wrote:

MrRumm, you will be aware that the bottom of a washing machine does not
contain a flat area so therefore the bottom corner of a washing machine
will be resting on the backrail of the trolly along with the side of the
machine,the back edge of the footplate will stop the machine from dropping
down but plays no use in supporting the weight.


So your theory holds for one very specific example. In the general case
you are, as I and others have pointed out, totally wrong.

It does not even hold in this case really. Asside from the fact that I
have seen several flat based washing machines, even if there is only a
narrow contact point at the back of the sole plate, gravity will still
be acting straight down - hence even with a trolly angle of say 45
degrees the load will be shared 50-50 between the back and the base of
the trolly.

The only saving grace offered by the narrow contact point, is that the
load will have very little mechanical advantage on the joint between the
base and the back of the trolly. So the base will still carry half or
more of the load, but will do so mostly in shear close to the fulcrum,
and not experience much bending moment. Thus in this situation the
trolly is unlikely to be damaged even if it has a thin base plate, but
that is not the same as saying the base does not carry any load.



--
Cheers,

John.

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