Anchoring pallet rack outside?

[jake00]

At work we've got an over hang on the side of one of the buildings. We're thinking about erecting some pallet rack under it. What do we use as a base? Right now there's some recycled asphalt on the ground

Rack would be 12ft tall 28ft long 42" wide.

I was thinking of lagging it to some 4x6's. Or just setting it on the ground, Or some sort of concrete footing (frost level?). Or the sona tubes? We could tie it to the building



Heaviest thing on it would be our snowplow. Cardboard bales, empty pallets,

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I would set some concrete capblock or other solid block for it to sit on. dig down set the stuff on solid ground, get it level with a 4 ft level, secure the uprights to the bldg.

 

[Strouty]

Railroad ties work well.

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

How about some railroad ties? ....or a mat made of them, like they put down under a crane outrigger, depending on how much you will really load the racks.




JBP

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

Darn, Strouty, you beat me by a minute.



JBP



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[boobag]

if you use 4x6, i would definetly lag the racks to them and make sure the 4x6 are a lot longer than the 42" depth, so that the racks are more resistant to tip over.

 

[drivesitfar]

Jake: can you strap the tops of each upright to the building? since you have a lot of weight in the rack even a light load would be hard to tip over unless it's REALLY WINDY.

i have a few outside my shop just standing on their own and we just had a 40 MPH windstorm roll through and they didn't move.

you might want to put a coat of rustoleum paint on them before putting them up to make them last longer and not rust as much.

 

[jake00]

Yes, I can strap em,

 

[rburke65]

You will need some kind of level base to carry the weight of the rack and stored items. The above mentioned concrete cap blocks on maybe a gravel vase and yes....tie it to the building.

 

[rsanter]

I mounted some to some pressure treated 4x6s and it worked good for years.

Bob

 

[HAY YOU]

I'd go with the sona tubes.

 

[AMCguy]

Be careful using modern pressure treated lumber. Over time, it will rust any metal that comes into contact with it.

 

[kbs2244]

On the woundeful thing called the World Wide Wait I once read that pallet racks used outside will rust at the bottom of the legs.
Rain gets into them and pools .
A possible work around was to drill a drain hole.
Annother was to pour roof tar into the bottom up to the first pre-punched hole.

 

[drivesitfar]

KBS: with good prep and a few coats of a $10 can(S) of rustoleum the bases probably will give you many years before rust starts to happen. some are already painted and have a big plate at the bottom.

Jake: another good thing to do if you weld and have some extra 3/8 inch plate is to weld a 6 x 8 inch piece on the bottom of each upright's post and it will help to keep them from tipping. some shelving already has them, but they are spendier unless you find a deal.