Yeah, larger wheels would provide smoother rolling. I had already been pondering brush options. The best option would be something mounted at a slight angle, with a rotary brush action. Something a little stiffer, but like:A couple comments on the trucks. I would want the largest diameter wheels that I could package within the other dimensional constraints. Full width (across the beam flange) isn't necessary.
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McMaster-Carr
McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.www.mcmaster.com
You might consider incorporating some kind of strip brush at each end of each truck.
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McMaster-Carr
McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.www.mcmaster.com
That is going to be Soooo nice.
Here's a better option, use two of these in a V
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Eastwood Cylindrical Wire Brush - 5 pack
Works with your drill to scrape away rust, paint and other coatingswww.eastwood.com
Unpowered. Ever seen a hay wheel rake? Same principal. Friction over the surface of the beam spins the brush cylinder. Mounting the cylinder at an angle to the direction of travel results in a sweeping action that is at an angle. Just need a free spinning cylindrical brush.Are you thinking of powering cylindrical brushes? Some kind of friction drive off the support wheels would be an interesting project.
Cutting the head off of some hardware store, wooden handled wire brushes would be very simple, inexpensive and effective. They could be mounted on a leaf spring arrangement.
Even using pieces of a squeegee blade would last decades.
Simple CAD sketch. Imagine the cylinder is a brush, free to spin, moves across the beam with the end truck. Because of friction, the cylinder will spin. Because the cylinder is at an angle, the bristles have some motion that is toward the flange edge. Since it is rotating, debris is much less likely to stick to the brush. Since this beam is about 11' up, I think a fairly soft bristle would be effective in remove the dust likely to find it's way up there, I don't foresee heavy debris, maybe a few chips but even that is unlikely.I'm not able to visualize (imagine?) how you would configure those cylindrical brushes (unpowered) to sweep debris in the same direction of travel as the trolley and off the edge of the beam flange. I'm looking forward to the education.