polyurethane wheels an even more compelling investment.
But what about the environmental impact? You might not consider polyurethane a “green” material, but you need to remember to widen your focus to the whole life of the wheel rather than just its construction. Polyurethane wheels become more environmentally friendly when you consider how long you’re going to be able to use them effectively, and how resistant they’re going to be to damage that might cause wheels of other materials to be binned.
So if you’re looking for a reliable, long-term investment when choosing a wheel material, you have to consider polyurethane as a leading contender.
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