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Replacement of wheels every two years is not the end of the world really and adding additional wheels on the current system probably would improve the situation on the side may not be perfect but more wheels will certainly improve things I expect.
I think having a lot of small wheels works best from my experience..in my small observatory I think I have eight per side ..cheap and small but the load is spread over 16 wheels....making something via the track to prevent it getting blown off makes it un necessarily complex when you can just have some rope or chain that you tie or unclip.
All I am getting at is fixing and improving what you have could be simpler than a major change in direction.
If you are thinking motors...I ran into an unexpected issue..noise...my motors make a heck of a racket such that I feel uncomfortable dragging the roof closed at 2,3 or 4 am ...and I am rural...I am thinking how to sound proof them but I don't know that will be a success... my approach at the moment is leave it until morning having covered the gear, which I do roof or no roof...if it could rain well I shall close it. But unfamiliar noise at night could be very annoying to others.
The roll off only has two wheels each side and at some point I will add more but it will be a big exercise as they are inside box steel..so Jack up the roof, cut out a section drill holes for axle... but I would like at least two more each side..the rolling resistance will be so much less that it won't be as noisy and although at present manual movement is possible adding more wheels would make moving without motors a breeze...plus I think replacing the current wheels with something better would be useful...and there is no access the lubricate the axles...yes..I will start there.
In fact just putting in better wheels, probably no bearing in current ones, and making provision for lubrication would be a giant step in forward progress.
Good luck ..the key is not to put it off.
Alex
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