Jacking castors

Heavy duty threaded hole fixed castors + L-angle fixed to side of machine + Stud protruding + Couple of nut + Spanner magnet clamped to side of machine.

Wind them down when needed, back them out when not?

Better would be a big allen socket drive bolt, weld a nut to the L- angle, weld the bolt to the castor, just stick in a big ball-end allen key and wind the thing up and down to bring the castor "into and out of play".

For cars they do jo-jo jacks with a lever, and probably for other applications - but they cost a lot.

Thanks for that, it's close to my "plan B": box section on side of machine with a nut welded on the bottom and a hole in the top so the studding can pass through, studding bored and tapped to take a threaded-stem castor. I like the idea of using cap screws but they're pretty hard so it may be tough to bore/tap them - welding might be difficult because of the plating on the castor but I guess I could grind it off ... experimentation needed!

Cap screw would work well on its own, just a bit fiddly...

Plain cap screw ! ! Nut welded onto Box (or hand tap 10mm thick L-Angle) ! ! Nut Backing to lock Castor threaded

Stick a cut-down allen key in a cordless drill with clutch, whizz the cap screw down until it bottoms on the Box/L-Angle. When done, whizz it back up. Lot less fiddly than spanners.

Google for Zambus or Footmaster. There are also cheaper alternatives which these searches willl turn up.

Thanks! That's a nice design but pricey in the UK