School me on pallet racking

[Innovate1]

Need to do some shelving for my 30 x 40 x 14high garage and pallet racking seems like a good way to go. Many of the other shelving options only go to about 8' so lots of wasted space. Granted, it is hard to put anything above that height, especially heavy things but it still seems like wasted space above the shelves.

What are the standard sizes for racking? As I understand it some of the brands are interchangible? A lot I have seen has wire racking but some people seem to replace that with plywood. What other things do I need to be aware of in looking for used racking?

 

[fteufert]

Look on your local Craigslist. There is always some for sale

I had 4 foot deep 8 foot long and 10 foot high shelving in the past. They should be available in 12 foot height too

 

[RPH]

12 feet high as lighter stuff can be put up, unless fork lift is available. Watch the beam length. Some are 6 foot others are 12 foot. Figure out where you would like it, then figure what beams work to fit it. Deep shelves are nice but I’m finding mine to work really well about 3 ‘ off the wall. Leaves wall space for things that need it. But more importantly getting to the other side is much easier and more efficient.

 

[AngryBeaver]

There are many styles and sizes. Standard heights are 6’,8’,12’,and 16’. Standard widths if beams are 6,8,9,12’. 8 are most common. Depths range from 24, 36”, 40” and 48”. 48” is most common.

i lined my 48x40 with 12’ uprights and 8’ beams. I cut the uprights down to 24” since I got a bunch free from work and scavenged beams from local scrapyards. I then made a few custom length beams for the end rack 40’ deep garage you won’t be able to get 5 8’ sections as the uprights are 3-4” wide depending on brand and style.

old pictures from years ago when I moved in and had to organize a 50x100’ shops with of stuff lol. Don’t mind the mess. 12’ racks with 14’ ceiling

 

[cvairwerks]

You can find lots of used stuff online, locally. I planned mine out so that I could have a minimum of three uprights for each row. Forget spending the $'s on wire shelving. Cut some 2x4's or 6's to go between crossbars and use plywood for decking. I didn't use crossbars at the bottom, so I could move stuff under the lowest shelves with a pallet jack, or on wheels. The one thing to help with planning, is, only have racking going into a corner from one wall. Whatever your deepest rack is, give yourself that plus a few inches from the corner...ie you should be able to pull out a full depth item at the corner without hitting the other rack.

Putting it up goes quick with two people and a ladder. For stuff higher than 8 feet, put in the lowest shelf, deck it and then put the wall side crossbars first, and add the open side bars from the top down next. Deck as required from the top down, as you use that first shelf as scaffolding.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Some good information already posted. I'll add, spend a little extra to find something in better shape than having to clean/paint cheaper stuff.

Keep searching CL, FB Marketplace or wherever you are looking. Keep looking every day or two. Good stuff or deals don't last long.

 

[nadogail]

Craig's list has been my source for low cost or free pallet beams. I like them for fence posts and project material.

 

[Farmall450]

I have a likely surplus of 6'x30"x12' industrial shelving that I've slowly been setting up. Nice to have the solid metal shelves (3 piece), but a bit shallow for full pallets.

 

[Jbonzey2]

Thanks for everyone’s posts on this topic. I bought off a local on marketplace (3) heavy duty 12ft 36” wide uprights for $75 each. Beams were $15 each. Cut them down to 11ft and welded cross bars back in. Sanded them down and painted safety red and gloss black. Used 1”x4” furring strips to support the 3/4” plywood shelves so combined they are flush with the beam - I don’t have any heavy stuff so this works fine and clean looking as the shelves don’t stick over the beams. All I can say is I have my garage back as you can see the before and after pics. The foundation sticks out about 6” so I couldn’t put flush with the wall so I took that extra space and put 3 beams on the back side of the bench and ran a 2x4 on the wall to make 6” shelves. Thank god I did this as I have storage for the small stuff and it works out perfect. Turns out I had 6 cans of pb blaster half full. A lot or work and the painting sucked but worth it. Thanks again.

 

[JasonF]

It's been a dry spell in my area for racking lately. Been stalking marketplace and CL for a good year and there hasn't been much of anything for sale other than resellers looking for top dollar. I'd really like some 12' wide beams though to stack some snowmobiles so it does make the search tougher.

 

[Piggywutz]

I found my racking on FB marketplace. Company that deals in new and used racking. They had a warehouse full of it. Just about any size that you can think of. Just do a google search for pallet racking. There are many of these companies across the country. I got three 8’ high uprights, 12 crossbeams, and the decking for $800.

 

[Jbonzey2]

It's been a dry spell in my area for racking lately. Been stalking marketplace and CL for a good year and there hasn't been much of anything for sale other than resellers looking for top dollar. I'd really like some 12' wide beams though to stack some snowmobiles so it does make the search tougher.

That’s actually my plan as well. I needed to clear the area for the sled deck first. No one was selling 11ft beams on marketplace so I got (4) 11ft beams for $75 each from a surplus warehouse. More than I wanted to spend but don’t trust my welding enough to put one brand new machine on top of another cutting 2 beams to make one. I searched used pallet racks on google and found them.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Thanks for everyone’s posts on this topic. I bought off a local on marketplace (3) heavy duty 12ft 36” wide uprights for $75 each. Beams were $15 each. Cut them down to 11ft and welded cross bars back in. Sanded them down and painted safety red and gloss black. Used 1”x4” furring strips to support the 3/4” plywood shelves so combined they are flush with the beam - I don’t have any heavy stuff so this works fine and clean looking as the shelves don’t stick over the beams. All I can say is I have my garage back as you can see the before and after pics. The foundation sticks out about 6” so I couldn’t put flush with the wall so I took that extra space and put 3 beams on the back side of the bench and ran a 2x4 on the wall to make 6” shelves. Thank god I did this as I have storage for the small stuff and it works out perfect. Turns out I had 6 cans of pb blaster half full. A lot or work and the painting sucked but worth it. Thanks again.

Stuff is a PITA to sand and paint isn't it ?

Yours came out nice as they do make a nice bench area too.

 

[mepstein]

We use it a lot at the shop.

 

[TurnipTruck]

Pallet racking has many uses.

This is my 16x24 greenhouse I am building on an old dairy barn foundation. It’s South-facing, 17’ high and the solid roof will handle more snow than a Lexan roof will.

 

[kbeefy]

This is my 16x24 greenhouse I am building on an old dairy barn foundation.

Mat-Su area somewhere? Lived in AK 1972-2012, spent alot of time in the area.

 

[Richard D]

Some of them have horizontal beams made from thin wall tubing, and it is plenty strong and light weight to handle, and assemble/dis assemble with just a mallet. Others bolt together and are made from steel channel. I have built a lot of stuff with this, the channel can be cut and welded to make custom shapes/sizes. A bit more labor to assemble but very versatile.

 

[Barnabas]

I bought a pile of used pallet racking and discovered that many of the horizontal rails are not compatible with the upright ends. Some of the rails have three pegs that hook into the uprights and some of the rails have two pegs that hook into the uprights. The outer two pegs of the three-peg rails are the same as the two-peg beams.

The problem I have is that most of the uprights I have are set up for the two-peg rails, and most of the rails I got have three pegs. This means they do not connect together. I have lots of parts that do not fit together. This makes me sad.

 

[Richard D]

Put up some pictures of the ends.

 

[Barnabas]

I also do not use the wire racks. I found that cutting 2x8s to the right length (about 34" long) and running them down the length of the rail makes a great, heavy-duty shelf. After installing all the 8" wide boards, I had to use a 6" wide board to complete the shelf.

 

[Richard D]

I don't use the wire racks either(but they make great guards for my shop fans!). I use a half dozen 2x4s for spreaders and plywood on top.

 

[Innovate1]

Mine have some metal cross bars that fit into the beams and then had about 3/4 particle board for shelves. I was surprised it held up so well in the previous use. We took it down from where it was being used and looked like it had been for a long time.

 

[cvairwerks]

Where I've needed heavier decking, back when lumber was cheap, I simply cut 2x6's and 2x8's to fit between the beams and solid decked the various levels.

 

[Richard D]

Solid 2x decking must be nice, but with lumber prices, you'd need a second mortgage...

 

[NUTTSGT]

When I bought mine, I got the wire racking for $8/ea and he threw in an extra one, IIRC. I used the wire racking but put OSB or plywood on top of it. Plenty strong and I think cheaper than 2x6/2x8 right now.

Garage Refurb®

Shelving is looking good. I do like your set up for painting them in the upright position. did you hold a piece of cardboard behind the racking while spray painting to keep overspray off your newly painted walls? looks like maybe you didn't bleed either when you nicked yourself and that takes...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Sumboodie]

I haven't seen much locally for sale.

I priced new and was surprised how cheap they are all considering used prices. I expected a 12ftx12ft shelf to be a few grand. Can buy new for about $500.
Haven't decided on width yet... 3 or 4 ft.

 

[midwestracer2003@yaho]

We use it a lot at the shop.

how much one of them car weigh i like this idea

 

[Richard D]

Looks like a Porsche, probably about 3,000 lbs. Our racks have labels saying capacity over 7,000 lbs. Not sure how he got the car up there, would need a forklift with long extensions, or a tall four post lift.

 

[csp]

The outer two pegs of the three-peg rails are the same as the two-peg beams.

The problem I have is that most of the uprights I have are set up for the two-peg rails, and most of the rails I got have three pegs. This means they do not connect together. I have lots of parts that do not fit together. This makes me sad.

Remove the center peg of the three peg rails if the outer two are compatible with your uprights. Problem solved.

 

[nadogail]

With a Chop Saw and an Arc Welder I don’t have to worry about the compatibility of the parts from different brands. I just cut, my fit and weld what I have into what I want.

 

[-Stew-]

Yo , @AngryBeaver lemme get that GT40 tubular! lol!

 

[Innovate1]

I haven't seen much locally for sale.

I priced new and was surprised how cheap they are all considering used prices. I expected a 12ftx12ft shelf to be a few grand. Can buy new for about $500.
Haven't decided on width yet... 3 or 4 ft?

That does seem cheap. Where did you find at that price? What does that include? 12' H x 12' wide with 10 or 12 beams for 5 or 6 shelves?

 

[laser3kw]

My garage is 30 x 40 x 12. I have Menards heavy duty "Xtreme" brand shelving. The end pieces only go up to 8' x 30" deep, but that worked well in my garage. My cross bars are 8' and each shelf pair support up to 2000 lb


I bought the components separately. The end pieces currently are $80 each and the cross bars are $15 each. That comes to ~~$260 for the unit like above, 3 shelf unit. But the kit also includes the wood for the shelf for an extra $40.

 

[ycgoat]

I am in the market too, and have come across some deals for bulk purchases lately.
One was a warehouse full but it required disassembly and was all or nothing, but very cheap. (that deal has expired)
most recently was enough uprights and beams to do (3) 40" shelves an entire run for 80' long 12' high ($900) already palatalized.

I am on the fence for this because I only need enough for about 16', which I could get for about the same price, and of course if you snooze you lose.

 

[Innovate1]

I picked up two 8 foot sections about 18 months ago. One is 12' high, the other 8' with beams and shelving (think it is 5 shelves for one and 6 for the other) for $800. It was from a shop that went out of business. It was in good shape but repainted it to go more with the shop - they were HD orange.

 

[olytdi]

I gave up on finding affordable used pallet racks. When I really look at my application, heavy built wood shelving racks will suffice. Just finished building one -- 12 ft x12 ft x 32 in with 4 levels and I when finished, I wasn't able to lift one end off the floor -- too heavy. I used lift jack stands on dollies to move it into place and then secured it to the posts with angle iron for earthquake protection.

 

[twagler]

Around here it's pretty easy to find the pallet rack beams for free (or cheap), but getting the uprights is harder. I recently picked up 55 beams for free, so came up with the idea of turning some of the beams into legs. I'm not much of a welder, and wanted to maintain the capability to "knock apart" the pallet racks when/if I ever want to move the shelving. Turns out it's pretty easy to mimic the teardrop shaped hole that is stamped in the uprights for the beam clips to drop into. A little bit of hole sawing, jig-sawing and a few scrap metal end brace pieces screwed on with self-tapping metal screw, and some surplus office cubicle desk surfaces for shelving yields a sturdy 8 ft long by 8 ft high x 2 ft deep shelving unit for the basement. Total cost = about $10. Now just need to clean some space, move into position, and load them up.

 

[californiamilleghia]

I do not think they make 6ft wide crossbars , I could not find them so I had to have some 8 ft ones shortened ,

I wanted 6ft so I could park my car under the rack and still have 2 layers above y\the car for storage.

 

[cnttxmdc]

What is everyone using for spacing between your 2x4 crossbars?

 

[Richard D]

The crossbars are made of steel, not 2x4s.