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NORTHERN MICHIGAN- The uses for Storage and Pallet Racking are endless! We thought we would highlight a customer of ours, located in Northern Michigan, who is a vintage and classic wooden boat restorer. They have been one of the most experienced and respected wooden boat dealers, parts suppliers and vintage boat restorers for decades. They have been a customer of ours for well over 25 years.

There are so many different and unique uses for Pallet Rack and Storage Shelving! This customer uses standard Teardrop style Pallet rack for boat motor and parts storage. The picture you see here is just a small portion of their extensive parts warehouse. Look at all of those Chris-Craft, Hacker Craft, Garwood and Lyman motors! We dont believe they have ever bought anything NEW… it’s all been USED.

“OLD PALLET RACK FOR OLD PARTS” our customer always says. We always reply… “old pallet rack for old guys”, they always chuckle.

As you might imagine, our USED inventory changes weekly (if not daily). Contact us and allow our team of professionals to assist you with any USED Pallet Rack project.

Pretty cool… Randomly ran into this UPS driver with an OLD Aluminum Convertible Hand Truck we sold them roughly 24 years ago (our “worn” company sticker was on the other side). We have sold these Hand Trucks to UPS facilities throughout the years. This Hand Truck was manufactured by Harper Hand Trucks out of Wichita, KS. Back then, Harper was a small regional fabricator but they have grown into the largest Hand Truck manufacturer in the world! We have been both a Magliner and a Harper Dealer for nearly 30 years.

We sell a wide range of Hand and Platform Trucks from quality Manufacturers like Harper Trucks, Magliner Hand Trucks, Vestil Manufacturing, Wesco Manufacturing, Fairbanks, Milwaukee Trucks, Little Giant, New Age Industrial, Safco and B&P.

Look at the worn handles, think about how many times this hand truck has been taken out and put back in his truck. This truck definitely has had some wear and tear, but he tells me it works great… UNBELIEVABLE!

Cincinnati, Ohio– Floor Scales are an essential part of any modern commercial warehouse. When Customers are setting up a new facility, a Floor Scale should be one of the first purchase considerations made.

But why? Floor Scales have a multitude of different uses. The most common use though is the weighing of inbound and outbound freight. LTL companies require an accurate weight noted on their bill-of-ladings. Not doing so can result in added fees (in this day and age, freight companies will do anything to add additional charges to your freight bill). Floor Scales are also commonly used in the weighing of bulk materials, quality control and inventory management.

Floor Scales come in a range of different sizes and capacities. The most common Floor Scale we sell is the standard 48″ x 48″ with a 5,000 lbs capacity. These scales are generally calibrated in 1.0 lbs. weight increments. The same scale can also be calibrated 10,000 lbs. x 2.0 lbs. at no additional charge. Another stock size is the 60″ x 60″. Any other combination of sizes and capacities can be made, please inquire for pricing.

Common options include steel access ramps (including level off platforms).

Floor Scales can be adapted for many other different applications. A few examples include…

Stainless Steel Floor Scales

Floor Scales if similar design as above but built entirely of Stainless Steel for washdown or hazardous environments.

Drum Scales

For weighing 55 gallon steel or poly drums

Coil Scales

For accurate weighment of large, dense metals in bars, tubes, sheets, structural beams and coils. The capacity of a coil scale is much greater than an average floor scale, often reaching up to 100,000 pounds.

Platform Scales

Smaller, generally lower capacity Scales for general weighing.

WE SELL QUALITY… we live in a day and age of online retailers advertising cheap, import scales which are unrepairable. These scales are considered “throw-away”… since they are unrepairable (few parts exist) and very difficult (if not impossible) to calibrate, these devices are to be discarded as soon as they fail. Warranties on these scales are comical as you would have to send the scale back internationally to get the issue looked at.

WE DO NOT SELL THESE TYPES OF SCALES! All of the scales we sell have full warranties (parts and service) and can be serviced and repaired locally!

MASON, OHIO- Today, we thought we would take a little walk down memory lane to one of the more unique projects we have ever completed…

In September, 2003 a severe thunderstorm passed directly over King’s Island Amusement Park in Mason (Cincinnati), Ohio. Though very little major damage was done to the park itself, the iconic King’s Island marquee sign, visible from I-71 literally blew over. That old sign had been welcoming visitors to King’s Island for 30+ years.

A month or two later, we were contacted by an engineering firm designing the new sign for the park. This new sign was going to incorporate a newly refreshed logo and be 4-5 times larger than the old one. We were asked for a ladder solution for workers to SAFELY access the upper levels of the interior of the sign for service or maintenance.

We along with the Engineering team at Vestil Manufacturing came up with and eventually manufactured and shipped a Steel Caged Walk-Thru Fixed Access Ladder system (very similar to the one pictured above) which started at the bottom of the sign and went nearly to the top. The sign was built with a series of work platforms. The series of ladders were positioned at different sides of each “platform”. These were all custom built. This allowed workers to maintain and repair the sign safely, entirely from the interior of the sign.

The final product… the sign still stands today. While we didn’t install the fixed ladders in the sign (the ladders were shipped to the sign company and they did) the collaborative efforts of our companies made for a very smooth (not to mention interesting) project!

Contact our team of experts for a wide range of OSHA and BOCA approved Steel Rolling Ladders of various designs and styles.

All of our Ladders are proudly manufactured in the United States!

DAYTON, OHIO– An often requested Pallet Truck accessory is the Rubber Pallet Truck/Jack Stop from Vestil Manufacturing. This inexpensive, rubber cradle is designed to secure your Pallet Jack in the back of truck beds during transit. This helps prevent trailer and door damage from “runaway” Pallet Jacks not to mention the valuable freight on the truck. So often we would see delivery truck drivers secure their Pallet Jacks with ratchet straps or bungee cords to the trailer when driving. It was so time consuming and often times did not safely secure the Pallet Jack to the truck.

These Pallet Truck Stops are simple to use… you simply roll the Pallet Jack load wheels (rear wheels) onto the rubber stop and it keeps the Jack from moving during transit. No straps, no cords or bungees!

Ideal for freight companies, trucking companies, and other material handling customers. These Pallet Truck Stops are easy to store as they only measure 11.5″ x 11.5″ and weighs less than 5 lbs. each.

Columbus, Ohio– We sell a wide range of Steel Rolling Ladders for many different applications. One of the most popular is the standard 4-Step Steel Ladder (the 10-step Ladder is probably the 2nd most popular)!

Our Columbus Ohio based customer was looking for a mobile Ladder to load multiple shelf levels but also wanted a larger top platform and wider step width for employee safety when in use. They also required a safety chain so unauthorized users could not use it when being stored as well as a self-locking bottom step (Saf-T-Lock) for safety. We contacted the folks at Tri-Arc Manufacturing for assistance in coming up with a solution. This was a trial ladder and after using it for several weeks, they purchased 26 of them, all shipped to various locations throughout the US.

A bit more about these Rolling Ladders

Steel Rolling Industrial Ladders are available with two different type step configurations. Grip Strut (expanded metal) steps offer maximum slip resistance with a self-cleaning flow-through design that is ideal for wet or slippery environments. Perforated Steps (or Perf Tread) offer an economical high strength, slip resistant safety step. Rolling Ladders are available with Spring Loaded Casters that retract under user’s weight or the easy-to-use Saf-T-Lock (foot pedal activated) locking system.

All of the Steel Rolling Ladders we sell meet all OSHA requirements.

Freight and Shipping

One of the most challenging parts to selling these Steel Rolling Ladders is shipping and freight. The problem is this ladder may weight only 125 lbs. but even when shipped KD (knocked down) it takes up a bunch of space in a semi trailer. As a result, many ship at a freight class 200-300. This is where we contact our 3PL partners to guarantee the lowest freight rate and the quickest transit time.

All of the Steel Rolling Ladders we sell are proudly manufactured in the United States!

Plain City, Ohio-We often get calls from building, construction and renovation contractors doing demolition on interior structures and need an efficient and safe method to remove the debris. Most times from upper levels of multiple story buildings. Certain considerations have to be remembered, like door widths/heights as well as elevator openings. The total weight of the truck is also a factor when moving material up and down an elevator. The perfect piece of equipment for such a job is a Trash Hopper-CHIP and WASTE TRUCK.

• 5/8 cubic yard capacity with 1,500 lbs. weight capacity, 68″L x 24.5″W x 40″H, 1,500 lbs. capacity (truck weighs 200 lbs.)
• 3/4 cubic yard capacity with 2,000 lbs. weight capacity, 68″L x 30.5″W x 40″H (truck weighs 245 lbs.)
• 1.0 cubic yard capacity with 2,000 lbs. weight capacity, 68″L x 3.5″W x 40″H (truck weighs 265 lbs.)

These Chip & Waste Trucks all include 10″ x 2.5″ welded on rigid casters (load wheels) and 8″ x 2″ mold-on rubber swivel casters. All models are leak-proof and are constructed of 14-gauge steel for durability.

These versatile trucks are also great in housekeeping applications!

Two other related products to improve removal of debris is the Manual Tilt Truck. This Truck is great for manual handling of light weight, in plant refuse such as cardboard, paper, wood, pallets and trash. It is not watertight though. Also, the Lo-Profile Manual Tilt Truck with an overall height to the top of the push handle at 30″, while the bucket measures 24″ from the floor to the top edge. These Trucks are manufactured by Jesco Industries and Vestil Manufacturing and ship in a matter of days, not weeks like the competition.

Like all of our products, these Trucks are proudly manufactured in the USA!

So many customers spend too much time thinking about Pallet Rack Upright height, depth and Beam lengths. They often overlook Pallet Rack Beam capacity. For many, this is not an issue (as what they will be storing is relatively light) but for certain customers in certain industries it is a major factor that needs to be considered when sourcing Pallet Rack Beams.

Just as Pallet Rack Beams come in different lengths, each Beam length also comes in multiple capacities. The Pallet Rack Beam capacity, is generally calculated as a combination of the Beam length and the Beam height. For example, an Interlake 96″ long Teardrop style Beam that is 2.75″ high has roughly a 2,440 lbs. capacity. The same 96″ long Beam length in a 4.0″H face has a 5,370 lbs. capacity. Quite a difference! It is also important to remember that Beam ratings are calculated as an evenly distributed load.

A mistake we often see is a customer who purchases Beams on cost alone with no regard for related capacities. There are a couple of industries that immediately come to mind who have uniquely heavily concentrated loads… roofing, tile and feed & grain industries.

Case Study

We recently had the owner of a large feed & grain business in Lancaster, Ohio contact us about some Pallet Rack for one of their retail operations. We expressed our concern for the capacity of the Beams being purchased (due to weight of skids being stored) but in the end they purchased our least expensive 96″L Beam at 4,100 lbs. capacity per pair. Prior to pick-up, we once again mentioned that we did not think that this Beam would be adequate for the application, but they insisted it would.

A week or so after installation, we received a call (and subsequent photo above) with their concern for the way the Beams were deflecting with two, fully loaded skids on them. Note the excessive deflection (or bowing as it is commonly referred as) in the middle pair of Beams. We asked the customer to perform a simple deflection test.

We asked them to run a string from one side of Upright to the other and measure the “deflection gap” at the very center.

So what is an acceptable level of deflection on a pair of Beams?

It is important to note that some deflection is permissible, but not much. The maximum amount of deflection that is allowed in pallet rack beams is governed by the RMI-Rack Manufacturers Institute as well as ANSI Standards. The RMI deflection limit for a normal pair of Pallet Rack Beams is L/180 or the span divided by 180. A 96” Beam will have a deflection limit of 96/180 = 0.533”.

In more simple terms… Divide the length of the beam (from the inside of the columns) by 180. If  the 96″ Beam length is divided by 180 for a result of .533, or about a ½ inch. If the deflection gap is equal to or greater than ½ inch, the beam is considered overloaded and unsafe.

Once they performed this simple test they realized that the Beams that they purchased were considerably under capacity for the loads they were storing.

What was interesting was they went from the lightest Beam we stocked at the time to the heaviest (8,560 lbs. cap. per pair). Unfortunately, we were unable to take back the overloaded Beams they never returned to their original shape.

We are often asked about Interlake “OLD” and Interlake “NEW” style Pallet Rack Uprights and Beams. But, what’s the difference? This has always been a confusing one…

A bit about the original design… The original “OLD STYLE” pin design of standard Teardrop style Beams has remained unchanged for decades. The pins were roundish (if not completely round) in shape and were positioned into the larger opening of the inverted teardrop holes on the Uprights. They were then simply pushed down and locked into the smaller portion of the teardrop hole. This simple design, quick installation and safe operation is what has made Teardrop style Racking so widely popular.

INTERLAKE NEW STYLE RACKING

In the late 1990’s, Interlake introduced a new design they termed “NEW STYLE INTERLAKE”. This new design is not considered Teardrop Racking, instead an Interlake proprietary design. What Interlake did was reinvent the locking pins on the Beams to look less rounded and more like an upside down hook. While these hooks might appear to lack the strength of the traditional rounded design, they carry equal strength. These NEW STYLE components were no longer compatible with existing older Teardrop components. As a result, new (“New Style”) Interlake Beams and Uprights would need to be purchased when adding onto existing or replacing.

Now for the confusing part… NEW STYLE Beams were interchangeable with OLD STYLE Teardrop Uprights but OLD STYLE Beams were not interchangeable with NEW STYLE Uprights.

SHAVED PIN BEAM

Fortunately, what Interlake competitors came up with was what is called a “Shaved Pin Beam”. These Beams are compatible with either new or old style Uprights, eliminating all confusion between the two styles. What they did was simply “shave” the rounded connector pin to allow for universal placement into the NEW STYLE Uprights.

This “Interake new style” of Pallet Rack is no longer being manufactured but a substantial amount of it exists today, primarily on the used market.

If you are not sure what type of Pallet Rack you have, we have created a handy PALLET RACK IDENTIFICATION GUIDE. It is designed to help you identify what brand and style of Racking you have. Most historical styles are listed.

Contact the Pallet Rack professionals at Midwest Material Handling, LLC with any questions or for both new and used Racking options!