I have spent 30+ years designing material handling equipment, that utilize floor locks. During those many years of material handling experience, I have come across many types of floor locks, each having certain aspects that may make it better suited for certain applications, and not for others. In the following article, I will share my experiences and the insights that I gained from them.
Below I divided floor locks into 6 major types. For each of the types we will talk about them in a general capacity, define key characteristics, and talk about how those characteristics help determine the applications that the floor lock would be good at.
Those categories are commodity, heavy duty cast, self adjusting, stainless steel, side mounted, and low profile. Read on to learn about each type.
1. Commodity Floor Locks
When it comes to floor locks, it is typically the commodity floor locks that most people think of. These commodity floor locks are generally manufactured outside the USA.
Construction – The construction of these floor locks is typically stamped steel components welded and assembled into an economical piece of equipment that is designed for large scale production. The sub assemblies are zinc plated, which can be very economical in large batches. The assembly hardware is either commodity, off the shelf components, or parts that can be produced in large batches, like those that are manufactured on screw machines. The contact pad is rubber that is vulcanized to the steel washer of the lower tube assembly.
The actuating mechanism is a foot pedal that utilizes both toggle joints, and levers to multiply the amount of force that is applied to the contact pad.
Key characteristics – Low cost, light duty, some corrosion resistance.
Ideal applications – The ideal application for these types of floor locks are generally used on light duty carts, dollies, platform trucks, shelf carts and other equipment that will be used the majority of the time indoors on floors that are smooth and level. These floor locks should be operated in such a way as to avoid side loading due to impacts. Impacts can happen when the lock drags the ground while in motion, or impact from other machinery or equipment.
Relative Cost – For the relative cost section, we are going to use a 6″ commodity floor lock as the baseline, that all other floor locks will be compared to. In rough round dollars, at the time of time of writing this article, the baseline 6″ commodity floor lock is in the neighborhood of about $20. You can find them in the $15 range if you shop, I have also seen them priced in excess of $50.
Where can you buy them – Commodity floor locks can be found just about anywhere. Home improvement stores, hardware store, Material Handling Distributors, MRO catalogs and websites, Amazon, Global Industrial and so on.
Specifications of featured Floor Lock –
Vestil FL-6
Weight – 5 lbs
Retracted Height – 6-3/4″
Extended Height – 7-3/4″
Summery – So in summery, commodity floor locks are an economical solution when braking of light duty indoor wheeled equipment is needed. They are easy to find, and should be considered disposable when damaged, due to the low replacement cost.
2. Heavy Duty Cast/Forged Floor Locks
When you have a heavy duty application, or and application that is harsh or severe, then a heavy duty cast or forged floor lock may be just what the doctor ordered.
Construction – The construction of this type of floor locks starts with a large cast top plate with a heavy tapered vertical housing. The pedals and linkages are also a robust castings. The shafts and pins are machined steel.
The actuating mechanism is a foot pedal that utilizes both toggle joints, and levers to multiply the amount of force that is applied to the contact pad. The contact pad is attached by a threaded rod and can be adjusted up and down to fine tune the amount of stabilizing force and heights.
Key characteristics – Robust, heavy duty, and strong.
Ideal applications – Heavy Duty wheeled equipment that is used both indoors and outdoors. Due to the robust nature of the floor lock, it can withstand impacts and other abuse.
Relative Cost – Compared to the commodity floor lock, this floor lock is about 250% of the cost.
Where can you buy them – Heavy duty floor locks can be bought from Material Handling Distributors, MRO catalogs and websites, Amazon, Global Industrial and so on.
Specifications of featured Floor Lock –
Vestil – FL-ADJ-46 Heavy duty adjustable height floor lock with a cast steel frame, machined steel pins and large adjustable rubber covered contact pad. Slotted to accommodate various standard caster bolt hole patterns.
Weight – 7 lbs
Retracted Height – 5-1/2″ to 7-1/4″
Extended Height – 6-1/4″ to 8″
Summery – In summery, the heavy duty cast floor locks cost about 2-1/2 times that of a commodity floor lock, but its robust design ensures that it can handle much more abuse than its lighter counterpart. You may also decide to use it in lighter duty applications where failure is not tolerable.
3. Self Adjusting Floor Locks
Construction – The floor lock has a cast aluminum housing and top plate. The pad is mounted to a tube that slides straight up and down, and has clamping plates to hold its position when actuated. This type of floor lock does not use any mechanical advantage therefore the force of pushing down on the foot pedal is the amount of force that is applied to the ground
Key characteristics – Self adjusting
Ideal applications – This type of floor lock is ideal for light duty carts that may traverse uneven floors.
Relative Cost – Compared to the commodity floor lock, this floor lock is about 700% of the cost.
Where can you buy them – You can buy them from Nutting, or a material handling distributor that carries Nutting products. You can also find on McMaster-Carr.
Summery – This type of floor lock would be good when mounting on light duty equipment, that is used over un-even floors. The down side is that they cost up to 7 times the cost of a commodity floor lock.
4. Stainless Steel Floor Locks
When it comes to corrosion resistance, and needing to be clean, a stainless steel floor lock should be your first choice.
Construction – Construction can vary when it comes to stainless steel floor locks. You can find stainless steel versions of the stamped commodity floor locks, the heavy duty cast versions and the below mentioned side mounted versions. The one thing that they all have in common, it the use of stainless steel raw materials
Key characteristics – They one key characteristic that all versions of the stainless steel floor locks have in common, is corrosion resistance.
Ideal applications – Due to their corrosion resistance, these floor locks are ideal for clean room, wash down, applications needing chemical resistance, high humidity and other harsh environments that would easily corrode other floor locks.
Relative Cost – The relative cost of these types of floor locks vary dramatically depending upon the style that you choose. The range is from 900% for the stamped version to 1400% for the side mounted stainless steel version
Where can you buy them – You will be able to buy them online from places like Amazon, Global and places that sell similar industrial equipment. You can get them from the manufacturer, in this case, Vestil Manufacturing Corporation or Service Caster. You can also find them at MRO providers like McMaster Carr or Grainger.
Summery – In summery, stainless steel floor locks are a great way to resist corrosion that can be the result of a harsh environment. The initial cost may seem high in comparison, but when you factor in the life of the floor lock, and the replacement costs and labor associated with replacing old degraded floor locks, it starts to even out.
In my opinion, they heavy duty stainless steel floor lock gives you the best bang for your buck of all of the stainless types listed above. It costs slightly more than the stamped version, and considerably less that the side mounted version.
5. Side Mounted Floor Locks
Construction – The construction of this floor locks is stamped steel components welded and assembled into the floor lock. The sub assemblies are zinc plated. The assembly hardware is either commodity, off the shelf components, or parts that can be produced in large batches, like those that are manufactured on screw machines. The contact pad is rubber that is vulcanized to the steel washer of the lower tube assembly.
The actuating mechanism is a hand lever that utilizes both toggle joints, and levers to multiply the amount of force that is applied to the contact pad.
Key characteristics – Light duty, some corrosion resistance, made to be mounted to the side of equipment.
Ideal applications – Applications in which there is not enough space underneath to install a conventional floor lock, or where the preferential form of actuating the lock, is by hand as opposed to by foot.
Relative Cost – The relative cost of this type of floor lock compared to the commodity type lock is about 300%
Where can you buy them – You will be able to buy them online from places like Amazon, Global and places like that. You can get them from the manufacturer, Vestil Manufacturing Corporation. You can also find them at MRO providers like McMaster Carr or Grainger.
Specifications of featured Floor Lock – The Vestil FL-LK-SMR-R Right mount 18″ high side mounted zinc plated floor lock has the following specs.
Weight – 7 lbs
Width – 8-5/16″
Thickness – 3-7/8″
Height – 18″
Stroke – 12″
Summery – In summary, this type of floor lock comes in handy when you need a lock, but do not have space underneath in which to mount the lock. Also great when the brake needs to be actuated by hand instead of using your foot.
6. Low Profile Floor Locks
Construction – This lock has a hybrid construction of cast steel pedal, and a stamped welded top plate. It is a rather robust, compact design. It has some corrosion resistance due to its zinc plating.
Key characteristics – Low profile
Ideal applications – Applications in which there is not much space underneath the equipment for a regular floor lock. You must actively think about the space needed to actuate the lock, when planning out where you are going to mount it. Typically you would want to mount it all the way out on the outer edge of the equipment.
Relative Cost – Compared to the commodity style floor locks, this one runs in the range of 300% of the cost.
Where can you buy them – You will be able to buy them online from places like Amazon, Global and places like that. You can get them from the manufacturer, Vestil Manufacturing Corporation, or distributors that carry their products. You can also find them at MRO providers like McMaster Carr or Grainger.
Specifications of featured Floor Lock – The Vestil FL-LK-LP heavy duty low profile floor lock for low height applications
Weight – 5.25 lbs
Length – 7-1/16″
Width – 5.5″
Retracted Height – 3.75″
Extended Height – 4-9/16″
Summery – When it comes to applications that do not have a lot of clearance under the equipment, then a low profile is one of your choices. The other would be the side mounted floor lock from the previous section. Their costs are relatively close, so the decision in this case comes down strictly to preference.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is easy to see that when it comes to picking out a floor lock, you have options. There is not a one size fits all solution. Each type of floor lock has specific characteristics, and ideal applications.
