dismantling pallet racking

I don't know of any fast way, but be very careful not to swing one end out too far with the other end still engaged or otherwise bend them at all, or they will be a real pain to reassemble.

I also use a 24" or so 2x4 to whack them up & out so you don't mangle them like a steel hammer would.

That does sound like it will take alot of time!

MikeB

This is not a facetious reply, nor funny. It is a possible solution to your problem.

I would go to the local Home Depot and load three Mexicans looking for a daytime job, offer the daily rate plus lunch, take them to your site, show then the end result you want, let them design the process, go have your coffee, and a few hours later take them back, pay them and come back to a job well done exactly to your specifications.

Sorry to those of you who hate the Mexican immigrants. But this is the kind of work you can get, at affordable rates, to allow you to make a profit on your business.

Pay the taxes if you feel guilty.

Wayne

First, trap some laborers with that mancage......

I agree that this is the way to go, but I would get four, so they can work 2 x 2, one on each end...

What about insurance should someone get hurt. I have my employees covered but I am not sure how W.C. would work in that situation.

Wayne Lundberg wrote:

Two guys and a forklift can take it down pretty easy. Just start at the top and work your way down, leaving the bottom cross pieces in until you are ready to remove the end. When you are ready to drop the end frame, get the forklift over to it and rest the upper end on the forks and lower it with the lift. If it is any consolation, I managed a warehouse for three years and assembled and disassembled pallet racking like yours, all by myself fairly often. Greg

I don't think I would hire some hapless immigrants to dissasemble 18' high racks. Their not riggers. They could end up getting seriously hurt, and you'll end up with a lawsuit as the employer.

Tony

Dismantle, then re-mantle; that seems so inefficient. Is there any way to move them whole? Tilt & lower them with the fork truck, then load them on a flat bed?

Just brainstorming, Bob

Taking down pallet racking is not rocket science. You don't even need a fork lift if you have about four people and some blocking and a rope to lower the end frames. It goes fairly quickly. About ten years ago a 100,000 sq. ft. warehouse used by the company that I worked for had the roof collapse from snow followed by rain. The company had everyone that was able bodied working three shifts to move the material and tear down the pallet racking. Engineers, technicians, mechanics, inspectors, quality assurance, paper pushers, etc. working using portable lighting. There were no injuries.

Dan

Greg, thanks for your input. I would have thought starting at the bottom would be easier beacuse as I go up I am under each beam and in the center of the section. Then at the top I can lower the upright and start over again.

If I start at the top then the forktruck has to back out and under each beam on the way down, then go back up to get the upright, come down and then go back up to start the next section.

Having not done this before am I missing something? Thanks Steve

Greg O wrote:

What if you hire them as contract labor? They would be responsible for their own taxes, and insurance.

Your insurance won't cover an illegal act. I'd suggest, if you're otherwise legitimate, to forgo this and use your brain to find the solution instead of just throwing manpower at the situation. Why become an criminal as some have suggested?

dennis in nca

I have not dismantled pallet racking using a forklift. And I am not sure if a fork lift would be of much help. The pallet racking I took down required a bit of force to unhook the end of a cross member. I think if you put the tines of a forklift under a cross member and lifted, the rack might start to lift off the floor.

We just got two people up on the rack and thumped up to loosen a cross member. Held one end and lowered the other to someone below. According to W.W. Grainger a cross member weighs about 50 lbs. A 18 foot frame weights about 140 lbs.

Dan

"Contract labor" doesn't make a difference. Of course the law varies from state to state. In NY for instance you would still be responsible.

Even under IRS guidelines, you must withhold taxes for a subcontractor if you have direct control over the subcontractor's work, the sub only works for you, they report to you, and such.

Even if you hired an truly independant subcontractor and they didn't have adequate insurance, the policy lapsed, and such, you would be on the hook, which is why you would want to be a named insured on your sub's policy.

Consult your lawyer.

Tony

Life is dandy is everything goes smoothly. But if someone gets injured plan on many trips to the courthouse. All to save a few dollars on pallet racks?

The employees of your company were covered under your employer's workers comp policy. Some day laborer is not going to be, since he can't even work on the books.

I don't think putting people 18' high on pallets racks a low risk job.

I suppose your method would work too. Doing all by myself I found it easier to start at the top to dismantle. Greg

Crew of four.

Two guys in the mancage, one on the forklift, fourth afoot to manage ground-handling of lowered stringers.

Start at the top.

FIRST * Tie-off the uprights to bldg structure to prevent them falling.

Then, forklift, from bottom, remove stringers and when you get to the top and remove last stringer, lower the free vertical frame.

Mancage is good. Two guys, (one for each end of the stringer). Bump them loose, lower to ground with rope. They are light enough that one man can manage to lower one.

Get a couple of 6-lb babbit hammers, fairly short handles, to bump stringers loose, if you can't find a 6-lb rubber or plastic ones If they are REALLY stuck, put a 2x4 block under it to whack with the hammer, to avoid distorition, as others have said. . .

At least, that's the way my crew did it, when we moved a similar warehousing situation. It worked for us - - YMMV

Flash

You never actually get on the top of the end frames. The highest you get is on the beam below the highest beam. Say the beams are 4 feet apart. You would stand on the beam 12 feet off the floor. I would classify it as low risk compared to something like roofing.

Dan