To Anchor or Not to Anchor, That is the Question

Shelving Concepts promotes a safe environment for any place of business. It is part of our safety process, when we install racking, to secure the customer’s pallet rack or cantilever with anchors. At the time of quoting or purchasing, our sales team will help you determine which anchors will suit your needs and pricing.

Shelving Concepts uses and supplies wedge anchors. The wedge anchor is a mechanical expansion anchor used to permanently install objects on to a solid concrete space. Shelving Concepts recommends that your pallet rack or cantilever is secured to a concrete slab. Anything outside of our recommendations will be up to the customer to install and anchor.

Let us talk about Pallet Rack anchors

All pallet should be anchored to the concrete surface it will be covering. This allows for the uprights to remain stable and will keep the product the pallet rack is housing from moving or falling in the instance of a forklift or other warehouse equipment hitting the upright. Shelving Concepts recommends a ½ x 4 ¼ wedge anchor. When anchoring your pallet rack, we suggest using one anchor per foot plate of each upright. Each foot plate has four holes so if you hit rebar during the drilling process, you can move to another hole to place your anchor.

                                                       

Picture shows the foot plate and anchor holes                                                                       1/2 x 4 1/4 wedge anchor

Maybe Cantilever is more your style?

Anchoring your cantilever is necessary. The product itself is heavy and adding weight onto the cantilever without anchoring would cause the product to lean or allow the material placed on it to fall off. Shelving Concepts uses a 5/8 x 4 ¼ wedge anchor for our cantilever. Cantilever requires three anchors, one in the column and two in the base. The anchors will create a zig zag pattern beginning with the anchor in the tower.

 

                                                 

Picture showing the zig zag pattern for anchor placement                                                     5/8 x 4 1/4 wedge anchor

Want to get some anchoring experience?

If you are not looking to pay someone to install your pallet rack or cantilever, you as the consumer can install the anchors yourself. Upon request, Shelving Concepts can provide an install manual for either product.

Shelving Concepts recommends the following list of items to anchor pallet rack or cantilever racking.

  • Rotary Hammer
  • Drill bit (size depends on what you are installing)
  • Torque Wrench
  • Vacuum
  • Safety Glasses
  • Gloves
  • Hard Hat

To answer the age-old question, to anchor or not to anchor, anchoring is always the answer. Safety is our number one priority. Shelving Concepts wants to make sure your rack is secure, which will ensure a safe work environment.

If you have any question regarding the anchoring process of material you have purchased through Shelving Concepts or you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.

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