Unistruts for shelving

[Sack]

Anyone know what capacity unistrut is capable of holding in the horizontal postion? I'm thinking of using some to build shelving along the wall above my toolboxes. Total span would be about 12' with a total of 4 pairs of supports including the 2 on each end. This way I'll have my mobile toolboxes below them and not lose the valuable storage space above them.

But would the unistuts be able to handle this or are they only used for lighter things like conduit, light fixtures, air lines etc?

Thx.

 

[VvvJRvvV]

There are different grades of uni-strut. There are also a bunch of different materials it is made of, everything from aluminum to stainless. If you have the strut already, post what manufacturer, material and grade it is. Just a side note, most uni-strut only comes in 10' lengths. Are you planning on welding it together or using uni-strut componets to bolt it together, if so, the parts and pieces are quite expensive.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Go to the Unistrut site and see for yourself.

http://www.unistrut.com/

Select "product movies" from the menu and watch them, quite interesting. Yes, the stuff you buy at HD or Lowes will probably hold up whatever you want to support and then some, but the specs on the web site will tell for sure.

Charles

 

[Stuart in MN]

Like the other guys said, it depends on the grade, material and size of the strut (although in my experience all of it is pretty darn strong.) Unless you're storing your collection of lead ingots on the shelf, I suspect there won't be any problems.

As an example, I have a homemade 4' x 8' utility trailer, and its frame is built from lengths of Unistrut welded together. I've carried as much as 1500 pounds in that thing and it didn't complain.

 

[Sundowner]

Like the other guys said, it depends on the grade, material and size of the strut (although in my experience all of it is pretty darn strong.) Unless you're storing your collection of lead ingots on the shelf, I suspect there won't be any problems.

As an example, I have a homemade 4' x 8' utility trailer, and its frame is built from lengths of Unistrut welded together. I've carried as much as 1500 pounds in that thing and it didn't complain.

unistrut will send you a 4" x 6" handbook that gives you all the loading capacities of unistrut brand materials. It's a very useful book to have.