In praise of CL and pallet racking.

[newbury]

Well I've finally gotten some storage set up for my warehouses at my retirement home.

Discussed in http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/212437-rough-value-workshops-barns-ne.html


Warehouses, left to right RV shed, sawmill shed, big warehouse, woodwork shop.


My RV shed, with stuff that was on small wooden shelves waiting to be put "on the rack"


The big warehouse



The sawmill shed

I've been able to get it all off Craigs List, put ALMOST all of it (except the one on the right in the rv shed) together myself, i's reconfigurable and CHEAP. Costs were about $120 per 9'x42" section (except for 10 sections I got for $100 total). Plus every shelf will hold up to about 3 ton.

I'll need about 80 more linear feet to finish the big warehouse. And I've got about 30 linear feet in the woodwork shop on the far right.

In the racks with the workbench high first shelf I'm putting down a 3/4" sheet of plywood mated with a 3/4 sheet of MDF to make a good workbench surface. Above those racks I plan on putting work lighting.

Putting the stuff together is a decent work out for a certified old guy. Each beam weighs about 50lbs and each upright about 100 lbs. But I don't think I'm going to have to worry.

In the past I built my own wooden shelves or bought Home Depot style Edsal commercial shelving 77 in. W x 78 in. H x 24 in. D Steel Commercial Shelving Unit-ERZ782478W-4 at The Home Depot but to buy that much storage space was going to cost me BIG bucks I thought. And I knew if I started filling the shops up without shelving I'd never get it done.

So this is in praise of CL and pallet rack. Now SWMBO tells me to look for a forklift!

 

[MIKE R]

Looks great. I need to invest in some shelving units some day to organize parts a little.

 

[94BULLITT]

Looks good. I wish I could find some of that on CL.

 

[texasjohn]

yep, good job!! I love CL, too. Some years ago I got a bunch of such racking at a metal recycling place for a nickel a pound. I have it on all walls of my 40X60 work shop. Good stuff! It shows up from time to time here on CL as well but I don't need any more.

 

[newbury]

yep, good job!! I love CL, too. Some years ago I got a bunch of such racking at a metal recycling place for a nickel a pound. I have it on all walls of my 40X60 work shop. Good stuff! It shows up from time to time here on CL as well but I don't need any more.

That's a good price, but the last bunch I picked up would have run about $30/section at a nickel a pound, and I'm pretty sure scrap prices have risen.

Looks good. I wish I could find some of that on CL.

You've got to look constantly. The prices I've gotten it at usually require you get it out of the building in a few days.

There's a guy in Lawrenceburg, TN who buys bigtime from WalMart, Sam's etc, and he's usually got

8', 10', 12' Pallet Rack Uprights and Crossbars (Lawrenceburg, Tn)

We have just bought several trailer loads of Fixtures and Showcases From The Worlds Largest Retailer.
We are selling the Uprights for $6 a ft (ex. a 10' upright is $60)
Cross beams are $1.25 a ft. (ex. a 8ft Crossbar is $10)

Which has pretty good prices and usually a good mix. I might be going by his place because I would like to get a few 10' uprights and 12' beams, which have been scarce around the Washington DC, and NE MS areas.


If one only needs a few sections it's worth paying the higher price. But when we moved in SWMBO paid about $2,800 for 4 bookshelves for the library and implied she wouldn't mind me putting up "some pallet rack" but try to keep within her budget. "Her" bookshelves take up about 36"W x 12" deep and 72" high w/ 5 shelves, about the same space of 1 shelf level on my pallet racks. She thought I'd be able to get two or three sections .

I've got a long way to go on $$ but am short on space I've still got another 6 sections I'm using at my home in Alexandria, VA.

Another advantage of scanning CL frequently is you never know what mught pop up. One night as I was looking I found a Stihl 088 in EXCELLENT condition. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/chainsaws/257299-i-couldnt-believe-088-450-a.html

 

[94BULLITT]

What were you keyword were you using to find them?

 

[dstig1]

Ummm try "pallet rack" Pallet racking is a great deal when you find it used. It pops up pretty consistently here on CL. I found mine that way inside of a couple weeks of looking. There is also a place nearby that deals a lot in used pallet racking:

Material Handling Equipment | Specialists in new & used material handling equipment | mn

Havent bought from them, but almost did once. Looks like they have several stocking locations around the country too, FWIW

 

[Stimw]

I got lucky, I have a customer that sweeps and cleans parking lots.
I got 3 complete sections with wire shelving out of his scrap trailer!
They were headed to the dump with it and I saved them the tipping fees.

 

[texasjohn]

very lucky...and very green/recycling too

 

[94BULLITT]

Ummm try "pallet rack" Pallet racking is a great deal when you find it used. It pops up pretty consistently here on CL. I found mine that way inside of a couple weeks of looking. There is also a place nearby that deals a lot in used pallet racking:

Material Handling Equipment | Specialists in new & used material handling equipment | mn

Havent bought from them, but almost did once. Looks like they have several stocking locations around the country too, FWIW

I always tried "warehouse shelving" but could only find dealers selling it. I will pallet rack and see if I can find anything.