12 x 20 x 8 Not A Building

[Franz©]

Hey, it's not my fault, somebody left all that palet racking laying around.

I even tried to give the rack away. It sat for 2 years in front of a building, and the guy could have used it, but he was too lazy.

I hauled it in, and did some measuring. 12 foot uprights, 8 foot span, 4 foot wide shelf braces sitting there on the trailer just begging me to make something. My M-37 has been occupying shop space.
Then a badthing happened, standing seam roofing, slightly used for 10 bucks a sheet, 18 feet long. More measuring.

Picked myself up 40 sheets of roofing, the one part of the shop needs a new roof anyhow. I been looking at those roofed cart returns at Sams Club for 5 years now, waiting for collapse from snowload, and it hasn't happened. Those things are on a 6 foot span.

More measuring. Ordered up a box of 5" cutoff wheels for the Bosch. Much more usable metal if I just cut the welds on that rack. Got out the calculator and Eberhard Faber version of LeTurneauCAD and went to designing.

With design in mind, I attacked the racking. It's much easier to handle after the welds are cut.

Set a 12 foot upright on a stand, and notched it dead center, 30° notch, quick bend, and weld the notch back together with the cutout slug behind for extra strength with the MIG. Added one of the diaphram braces from the rack for extra strength. 4 hours elapsed time, 6 rafter asseblys. That metalsquirt welding is nice on jobs like that.

Just happened to have some 24 foot uprights in stock too, so I did some more measuring. 20 foot seemed about right for the length, so I cut 2 of them down to that. Cut the third one into 2 12 footers for the ends, and set the whole deal up in front of the shop door. When I went to weld the other end I realized the drawback to MIG machines, so I reverted to stick. Two hours later, I had a rectangular frame with diaphram reenforcments in all corners.

Now bein an old fart, I really don't like working on my knees any more. I set the frame up on a couple stands and slipped a rafter assembly into place. Then I tacked the second rafter at the other ned and tacked it so I could run some string for straightness checks. Damn thing turned out square. That was enough work for one day.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Now that is inovative. Keep the posts on this project coming.

 

[daddylama]

love this... keep the pics coming...

 

[kbs2244]

Your headline reminds me a newspaper story I read when traveling a few years ago. I think I was in PA.
Some company had built a huge, fully automated, all robotic, parts storage warehouse. It covered acres and only had like 10 people working there.
When the county came to access it, the co claimed it wasn’t a building, it was a tool. It just needed a roof and wall to keep the weather off it.
Of course the argument went to court. After touring the place, the judge agreed with the co. A key part of the argument seemed to be that the walls and roof were not freestanding. The walls and roof were bolted to the machinery inside.
The lesson to be learned is to pack your box tight with stuff, run a few supports from the machines or inventory to the walls and roof, and tell your lawyer when you get assessed that there is a previous legal case in your favor in PA somewhere.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

The lesson to be learned is to pack your box tight with stuff, run a few supports from the machines or inventory to the walls and roof, and tell your lawyer when you get assessed that there is a previous legal case in your favor in PA somewhere.

In Georgia, the company still would have to be assessed on the concrete slab it sits on as real property, and the machinery itself as personal property, so tax gets paid on it anyhow. The main difference is the amount of depreciation given to personal property vs real property might be more or less than if described the other way around.

Charles

 

[C_F]

That's cool! Looking forward to progress pics.

 

[Franz©]

More pictures, you guys want more pictures and I need a couple laborers. I'm an old fart you know and I'm workin alone. LN won't come within 20 feet of the shop when a welder is runnin.

OK, so I already discussed setting up the frame and making the rafters, so the next step is putting all the rafters onto the frame. No biggy, a little measuring and some soapstone, and the ever useful speed square.

Once the 2 end rafters are tacked in place, a taught string running from peak to peak controls the placement of the rest. Naturally, you'll bump that damn string 100 times, so rather than having to fart around putting it back in place, just tack the stubs of a couple rods to the peaks of the end rafters and the string stays put with a wrap around the stub. Oh, if you're using nylon string, wait till the welds cool. (I ain't sayin)

Place the remainig rafters & tack in place, checking each with the ruler at least 27 times. Once that's done, install the peak beams (formerly shelf supports in the palet rack) and weld them in place. Cut a shitload of 2 x 2 squares from 3/16 scrap material, and start welding them into place for strength where the rafter meets the side beam, 28 of them in this case.

Add a diagonal from rafter #3 peak to the header at the front, just for insurance, 3/4 pipe from a scaffold worked well in this case. Quit for the night and head into the house to ponder additional reenforcment, and refine lifting technique.

Next day, set the mug on the trailer deck, and ponder additional reenforcment one more time. Screw it, back up to one corner and see how heavy this thing is already. Suprize, it ain't all that heavy, and picking didn't exhibit much flexing across the assembly. Plan C looks like a go.

Drag a piece of 6 x 6 over with the loader and wiggle it into place, sort of, can't leave anything anyplace near where LN drives. WHO THE HELL ORDERED RAIN? Cut guardrail to length with Bosch & cutoff wheel. Sait wheels really are worth the money.

Make up temporary back legs from shelf reenforcments and cutoff from siderails. Bolt cutoff onto front truss because I know the stands will kick out.
Pick back end with loader & bolt temporary legs in place. Ease frame into better ocation for final pick with loader. Set down gently. Hot Damn, nothing is giving way, but those temporary legs look a little iffy. 2 cable hoysts and a chain will handle that pulling diagonally on the legs.

Unhook loader and goballs to the wall anthe sucker a good shake. No appreciable flexing. Testing completed, move onto next project for the day, modifying LN's future snowplow.

 

[wilbilt]

Nice work!
I gave away some tall pallet racking because it would not fit in my shed. I never thought about using it as the shed...

You say you are working alone, but then you say you have a loader. I have to lift everything with skyhooks and Jesus ropes.

 

[Franz©]

The loader is only a Yanmar 240D, and is a bit limited in reach for this job.

I may need to resort to what the yute generation calls antique technology on this job and rig a ginpole for one end of this erection. Fortunately, I know how to do that unlike most of AmeriKa who stand around waiting for the hydraulic crane to arrive to set roof trusses on a house.

It saddens me deeply to know how willing people are to forego knowledge for the lack of curioscity of how their fathers & grandfathers accomplished the task.

 

[daddylama]

gin poles are antique technology???

a few years back, we used a gin pole to erect most of a house... in the hills, tight squeeze between other homes, gin pole fit better and worked quicker than a crane would have (if the crane would have even fit up the tiny 1 lane roads). plus, it saved the client $150/hr for the crane... and put more $ in my pocket for me doing the work.


i blame people foregoing knowledge of such things on our society. too much drive towards technology, sometimes. shop classes getting pulled out of schools, pushing kids towards college, skilled trades being lost...
like my grandpa taught me, growin' up: "doesn't matter what a man does for a living, if i can't work with his own hands if he has to, he isn't a real man."

 

[Franz©]

OK, couple days off because of rain and LN chores, but I did get some time into cutting reenforcments and such so the assembly could go on. At this stage the assembly that would be called a roof if this were a building ain't all that heavy, yet. Probably it doesn't weigh 400 pounds.

Now, let me stress my primary principal of work is LAZINESS. I can sit and watch other people work without any problem, but that ain't going to work here. There is also no way in hell LN is coming near this project, although she has announced she has no idea how the hell I'm going to move it when it's complete, and it damn well better not be staying where it is. She calls that executive thinking. I have developed skill at pretending to hear her.

Next step in the process, getting the assembly up onto the corner posts. Daylight is getting shorter here, but I have lighting to work with. Unfoprtunately, the Yanmar can't get positioned to do the lifting, so I resorted to the antiquated gin pole method. A handy boat trailer winch was bolted to a 12 foot palet rack rail, and another section of rail about 3 feet long was welded to one end of the 12 footer for a base. An industrial version of a garage door pulley was attached to the top of the pole with 2 pieces of angle iron for cheeks and a grade 5 bolt for an axel after the regular garage door pulley proved unable tohandle the stress by showering me with bearing balls. It wasn't a good day, especially since I had to repair a hydraulic line on the Yanmar. Working without a helper can be troublesome.

I made an initial test pick to see how the ginpole was going to act, and decided I'd put a tieback on the pole for additional control of the load. That accomplished, I was able to crank the end to the required 8 foot height.

2 of the former 8 foot shelf rails from the rack became legs for one end of the assembly, and were welded into place with a little gentle alignment from a 14 pound location assist device. Braces were added from the rail down to the legs for additional strength, and temporary braces were installed on the end rail. The ginpole line was relaxed, and the standard stability test was performed. Motion of the framework was acceptable.

LN arrived and closely inspected the workmanship, from what she considered a safe distance. She repeated the move it statement. I assured her it was well within possibility.

Since the ginpole had no more use on the end, the cable was disconnected, and the ginpole moved to the other end. RAIN again.

 

[IanF]

I may need to resort to what the yute generation calls antique technology on this job and rig a ginpole for one end of this erection. Fortunately, I know how to do that unlike most of AmeriKa who stand around waiting for the hydraulic crane to arrive to set roof trusses on a house.

It saddens me deeply to know how willing people are to forego knowledge for the lack of curioscity of how their fathers & grandfathers accomplished the task.

To be honest... as one of the "yute generation" I've never had need to think about it, but now that I know, it's definitely a bit of knowledge to file away for when I build a new shed in my yard that will probably be erected by the construction team of Me, Myself and I.

 

[JOHNMAN]

Thanks for this post. I would have never looked up Gin Pole without you discussing using one. I want more "old timer" tricks.

 

[Gummi Bear]

Your headline reminds me a newspaper story I read when traveling a few years ago. I think I was in PA.
Some company had built a huge, fully automated, all robotic, parts storage warehouse. It covered acres and only had like 10 people working there.
When the county came to access it, the co claimed it wasn’t a building, it was a tool. It just needed a roof and wall to keep the weather off it.
Of course the argument went to court. After touring the place, the judge agreed with the co. A key part of the argument seemed to be that the walls and roof were not freestanding. The walls and roof were bolted to the machinery inside.
The lesson to be learned is to pack your box tight with stuff, run a few supports from the machines or inventory to the walls and roof, and tell your lawyer when you get assessed that there is a previous legal case in your favor in PA somewhere.

That sounds like a A.S.R.S. *Automatic Storage & Retrieval System*

It's racking, with tracks at the top and bottom of the narrow aisles, with high speed robots picking orders off of a conveyor, and placing them into an assigned cubbyhole (rack shelf, specific location) by scanning the product with a barcode scanner. It does all this, while running at about 45 miles per hour.

I've wired up two of them, one for JC Penney's in Fort Worth, and another for Walgreens in Waxahachie.

They're extremely cool to watch operate.


Franz - I dig what you're doing. My Grandfather had Gin poles on the back of his welding truck that I used to stack round bales of hay and pull motors when I was young, and didn't have a tractor bigger than an 8N. He used it for work (pipeline welder)