Pneumatic Casters Vs. Polyurethane Casters

Types

• There are two popular types of casters, including pneumatic and polyurethane. Pneumatic casters are typically rubber filled with air, whereas the polyurethane casters are solid polyurethane material.

Considerations

• Advantages to the pneumatic casters are that they can be filled with air if they get low, and they have better traction than polyurethane casters do. A drawback to pneumatic casters is that if a load is extremely heavy, the weight can flatten the casters out, making motion more difficult.

Other Considerations

• On the other hand, polyurethane casters are extremely durable due to their solid construction. They can handle heavy loads, for example, the casters on a bed frame holding a mattress, with no flattening of the casters. However, their traction is not as good as the pneumatic casters.