Racking Protection Guide: Column Protectors & Pallet Stops

Tracy Jackson: Hi guys, this is Tracy from Simply Rack.

Today, we’re going to talk about protecting your racking system. One of the options for row ends is end of row protection, which are the yellow bowlers that protect a forklift from backing in or pallets to be pushed against it. Well, orange option, which is column protection the majority of upright damage is the lower 16 inches of the upright and this metal multiflora option will allow the forklift to hit the product on the column protector before actually hitting the racking system. Yes, it will actually damage the column protector, but better that than the uprights. This is not a save all for the racking. The forklift is obviously a lot larger and heavier, but it certainly does help, especially since the end of row protection protects the bollard, where the bollard protects you upright excuse me and is anchored with three-quarter inch anchors per end of row and they connect here in the middle. So, for instance, these are 42 inch deep uprights with a 12 inch push base, so this is a 48 inch deep end of row protection, matches perfectly in the middle and looks great.

Hi guys, this is Tracy with SimplyRack. We’re going to talk about protecting your walls and flue space against the wall. The item that you’re looking at here is called a single pallet stop and connects to the beam through the wire so that it stops the pallet from overextending and hitting the wall. It still allows the pallet to overhang three to four inches so that if you have a 48 inch deep pallet on a 42 inch deep upright, you’re going to have overhang front and back, which is exactly what OSHA wants you to have. You need to have overhang so that the pallet is seated securely on the front and back beam.

If you have a fire code that requires flue space protection, we do have a double where the uprights are back to back. That can be provided as well. When installing the column protectors, you’re going to want to make sure that the column protector itself is not touching the upright. That’s so if the forklift hits the column protector and it bends backwards, as it’s supposed to do, it doesn’t actually crease into the upright and it’s done its job. The single pallet stops, as you can see from the side angle, extend over about three inches and as the pallet hits it, the weight triangles into the beam so that you’re not going to damage the pallet stop for your product.