shelving strength for many fermenters

[balto charlie]

Hey folks: I want to get some shelving for a brew room(closet more like it). I was going to build some strong wooden shelves to hold all of my gear and fermenting carboys. There will be as many as 3-4 full carboy at one time. I came across a deal on some used(new condition) shelves. They say 350 lbs/shelf. They don't look that strong. Do you think they can handle 4 full carboys at 1 time? Good chance that I may have 1 shelf handling all of the fermenting. That's 160+ lbs(4 carboys) of precious wort. Thanks
5-Tier Wire Steel Chrome Shelving Unit

 

[flyangler18]

I have similar rack units in my basement frog room and I've never been concerned about them failing under the weight of fully planted glass vivaria. The tank on the bottom of my rack is a 40 gallon breeder and it's friggin' heavy.

Keep those carboys on the bottom shelf to be sure.

And for the absolute best in shelving systems: http://www.gorillarack.com/

 

[Bopper]

Personally, I wouldn't trust $100-200 worth of homebrew on an 89 dollar shelf that needs assembly. A friend of mine has a similar shelf and it works great for pots and pans but I wouldn't trust it with carboys...it just doesn't seem strong enough. If it breaks, you're going to have a heck of a mess on your hand (not to mention the loss of brew).

Even if it can handle the weight, I'd be worred that it would tip over somehow. If it were me, I'd go with building some wooden shelves myself. This way, you can over do it a bit in terms of strength. It will cost you about the same and I think its worth it for the peace of mind.

 

[Gregredic]

Personally, I wouldn't trust $100-200 worth of homebrew on an 89 dollar shelf that needs assembly. A friend of mine has a similar shelf and it works great for pots and pans but I wouldn't trust it with carboys...it just doesn't seem strong enough. If it breaks, you're going to have a heck of a mess on your hand (not to mention the loss of brew).

Even if it can handle the weight, I'd be worred that it would tip over somehow. If it were me, I'd go with building some wooden shelves myself. This way, you can over do it a bit in terms of strength. It will cost you about the same and I think its worth it for the peace of mind.

I agree...build some wooden shelves. You can go to Home Depot or Lowes to get those metal brackets used for framing and building shevles. They will make them rock hard sturdy.

 

[drunkatuw]

And for the absolute best in shelving systems: WELCOME TO GORILLA RACK

I picked up some gorilla rack shelving from sam's club for around $60 and I'm not concerned at all about it breaking. I've had 4 carboys on a shelf with no problem.

 

[DUCCCC]

I use a workbench I made using a 2x4 Basics kit I got on Amazon. It's rock solid with nice 1/2" Birch plywood on top that I sanded and hand applied tung oil to. It's supposed to take up to 1000lbs per shelf. It's both my reloading bench and fermenter shelf and is more than up to both tasks.

 

[rabidgerbil]

If you have a Sams Club near you, and can get in, I know that my local one has a wire rack system that is a similar design to the ones that they use in warehouses, just built with smaller beams, etc. Those are extremely strong, and I seem to remember that the cost was not that bad.

 

[BrewBeemer]

I've collected steel store shelving with "L" legs vs "T" for both sides of shelving. With 36" wide shelfs from Safeway store remodeling jobs free.
I have placed over 500# of engine heads on each of the three shelfs plus the bottom shelf without any problems. Check around you can get them free if lucky and at the right place and time. Harder these days as scrap iron prices are up.

 

[wilserbrewer]

It should easily do 4 carboys or 160 lbs per shelf. If it rated at 350 pounds, it most likely would fail around double to triple the rated load.

Of course, common sense prevails, load the heavy stuff on the bottom. Place heavy loads gently, no slamming.

Looks fine to me.

Mike

 

[B-rad]

I have that metal shelf ( or at least one that looks the same) and I have 4 full carboys on one shelf right now.. I always do... The shelf I have is super heavy durty.. I have no fear of it failing.. Ill try to post a pic when I get home from work.

 

[jcdillin]

I use those shelves at work to store computer equipment, i've had it full of CRT monitors and laser printers and it takes it like a champ. I wouldn't have a second thought of putting carboys on there.

 

[Bobby_M]

There is no way that 160lbs could take that shelf down. Even if the 350lb per shelf rating was extremely liberal, that's a huge margin especially since the weight would be well distributed across the surface. Just make sure it's assembled correctly.

 

[A4J]

I use that shelving system around the house and in my garage. They're really sturdy and definitely can hold a bunch of full carboys. Living in earthquake country, all my shelves are bolted to the wall studs one way or another, so there's no concern for tip-overs or anything.