The Paddock Observatory

[continuum]

Just had  my obsy built by a local bespoke timber buildings company.They have made a very good job of it but we are having problems with opening and closing the roof. I supplied the wheels ( Screwfix rubber) and the aluminium angle for the track.  The roof is very substantial and I feel that it is too heavy for the wheels, so what are other people using?

It is only 7'6" by 7' so it really shouldn't be a problem.

I have looked at sliding gate track and wheels. This would be a last resort due to the cost.

Ideas please for both track and wheels.

Ron

[sharkmelley]

I used these heavy duty ones with proper roller bearings:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Duty-Flight-Case-Castors-4-Green-Wheels-Fixed-/330592248648

I discarded the metal support and mounted them on bolts - the axle has an inner sleeve that a bolt goes through.  I would highly recommend them.  I have a very heavy roof but it glides on these.

Mark

[yesyes]

I'm using the 60mm diameter version of these wheels:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161011184587&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:GB:3160

They are running on an inverted angle steel track (20x20x3mm)

[Bizibilder]

How many wheels did they use?  It may simply be that the loading per wheel is too high and installing a few more will reduce the per wheel loading and solve the problem.  My 7' by 9' wooden observatory, which has quite a heavy roof, runs on 10 screwfix rubber wheels - 5 on each side.  They run directly on the wooden runners with a "keep rail" which has around 3mm clearance each side.

[r3i]

I used the 75mm ScrewFix rubber wheels, 4 on each side of an 8'x8' roof, running in an aluminium u-channel.

Might be worth checking if the wheels are running straight and there's no snagging anywhere.  It took me a little bit fof ine tuning to get the channel in the right alignment, but it was OK after that.

[continuum]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. They used Screwfix 50mm rubber castors, 4 per side . As these give a total cleararnce of 70mm between the roof timber carrying the wheels and the beam they ride on, I am a bit limited for increasing the castor diameter without a major rebuild. So maybe extra castors and a check on the straightness of the run is worthwhile, although I do like the look of the castors Chris used, especially as the size is pretty close.

How did you mount those Chris? I assume bolted between wood strips?

Ron

[yesyes]

No, but I guess it can be done this way.

I needed a very low profile (to stay within the permitted max 2.50m building height.

So I thought long and hard how to mount the wheels and this is what I came up with. There is 3 on either side of the roof.

[Gina]

I think I like the metal pulleys running on the metal rail rather than my 100mm rubber tyres on wood - more positive lining up.  But does it make much noise?

[yesyes]

It's probably a bit noisier than rubber on timber, but not too bad...

[continuum]

Thank you for the very clear photos of your arrangement. I like the look of that. I have to figure out a way of top mounting the wheels.

I'll try to get some pics to post over the weekend.

Ron