Wheels
How to choose a replacement wheel
The wheel that's come off your barrow, hand truck or trolley carries a tyre for the ground it ran on and a hub bored for its axle. Match both and the new one goes straight on and does the same job.
A replacement wheel's tyre has to suit the surface, and the rest of the wheel has to fit the axle: the bore (the hole the axle passes through), the hub length and position, and the bearing. The wheel's load rating then has to cover what it carries.
The wheels range holds 81 wheels from Easyroll and Colson, plus the inner tubes, tyres and accessories that go with them. The 9 flat-free and 7 foam-filled wheels have a puncture-free range of their own, so they won't turn up in the wheels range. If your wheel sits in a bracket, that's a castor, and the castor buyer's guide covers it; for a whole trolley, go to the trolley guide.
Where flats stop the work, swap a 4.00-8 pneumatic for the Easyroll flat-free in the same size, as long as its hub fits your axle. It carries 200kg, against 220kg for the steel-rim pneumatic and 180kg for the nylon-rim one, and has no tube to puncture. The flat-free's tyre is polyurethane foam, while a foam-filled wheel is a rubber tyre filled with foam: the 4.00-8 one is rated 120kg at 8 km/h, enough for lighter hand-truck work.
1.Which wheel for the ground
Easyroll 2.50-4 Foam Filled75kg, 20mm ball bearingShop this wheelEHI's catalogue puts four things behind a wheel choice: the load, the surface it runs on, the ride you want and how often it's used. Of the four, the surface is what decides the tyre.
| Wheel | Best for | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Pneumatic (air) | outdoor, unsealed ground under barrows, hand trucks and carts | cushions impacts on rough terrain, but it's the hardest to push and the tube can puncture |
| Flat-free (polyurethane) | barrows where punctures stop the job, with a pneumatic's feel | no tube to pump up or replace; 100kg to 220kg, from 2.50-4 to 6.50-8 |
| Foam-filled (rubber) | hand trucks and materials handling gear on uneven or unsealed ground | 75kg to 120kg at 8 km/h, and less at 15 km/h |
| Solid rubber | floors in quiet, clean areas and on industrial concrete; the 280mm on gravel | absorbs shock and protects the floor well, but push effort only rates fair |
| Polyurethane (heavy duty) | the catalogue's all-round choice: most surfaces, and the heaviest loads in the range | shock absorbency a step below rubber and air |
| Nylon | smooth concrete; strong and economical | pushes easily under load, but it cushions and protects the floor less than rubber and can be noisy |
Cast iron wheels are the catalogue's pick for high temperature, oven floors, rough outdoor ground and broken glass, carrying up to 1,150kg, but they can damage a good floor. Stainless wheels run a stainless steel bearing under a nylon, polyurethane or grey thermoplastic rubber tread, in small sizes from 75mm to 125mm, rated 80kg to 280kg. The one high-temperature wheel is the Easyroll 100mm synthetic monolithic wheel, rated 180kg, and its hub and plain bearing are the same thermoplastic as the wheel.
2.The specs that must match
Easyroll 4.00-8 Pneumatic220kg, 1" ball bearingShop this wheelThe right tyre is no use if the new wheel won't go on the axle, or won't stay on it, and that's down to the bore and the hub.
| Spec | What it is, and why it bites |
|---|---|
| Diameter | the overall height of wheel and tyre; one of a pair has to match the other or the equipment sits lopsided; a 4.00-8 and a 6.50-8 are both 400mm across yet different wheels, so read the size off the sidewall rather than a tape |
| Bore (axle hole) | stocked on the pneumatic and puncture-free wheels in 5/8", 3/4", 20mm and 1"; 3/4" is 19.05mm and 1" is 25.4mm, so 20mm and 3/4" are different bores, and so are 25mm and 1"; a bore too small won't go on the axle, a bore too big runs loose on it |
| Hub length and position | the width of the hub along the axle, 36mm to 150mm across the range; it has to fit between the axle's shoulder and the split-pin hole or nut; the hub is offset (sitting to one side of the rim) or centred, and we stock both; a replacement needs the old one's position, or the tyre sits in a different place on the axle |
| Bearing | choose by how the gear is used: plain (a bush on three pneumatics) for rarely moved gear; roller, low rolling resistance under heavy loads; precision, still running well at extreme loads and high speeds; most of the pneumatics run a ball bearing |
Every rating is per wheel, so pick for the heaviest load that wheel will carry. Pneumatics carry 90kg to 230kg and puncture-free wheels 75kg to 220kg, so a heavier load moves you onto solid rubber, polyurethane or cast iron, up to 1,995kg on the Colson 300mm urethane wheel. On four wheels, the catalogue sizes each wheel for at least 35% of the total, because on uneven ground one wheel can lift and leave three to carry the load, so 300kg needs wheels of at least 105kg each. The castor guide has the share for other layouts.
A 20mm bore and a 3/4" are under a millimetre apart, so measure the axle with vernier callipers rather than a tape. Where the bore is bigger than the axle, EHI stocks reducer sleeves for 20mm, 3/4" and 5/8" axles, which bring the bore down to fit.
3.Reading a tyre size, and measuring up
The size is printed on the sidewall, written like 4.00-8; the second number is the rim diameter in inches, so a 4.00-8 fits an 8" rim and a 3.50-4 a 4" rim.
| Size | Rim | Pneumatic diameter | Pneumatic load per wheel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.50-4 | 4" | 220mm | 90kg to 140kg |
| 3.50-4 | 4" | 265mm | 110kg to 160kg |
| 2.50-6 | 6" | 275mm | 140kg |
| 3.50-6 | 6" | 320mm | 180kg |
| 5.00-6 | 6" | 330mm | 200kg |
| 4.00-8 | 8" | 400mm | 180kg to 220kg |
| 6.50-8 | 8" | 400mm | 200kg to 230kg |
The sidewall also carries a pressure figure. Continental, a tyre maker, states that figure is the maximum the tyre is specified for, not the pressure to run it at. A heavier load needs more air, because an underinflated tyre's sidewall flexes and heats, which can lead to the tyre failing. So pump to suit the load and never past the sidewall figure, and check the pressure while the tyre is cold.
The catalogue's load ratings assume walking pace, up to 4 km/h. Foam-filled wheels are rated at 8 km/h and 15 km/h instead: the 4.00-8 carries 120kg and 90kg. The 280mm solid rubber wheel is towable up to 5 km/h. If you're towing, pick a wheel with a speed rating and go by its load at the speed you'll tow.
Take four things off the old wheel and its axle before you order.
- Read the size off the old tyre's sidewall.
- Measure the axle with vernier callipers; that's the bore you need.
- Measure the axle from its shoulder to the split-pin hole; that's the longest hub that fits.
- Look at the old hub: offset or centred.
Send us those four, the load the wheel carries and a photo of the old wheel, and the EHI team will match it.
4.Wheelbarrow wheels
Our Easyroll 100L poly tray wheelbarrow runs a 4.00-8, and the 100L steel tray a 6.50-8. Five wheels sit in the 4.00-8 range, every one on a 1" bore, so the hub length is the check against your axle: 80mm on the steel-rim pneumatic and the foam-filled, and 103mm on the nylon-rim pneumatic, which comes with a ball bearing or a bush. At 6.50-8, also on a 1" bore, the two pneumatics (200kg and 230kg) have 104mm and 150mm hubs. There's a flat-free in both sizes, 200kg at 4.00-8 and 220kg at 6.50-8.
A flat pneumatic doesn't always need a new wheel. The butyl inner tube can be replaced on its own, and so can a worn tyre. The tubes and tyres range carries tubes for 2.50-4, 2.50-6, 3.50-4, 3.50-6, 4.00-8 and 6.50-8, with a bent valve for easier inflation, and tyres for all of those but the 6.50-8.
With the sidewall size and the calliper reading in hand, start in the pneumatic range, or in the puncture-free range if the old wheel kept going flat.
Shop wheels by type
Matching a replacement wheel?
Send us the tyre size, the axle diameter and the load - or a photo of the old wheel - and we'll match it, bearing and bore included.
