I have a Westward cherry picker, that came with cheap steel casters. The casters just have a bolt running through as an axle, and the wheels can tilt side-to-side, thereby digging into the axle, making it difficult to move with a heavy load. With a 440 engine on the lift, the steel casters cock at an angle, and dig into the axle bolt. With a hernia, I had to use a garden tractor to pull the loaded cherry picker into the garage.
So, I modified the cherry picker to accept a better swivel caster. The new casters have actual ball bearings for the axle shaft, are 4” in diameter, and the wheels are crowned making it even easier to roll. Each caster is rated at 1000#, which is overkill, but it makes moving a heavily loaded cherry picker around with ease.
The wheels are hard polyurethan, but can be changed to a steel wheel, if necessary.
This turned out to be an excellent modification. I might have to add caster locks to keep it in one place while lifting.
Original Steel Caster
Adapter Plates
Caster Mounted
Front Caster Just Required Drilling Relocated holes.
Now I Can Move The Loaded Cherry Picker With One Hand.