Casters without adding height? Bench dilemma

[jds10011]

Wondering about some solutions for moving a big cushioned bench (think outdoor furniture-type sofa, metal frame). It's a bit heavy for dragging around in scene changes, so having it on wheels would speed things up and be safer. However, it just has four big metal legs. I could put it on a wagon of some type, but then it would be at an uncomfortable sitting height to the floor (and a bit of platform sticking out the front to trip over wouldn't be ideal either to solve that). I've considered maybe some type of platform with holes where the legs somehow sit on a flat piece of metal hardware attached to the bottom of the platform (inside the holes) so the wheels can be inset under the platform and very little height is added, but it seems like this would be easy to do in a not so structurally sound way (if not done very carefully), particularly if the holes are at the edges. I did consider little three-wheel moving casters, like the attached (under the legs), but I can only find them rated for a pretty small load and since they'd still be there when three people sit on the bench, it doesn't seem ideal from a safety perspective (and the bench is heavy-ish too). (Oh, and of course, this type of solution doesn't lend itself to safely braking the unit while it is in use...) Thoughts? (And no, we don't have access to welding equipment.)

 

[kicknargel]

Some ideas:

1) put glides on the legs. Preferably on the beefy side and not just relying on peel and stick
2) put the bench on a sheet of plywood and put that on felt / glides
3) build a low-profile pallet. Methods abound (do a search) but essential plywood (often 2 layers) with rollers inset. Most often they are rigid rollers, but I've used ball transfer casters with fair results. They are loud and will dent a soft stage surface. But you can drill a hole through the plywood pallet and mount the transfers with the flange on top of the ply, bolted in.

 

[sleepy.cj]

Can you post pictures of the bench, including the underside?

Whats your stage floor made of?

Maybe some kind of non-attached scenery moving device like a pallet jack or piano movers could be used during the shift if changeover timing isn't too much of an issue.

 

[EdSavoie]

While not the cheapest, air casters would accomplish exactly what you want, without adding any height when retracted.
(Also solves the braking problem)

 

[jtweigandt]

I've gotten a lot of pretty large things to slide on berber style (closed loop) carpet . Quieter than the teflon sliders. The 3 caster thingie you have in your picture is actually a miserable
and disappointing little device. I used some during my build of a sailboat (real not prop) and needed to be able to push it to the back of the garage. They tend to deform and sag in the middle then you have 3 casters wanting to align in 3 different directions. So If there's a way.. 4 individual pads for minimal static coefficient of friction. Barring that put it on light ply and install the pads on that.

 

[Van]

It might not be beautiful but could you mount caster horizontally off the side of two legs? that way you only have to lift one end of the bench as roll it wherever you need it like a wheelbarrow. The only other thing that comes to mind, for me, is the type of stem casters with springs like you see on ladders in box stores. they have enough force to help lift the bench when you pull up on it but they sit right back down again when you stop lifting. IDK what you would call them "spring-loaded Stem casters"? I suppose you could fab your own if you can find the right sized spring. You might want to add a skirt of some kind around each leg...
I found an example on Grainger:
Spring caster

 

[Crisp image]

I use a really short pile carpet under things like this to push on. I cant remember what is is called but if there is a bit on the floor and you step on it you can easily slide it along. The other way I have done beds and the like is get an appropriate sized timber (I use 90x35mm) and cut a hole in it where the legs go. Fix the timber up the legs so that when a caster is added the bottom of the leg is just clear of the floor. Paint the timber to match and off you go.
Regards
Geoff

 

[Rainmaker]

I've also skinned this cat by taking the legs off the couch and then sitting it on a wagon that's been "dressed" with fabric or paint to blend/match the couch. That solves the uncomfortable height problem you mentioned without necessarily having to reinvent the wheel

 

[TimMc]

I've also skinned this cat by taking the legs off the couch and then sitting it on a wagon that's been "dressed" with fabric or paint to blend/match the couch. That solves the uncomfortable height problem you mentioned without necessarily having to reinvent the wheel

The "budget AI" version: skinned cats missing legs reinvent the wheel.

 

[TheaterEd]

With no access to welding equipment , I would definitely go with felt furniture sliders. Don't go with hard plastic ones as they will scratch the floor.

I've also skinned this cat by taking the legs off the couch and then sitting it on a wagon that's been "dressed" with fabric or paint to blend/match the couch. That solves the uncomfortable height problem you mentioned without necessarily having to reinvent the wheel

This is my favorite way to deal with couches as well. Way too many broken couch legs caused by sliding or by high-school stage hands dropping the couch on it's marks. I actually had one couch that I repaired the legs on for almost 10 years before finally cutting them all off and dedicating to be my "platform couch".

 

[Rainmaker]

With no access to welding equipment , I would definitely go with felt furniture sliders. Don't go with hard plastic ones as they will scratch the floor.



This is my favorite way to deal with couches as well. Way too many broken couch legs caused by sliding or by high-school stage hands dropping the couch on it's marks. I actually had one couch that I repaired the legs on for almost 10 years before finally cutting them all off and dedicating to be my "platform couch".

I've only ever worked with high school kids so there is never not a "platform couch"

 

[manuallyfocused]

Would something like this work for this purpose? https://www.rockler.com/rockler-workbench-caster-kit-4-pack