Pallets & Racks for attachment storage (not a fork discussion).

[dstig1]

I would not suggest that you can pick an implement off the rack with the SSQA directly. You need a lot of vertical space to be able to get it hooked, lifted up and curled to make sure it doesn't fall off. If you only have one pallet rack at eye level or so and nothing above it (or at least say 3' clearance above any implement), then you might be able to directly pick it. I put my grapple on a pallet and up in the rack with the forks. The forks are on a dolly below. You can barely see the grapple in this pic and the forks below. I only have a few inches clearance above the grapple and the forks are a lot more flexible in picking it off the rack



You could always come up with a way to stand the bushhog up on edge. I've seen it done with mower decks, but haven't seen anything as large as that done this way. Could work, especially if it is a very rare thing for you to use.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

How many shelves ?

I would only do two shelves on each segment, so four shelves total. I might make the lower shelf relatively high up, even above the hood of my truck so that I basically can't hit the shelf (though I could hit attachments below it). TBD. So one implement on floor. One on the first shelf. Second shelf implement TBD. Times two bays.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Re: Pallets & Racks for attachment storage (not a fork discussion).

I have pallet racking in the shop in an L shape and keep the landscape rake, the bakblade and a couple of mower decks on it.
We ended up picking up a walk-behind electric forklift to put stuff on and off which makes it far more convenient than trying to use the tractor on the side that is not straight in from the door.
For what you're doing, it sounds like a tractor should work fine.
If you look around you can find pallets that are different than the normal size, I have my landscape rake and backblade on a wider/deeper pallet than a standard one which I picked up someplace, might have been a place that received in equipment on pallets. Can't remember off hand.
View attachment 646355

Aaron Z

Are those 42" deep racks?

 

[Bullwinkle123]

I would not suggest that you can pick an implement off the rack with the SSQA directly. You need a lot of vertical space to be able to get it hooked, lifted up and curled to make sure it doesn't fall off. If you only have one pallet rack at eye level or so and nothing above it (or at least say 3' clearance above any implement), then you might be able to directly pick it. I put my grapple on a pallet and up in the rack with the forks. The forks are on a dolly below. You can barely see the grapple in this pic and the forks below. I only have a few inches clearance above the grapple and the forks are a lot more flexible in picking it off the rack

View attachment 646365

You could always come up with a way to stand the bushhog up on edge. I've seen it done with mower decks, but haven't seen anything as large as that done this way. Could work, especially if it is a very rare thing for you to use.

Your picture certainly looks something like I was thinking of. It looks like your entire fork fits underneath the shelf, what are the rack dimensions?

I don't think I would ever try to stand my rotary cutter up. At 745 pounds that sounds like a good way to kill myself, or at least break a lot of stuff!

 

[aczlan]

Re: Pallets & Racks for attachment storage (not a fork discussion).

Are those 42" deep racks?

No, mine are 48 in deep.

Aaron Z

 

[newbury]

I've 4 workshops with a few feet of racks:

plus 8 more units not pictured and 2 sets of beams for 12' shelves, 3 layers that I need to get teardrop uprights for.
So all told I'll have about 200+ linear feet.

Pallets racks are like tinkertoys for big boys. I've set up several sets and then a year or two later taken them down and moved them around. They are heavy but a lot easier to reconfigure than anything else that will hold a few tons.

I store things like my 5' tiller and rotary cutter on 2x4's resting on HF's $8 furniture dollies for rolling under the first layer. So they can be pushed partially under.
Most of my sets are built so I've got the first level so with a sheet of 3/4 plywood topped by a sheet of 3/4 MDF it comes about elbow height and makes a good standup worksurface that I can mount a vice on etc. And plenty of storage underneath.

Then on many of them I set the second shelf up so I can fit a 30 inch high kitchen wall cabinet on my HF's $8 furniture dollies. Thus I have a loaded cabinet I can roll to the back, but if needed (because it's hard to reach) I can pull it forward. I've got a bunch of kitchen cabinets free from a remodel.

I'd recommend you be flexible with the height of the uprights, I've trimmed off some 12' to fit under a 11' rafter, because I got a bunch of 12' uprights for $10@, but try and get the longest beam you can afford.

You don't mention cost or availability.

Most of my racks I bought for about $150 to $200 for 3 or 4 sets of beams and 1+ uprights, but I had to search for about 3 or 4 years to get the 12' beams cheap. However with the economy crashing there will probably be another flood of bankruptcies and sales of cheap pallet rack.

Some people are able to get them free.

With the stock market crash I expect another buying opportunity.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

...
I store things like my 5' tiller and rotary cutter on 2x4's resting on HF's $8 furniture dollies for rolling under the first layer. So they can be pushed partially under.
...
I'd recommend you be flexible with the height of the uprights, I've trimmed off some 12' to fit under a 11' rafter, because I got a bunch of 12' uprights for $10@, but try and get the longest beam you can afford.
...
You don't mention cost or availability.

Most of my racks I bought for about $150 to $200 for 3 or 4 sets of beams and 1+ uprights, but I had to search for about 3 or 4 years to get the 12' beams cheap. However with the economy crashing there will probably be another flood of bankruptcies and sales of cheap pallet rack.

Thanks for that info. What have you found to be the magic numbers with respect to rack depth and pallet dimensions for your tractor implements that actually go up on the rack? What are the attachments you store on the rack (vs the floor)?

On cutting down some 12' uprights I can't tell from your pictures which were cut, but I'm guessing there's some trickiness finding uprights which you can cut at the right hight without compromising structural integrity of the cross bar pattern. Interesting to consider as an option based on price and availability, certainly the 10' uprights aren't as plentiful as the 12's, if I recall correctly.

On price, I haven't done too much pricing yet. I've been looking at places like Used Pallet Racking for Sale – Buy Warehouse Pallet Racks at SJF.com (which has a depot in Massachusetts, as close as most providers of used racks, which is to say not close enough at all ...). Their prices don't look horrible to me, without much to compare to yet. So I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into, but as I'm only talking about 24' of horizontal space hopefully it isn't too bad. I'm guessing delivery is what would kill it if I needed that. Still, it's all cheaper than a new shed for attachments, which is what I'm trying to avoid. The Brentwood vendor mentioned by someone else is also on the wrong side of NH from me. But based on the supportive advice to this thread, sounds like I'll begin calling around this week. Just need to figure out what shelving depth I can get away with. The deeper the rack, the more it eats into the space I've taken for granted for opening the gigantic hatch on my 220" Ford Expecdition EL without opening garage doors. I suppose some sacrifices must be made.

 

[newbury]

Thanks for that info. What have you found to be the magic numbers with respect to rack depth and pallet dimensions for your tractor implements that actually go up on the rack? What are the attachments you store on the rack (vs the floor)?

I don't currently store any attachments on the racks. But I do store a full tote of water (see pic).

On cutting down some 12' uprights I can't tell from your pictures which were cut, but I'm guessing there's some trickiness finding uprights which you can cut at the right hight without compromising structural integrity of the cross bar pattern. Interesting to consider as an option based on price and availability, certainly the 10' uprights aren't as plentiful as the 12's, if I recall correctly.

10' footers are rare, you may find a lot of 16 and 20 footers. All the 12' rack uprights I bought have about 6" above the top horizontal bar. I trimmed that off so I could maneuver them around under the roof which is on top of the rafters.

On price, I haven't done too much pricing yet. I've been looking at places like Used Pallet Racking for Sale Buy Warehouse Pallet Racks at (which has a depot in Massachusetts, as close as most providers of used racks, which is to say not close enough at all ...). Their prices don't look horrible to me, without much to compare to yet. So I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into, but as I'm only talking about 24' of horizontal space hopefully it isn't too bad. I'm guessing delivery is what would kill it if I needed that. Still, it's all cheaper than a new shed for attachments, which is what I'm trying to avoid. The Brentwood vendor mentioned by someone else is also on the wrong side of NH from me. But based on the supportive advice to this thread, sounds like I'll begin calling around this week. Just need to figure out what shelving depth I can get away with. The deeper the rack, the more it eats into the space I've taken for granted for opening the gigantic hatch on my 220" Ford Expecdition EL without opening garage doors. I suppose some sacrifices must be made.

For your purpose figure out the widest attachment you need to store UP. You can always rig up a pulley and ramp system to drag it up a level. And remember you can leave the lowest level EMPTY. I've one section I left the lower level empty up to 4' high, except for a Fiat a buddy stored there for years.
You might want to put racking across the entire back wall with some sections having the first shelf at 6 or 7 foot high.

And SJF's prices look pretty good.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

I don't currently store any attachments on the racks. But I do store a full tote of water (see pic).

10' footers are rare, you may find a lot of 16 and 20 footers. All the 12' rack uprights I bought have about 6" above the top horizontal bar. I trimmed that off so I could maneuver them around under the roof which is on top of the rafters.

For your purpose figure out the widest attachment you need to store UP. You can always rig up a pulley and ramp system to drag it up a level. And remember you can leave the lowest level EMPTY. I've one section I left the lower level empty up to 4' high, except for a Fiat a buddy stored there for years.
You might want to put racking across the entire back wall with some sections having the first shelf at 6 or 7 foot high.

And SJF's prices look pretty good.

Lol, what's this?

 

[fruitcakesa]

Lol, what's this?
View attachment 646423

A shim?:laughing: