Which Lumber Rack to buy?

[Mike Weaver]

Ok, my Cub Scout Den Leaders got together and gave me an $80 GC to Lee Valley as a thank you for being the Cubmaster :D and I need a lumber rack desparately.

I was thinking of getting these components, and I was wondering if anyone has used them & what you thought of them. They are "Galvanized Heavy Duty Shelving System parts":
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=32144&cat=3,43648,43650
My rack would be a bit over $400 from those pieces.

Also at LV is a Lumber Storage System:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32145&cat=1,43326
file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/xz26dw/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg
The issue with that though, is cost. It would be about $950. :eek:

So, so I save pennies for a long time to come & get the more expensive one, or do you guys think the lesser of the two is decent enough?

Thanks for your thoughts,
-Mike
PS If I did this correctly, the "heavy duty shelving pieces" with the extra supports below the long brackets are in the pic on the left & the "lumber storage system" is on the right.

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Get this:

77574

Seriously.

You can put together a very strong rack much like your second option at a much better price from the borg. That is, if you don't want to make your own (which I'm sure someone will suggest).

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I love Lee Valley. I just think those racks are a bit overpriced.

[Mike Spanbauer]

I personally own a set of the Triton racks, and love them. They are on sale @ woodcraft for a little longer for $39 each. I would recommend them again as they are very strong (have about 200 bd ft on mine currently and it's not fully loaded and they were easy to install.

mike

[Rob Bodenschatz]

I should also say, of the two options, I really don't like the one with the diagonal support. It seems to waste too much space.

[Jeff Wright]

I personally own a set of the Triton racks, and love them. They are on sale @ woodcraft for a little longer for $39 each. I would recommend them again as they are very strong (have about 200 bd ft on mine currently and it's not fully loaded and they were easy to install.

mike

I also got the Triton racks. I have never seen a lower price than the $39 currently being offered. I bought two sets and have four (not) two standards bolted into my cinder block workshop walls. I took great care to align the bottoms of each of the six post positions so my lumber would lie flat while in the racks.

[Chris Padilla]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=70188

Scroll down to the Similar Threads listing...lottsa good posts on this subject.

[Matt Mutus]

I used some of this stuff.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=3931

I bought a few 55" straps, cut them into pieces, and lagged them into studs to give me a single level of overhead storage 18 inches deep.


It's heavy duty. I can hang from the end of an 18 inch support, which is essentially a straight line out from the wall. (overkill I guess - but I like that better than underkill)

[Howard Levine]

Jeff, what kind of bolts did you use for your cinder block walls? Are the racks also supported by the floor?

[Jeff Wright]

Jeff, what kind of bolts did you use for your cinder block walls? Are the racks also supported by the floor?

I used 3-inch tapcons. No, they do not get supported from the floor in any way.

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Mike. I put up a wall of lumber storage a couple years ago. I bought everything I needed at Lowes. I used six foot standards every other stud, and 12 in. brackets hung on the standards. The standards are heavy duty with a double row of holes for the 2 pronged brackets. I used 3 in. #14, screws in the pre punched standard screw holes. The studs will rip out of the wall, before this rack falls down. I believe the standards and brackets are made by Rubbermaid, but you have to look pretty closely to find out.... If at some time, you need more brackets, you don't have to send away, just drop by Lowes.

[glenn bradley]

I used what Ken used from Lowes. I went every stud and have arms about every 6" vertically. This allows a good amount of lumber without my having to dig too far for any one piece. Had the Triton sale been going on I would have picked up two of those and saved about $40.

[Brian Willan]

Lee Valley also carries the Triton Racks.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=55089&cat=1,43326

Although it is only available at their retail stores.

Cheers

Brian

[Jim Becker]

The nice thing about "option A" in your post is that this same Stirling shelving system is available in the 'borg if you need more components. I do use some in my shop for various things including some incidental lumber storage, especially turning stock. The downside is that the heavier capacity brackets require that angle leg which takes away capacity from the layer below. In other words, this is great for utility shelving, but has disadvantages for a lumber rack.

[Michael Gibbons]

Check the last couple issue of FWW. They just had an article about a lumber rack that you can build out of 2x4's and some black pipe. Use the gift card for a new tool.

[Dan Forman]

I made this one out of 2x4's and 18" sections of 1/2" pipe from the Borg. Hasn't fallen down yet! Uprights are anchored on the floor, and to the ceiling joists, so no strain on the wall. The pipe is covered with thin wall PVC to protect the wood from possible stain.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1010695.jpg

Dan

[Jim Tobias]

Mike,
I have the 2nd option from Lee Valley and all I can tall you is it is a lifetime purchase. I have an enormous amount of wood stored on these in my shop and also in my garage. They are extremely "HEAVY DUTY" IIf you plan to store a lot of wood (read woodaholic) thse are the best. If you caare more practical about wood storage, go for the others or build it yourself. I just can't turn down a "bulk buy" on nice wood. I have a little over 1000BF of wormy chestnut (gloat) stored on these in the garage that I bought from a guy that was selling his house and he had all of this in his shed.

Jim

[Dick Strauss]

Mike,
Have you thought about using some used pallet racking for lumber storage (like what you see at Lowes or HD)? Do a search and see what you can find locally. It should be cheaper and stronger than the LV options. In addition, it is free standing so you don't have to mount it to the wall unless you choose to do so.

[Mike Bosdet]

Is this the same system offered at Rockler for $69?

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10746&filter=wood%20rack&cookietest=1

[Jeff Wright]

Is this the same system offered at Rockler for $69?

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10746&filter=wood%20rack&cookietest=1

. . . . . Yes.

[David G Baker]

Mike,
I bought two sets of the Rockler lumber racks during the Black Friday sale for around $40 a set. I have them together but not wall mounted yet. They are very well designed and should perform as has been mentioned.

[Don Bullock]

I personally own a set of the Triton racks, and love them. They are on sale @ woodcraft for a little longer for $39 each. I would recommend them again as they are very strong (have about 200 bd ft on mine currently and it's not fully loaded and they were easy to install.

mike

You can't beat the Triton racks at WoodCraft. They retail for $69 and I've seen them on sale for as low as $49, but the deal that WoodCraft has, $39 with free shipping is fantastic. You can't buy the materials to make lumber racks for that price.

[Keith Beck]

Mike,

I picked up the same rack system that Matt has when it was on sale at Woodcraft (looks like the same stuff in your first pic). It's exceptionally strong. Supposedly, the 18" arms will support 300lbs at the tip, so as you can imagine, they'll hold a butt-ton of weight. I'm more worried about the wall coming down before the rack does.

Keith

[Jim Knishka]

I have the option B setup purchased at Menards and Farm&Fleet, HD used to have it but I believe it's discontinued. Use your certificate for the fund stuff! Rob is right, skip the diagonals. I bought some and wouldn't again - on the bigger ones you can get a short 5 or 6 incher and fit it inside of the triangle and recover some of the space, but wouldn't purchase the diagonals again.

Mine are tap-conned into poured walls - I don't have the horizontal hanging bracket. Also, more shelve brackets (rows of shelves) is great - not nearly as much restacking! Also, one nice think about the wider vertical standards is you get air circulation all around your stack - about an inch and a half out from the wall. Nice if you're next to concrete.

Oh, if you're going into concrete and if you only have a pistol grip hammer drill see if you can borrow a rotary hammer or rent one. Bought one half way through my installation (did it over a couple years, they now line my shop) and wow what a difference in penetrating power.
Jim

[Mike Weaver]

You folks have given me lots to think about & it's only fair that I expound a bit on my dilemma...

1. I have LOTS of wood to store (use). Over 1000BF, mostly of 3"x12"x10-12' old growth white oak beams that are heavy.

2. The length of the wall of my shop on which I'd like to put this rack is 1/2 block and the other half is 3/4" OSB sub floor over 2x4 that is lagged, tapcon'd, braced, and otherwise ultra engineered ;)). The tricky part is that the plane of the wood wall is back 3" from the plane of the block wall.

3. I started making a wood rack by laminating OSB rim joist on each side of 2" x4" oak to make beams, into which I'd planned on drilling for 3/4" black pipe. Well, some of the glue ups aren't quite square & it's taking much longer to square them than I'd hoped.
[anyone in York County that would like to let me borrow a portable handheld electric planer, please PM me :)]

I do have ~35 3' lengths of 3/4" iron pipe that's covered with PVC pipe from my last lumber rack.

Without much shop time (& not really likely to change), I was wondering what I might be able to buy to forgo some manual labor.

Now I'm waffling between buying & continuing the build.....but those beams I've made are really heavy. :eek: Once installed, they certainly won't go anywhere, but it's a lot of work in the meantime.

If I had it to do over again, I'd have not built the wall to the shop yet, left the wood against the posts in the center of the basement and built a simple rack along the outside wall of my shop with 2x6 & the pipe.

It might be easier to move the stack & use the block wall for the entire length of the rack & save the labor required to make up those 3".

SWMBO is on board with buying, but I really can't affors the $1000 version in good conscience.

So, what to do...:confused:

Thanks for your great suggestions & links to other threads/products, etc.
I had seen some of them before I posted my original question, but certainly not all.

-Mike
PS The triton looks nice, but not enough capacity with the short arms.