pallet rack dimensions question

[luckyc1423]

I am going to pick up some pallet racks tomorrow

the dimensions I have available to put the pallet rack in

290" long

so, 24 feet = 288" that means I have 2" to spare?

assuming I do 8' sections, that would mean I need a total of 4 uprights.

Do I have to take the "width" of the uprights into concern?
Meaning, if the uprights are 3" wide, then the uprights take 12" of space so that means I only have 278" available which would stink because then I can only do two 8' sections with a lot of wasted space

 

[luckyc1423]

im looking at used pallet racks on craigslist.

does this description tell you anything?

TD Upright 36 x 144 x 3 w/3x4 BP 15 ga. 74 17380 Green $70.79

 

[tymbo]

pallet racks are sized by the clearance between uprights. So 96" beams would not include the width of upright.

 

[luckyc1423]

or does this craigslist link with pictures help?

http://houston.craigslist.org/hvo/5607346630.html

 

[luckyc1423]

pallet racks are sized by the clearance between uprights. So 96" beams would not include the width of upright.

that *****, thanks for the info though

 

[Dustball]

You could do two 96" sections and one 84" section.

 

[Duckfarmer27]

Just cut them and weld them to fit. That's what I did, works fine.

Dale

 

[Falcon67]

Uprights are about 4" wide more or less.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

A couple of words of advice about used racking:
Unless you know what you are looking for, reject anything that is bent or repaired in any way. There are standards for how much of a dent is acceptable, but it is pretty minimal. These are fairly light duty racks with low heights, but they are still susceptible to failure. Keep in mind that each post needs to be anchored with at least two bolts into the slab.

 

[Falcon67]

>Keep in mind that each post needs to be anchored with at least two bolts into the slab.

I spent 25 years in mfg and warehousing and I've never seen a "tier rack" bolted to the ground. Especially in warehousing, pretty normal to try new layouts that required tearing it all to hell and moving everything around. What we would do on tall rows would be to fabricate tie bars across the aisles about every 10' or so. 6', 8' stuff is just a big box of Tinker Toys.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

>Keep in mind that each post needs to be anchored with at least two bolts into the slab.

I spent 25 years in mfg and warehousing and I've never seen a "tier rack" bolted to the ground. Especially in warehousing, pretty normal to try new layouts that required tearing it all to hell and moving everything around. What we would do on tall rows would be to fabricate tie bars across the aisles about every 10' or so. 6', 8' stuff is just a big box of Tinker Toys.

I designed the layouts on the last couple of the warehouses at my previous employer (about 60k sf). My recollection (after a long weekend) is that the driver for anchor bolts is side impacts from forklifts which cause cascade failures. A secondary consideration (or primary in some areas) are seismic concerns. Our area did not require top braces.

We also followed standard inspection guidelines (ours were actually based on a set of Canadian best practices as there were no state/federal ones that applied) that involved inspecting racking, safety systems, etc on a regular basis. Our safety systems were likely a lot more stringent than you see in most warehouses.

 

[luckyc1423]

This is just for my barn, so everything for the most part will be light weight. No engines or motorcycles or anything will be stored.
Mainly gas cans, table saw, chop saw....ect...

Normal "home garage" stuff

So I assume a dent or two will be fine since I can't imagine having more than 500 pounds on any one row.

I'm going pallet rack route just from the simple rack that my dad always told me, buy it right once and you will never have to buy it again...

I will look for dents and make sure all the pieces are as "straight" as possible. But these are used racks so I don't need them in perfect condition as I'm not loading them up to extreme weights.

Tell me if I am getting an "ok" deal
$900 for the below
5 uprights: 42" by 12'
28 beams: 8'
28 wire decking: 46" wide

 

[luckyc1423]

This is what they look like

What are your thoughts??

 

[luckyc1423]

Last picture

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Just cut them and weld them to fit. That's what I did, works fine. Dale

I've tought about doing the same thing. How did you keep the end "square"? I'm concerned that if you're off just a degree or two that it would be almost impossible to put the things together.

 

[DpSyChO]

I've tought about doing the same thing. How did you keep the end "square"? I'm concerned that if you're off just a degree or two that it would be almost impossible to put the things together.

I bought some used 5' rails and had two 42" uprights cut down to 24" wide specifically for a shelving unit for some quantum type storage bins. I thought that 12 rails would be fine (six shelves) but ended up mixing in some shorter bins and still wanted to still take shelves to the top of the upright but no more 5' rails were available.
In my case I had some 8' rails that matched the 5' rails (same mfg) so cut down the 8 footers and took a pc of channel iron and used it to clamp the rails to while tacking. I was going to weld up a jig on the channel but didnt need to in my case.

 

[Playwme]

I've tought about doing the same thing. How did you keep the end "square"? I'm concerned that if you're off just a degree or two that it would be almost impossible to put the things together.

You would have to be borderline blind to get them crooked enough where they won't fit. Big hammer and a bit of wiggling on the uprights give you a fair bit of room to move.

 

[Milton Shaw]

The end square is not the problem, they must be the same length is the bigger problem. I cut my rails with a Milwaukee metal cutting skill saw with a square to guide it. Then ground out the welds on the end pieces and welded them on the new cut rails. No problems. I did just the rails for the last section so that they would fit the area. If you can buy some cheap bent rails, cut the ends off and use them to hold items such as leaf blower etc with an adapter to fit. . I also set up a roller table on brackets that I can move up and down to match my chops saw height.