Mounting 80 Gal compressor

[Coloshaver]

I picked up my 80 gal 5 hp Bendpak compressor at the freight terminal. It is mounted on a pallet. I plan to put on a mezzanine and will need a forklift to get it up there. I had planned to muscle it off the pallet and secure it to the deck with lag bolts. After thinking about it, I'm wondering if it would be easier just to leave it on the pallet. The top layer of the pallet is 2 pieces of 1/2" plywood. The carriage bolts holding it to the pallet are long enough so I could add vibration pads between the compressor and the pallet and I could use 2x4 "cleats" around the pallet to keep it from walking with any vibration. Leaving it on the pallet would make it a lot easier to get down if I ever had to.

Do any of you have compelling reasons not to do it this way?

Thanks in advance for you help.

 

[LumpyMusic]

I would feel safer NOT trying to use the shipping pallet. Those odd sized pallets are designed to store the thing, then ship the thing - one time only. They're not designed to withstand years of heavy use, like those heavy blue pallets. They're assembled with the minimum amount of materials and fasteners that allow them to survive only their limited lifetime design.

I'd say, if you like the idea of mounting the thing on a pallet for future removal, build your own using well thought out design, heavy lock nut/bolts instead of crate nails etc. I'd feel a lot safer with a several hundred pound, constantly vibrating machine ABOVE my head, trying to shake things apart, if I was well aware of the mounting under it.


Lumpy

How come you didn't star on Star Trek?
Because Clint Howard beat me for the part of Balok.

www.LumpyMusic.com

 

[koditten]

I have to disagree. The pallets that the upright compressors are shipped on are usually quite stout. There seems to be a 50/50 split among the guys I hang with. Half of them leave them on the pallet and half take thim off. In addition the wood does offer a bit of vibration dampaning in itself.

If the thing is going to live in the loft area, how much abuse is it going to get? I won't be near the major work areas or walkways. My vote is to leave it on the pallet.

KO

 

[cyamaha2007]

mines still on the pallet here. No issues to speak of in 3 years. I pull it down in the fall to clean the shop and change the oil and filters so having it on a pallet is nice.

 

[Sureshot]

I think leave it. For sure until you get it up there then if you want take the pallet apart and leave it on the plywood to lag it down.

 

[Gary S]

Mine is still on the pallet that it came with. I see no need to pull the pallet and then have to make something else to replace the pallet so it doesn't vibrate and make noise.

 

[LumpyMusic]

I guess I'm out voted. I still wouldn't do it, esp since it's above my head. I just have a thing about trusting someone else's work when using something in a design it's not made for. At least put some good nuts and bolts into the thing so you'll know you can trust that part of things.


Lumpy

You were on Leave it to Beaver?
No, I was on on CHiPs. That Beaver Lumpy
was Frank Bank.
www.LumpyMusic.com

 

[Falcon67]

Home made pallet:

If you are worried about it walking, drill a hole through the pallet and run a long lag bolt through a rubber bushing, the hole and into the floor or platform. This compressor sat on the three little stall blanket pads in my old shop and never moved an inch in 2 years. It was never bolted down in that shop.

 

[PT Doc]

Just build a new platform. You shipping pallet will likely not be flat anyways. Having it up there, I'd forego the shipping pallet and mount it solidly to the flooring. Maybe rig up a secondary safety strap the would be shock loaded if something failed. What is the load rating on the floor up there?

 

[Coloshaver]

Thanks for the feedback.

My deck is above a toilet only "bathroom". The room is 4'x5' so the span is minimal. My contractor knew that is what I had in mind so he over built it. He used braced 2x12s 12" oc with two layers of 3/4" OSB for a total of 1 1/2" of deck.

I thought about leaving it on the pallet so the forklift will do all the work and I won't be on the relatively small area trying to wrestle the compressor off the pallet. I think an accident here is more probable than the pallet failing or it tipping off due to vibration.

The pallet is brand new wood, but if I use it (I'm undecided after the great responses) I think I'll add bracing for the edge loaded 2x4s so they wouldn't tip like dominoes and add some deck screws to the plywood forming the deck. The pallet is 4' x 4' so as long as the compressor stays attached to the pallet, it would take a massive failure to cause it to tip over. Even if the pump threw a piston, the direction of rotation is along the long axis of the deck.

My only real concern is vibration causing it to walk and I can certainly fasten it to prevent that.

Thanks again.

 

[crewchief888]

our 120g 2 stage is sitting on it's shipping pallet.

been there for the 14 years i've worked here

 

[EOC_Jason]

I originally had our 60 gallon on some isolator pads, but when the cheap-o drain valve broke I decided to "upgrade" it to an easy to reach ball-valve. I made a home-made type frame with some 2x4's to raise the compressor up high enough to give clearance for the piping and ball-valve. I didn't even put the isolator pads back underneath because it runs quieter just as-is.

I've also seen other guys leave their compressor on the shipping pallets (for uprights).

We got a 15HP 120 gallon horizontal for the shop. For that we took it off the pallets and I got some isolator feet from McMaster Carr (like $7 each) which really do their job. They also allowed us to LEVEL the compressor (kind of important for oil & draining water).