Pallet Rack Caster? DIY Method?
 

So in my new shop I want some of my pallet racking to be mobile. I was hoping to find a suitable caster that would bolt into the existing holes on the "feet" of the uprights, but no casters with that spacing have a suitable weight rating.

I'm trying to avoid welding casters on the feet of the uprights, and trying to avoid welding on a set of the lower cross members (so the rack can be lifted with pallet forks), and trying to avoid having to fabricate a bunch of adapter plates to bolt casters on to the existing bolt pattern of the feet.

Obviously I'm trying to avoid a lot :) It's a chicken egg scenario, can't do much fabrication until I get all my tools in the shop, power hooked up, welding gas ordered etc. Can't do much of that until I get things moved into the shop, everything that does go into the shop must be on wheels right now because in a month after the slab cures I need to seal the concrete, which means I have to be able to move things around, heavy things.

Also would like to avoid the $85 each bolt-to-the-upright caster made for this purpose.

Wondering if any of you guys have come up with a clever solution.

Thanks

Not sure how much weight you desire to move while in the pallet rack. John, do you have a link to the bolt on style casters? have never ran across such a deal.

My own experience with mounting casters on pallet rack goes back over 20 years. The 18" wide teardrop style uprights were 14' tall & I cut them down to 6'6" so I could roll them out of my garage in town where they were positioned up against one wall. Ended up welding steel plate to make new feet for the top pieces. The casters I installed were new & what we deemed relatively HD. Picked them up in OKC from a business that all they sell is casters & I gave the owner a presentation of what I was trying to do. Installed a fixed pair on one upright, & a set that swiveled on the other upright.

With eight 7ft long beams & 4 long pieces of 5/8" plywood dropped onto the insets, the empty racking sections moved quite well. I rolled the first section up against the N wall & began loading the 3rd layer up with assembled Muncie 4 speeds. The next shelf down was cast iron Pontiac intakes, turned on their side with a double stack of 28 qt rubbermaid tubs on the left end (tripower carbs & linkage). Bottom in the rack, was five 48qt rubbermaid tubs with disassembled Muncies, & more heavy loaded Rubbermaid tubs to the right. Very top shelf @ eye level was boxed ring & pinion sets & tubs with relatively light parts. Total weight loaded in the rack, I'd guess 1800-2000 lbs. When I finally did attempt to roll this small pallet rack section out, it would barely budge, & the two swiveling casters would not track straight. At the time, I was like, if I had even more HD casters, and if I made a drag link setup, where both of the two swiveling casters were tied together to roll at the same angle, would that have helped? I don't know. Ended up in 2018, taking that section & another 18" deep rack & put them up in the back "kick out area" of my big shop where the ceiling height drops down to near 10'8" tall. All of my other pallet rack in the shop is stationary, 36" wide by 14' tall & a 32" wide x 12ft (engine bank). All utilize 4x3" sized C channel style uprights, with all but a few c channel beams (way up top) being of the boxed variety. Another three 4 ft wide sections along with 12ft long hd beams make up the floor supports to a mezzanine in the front corner of the shop.

Other than one 36" wide 10 ft long 14 ft tall section which abuts a large work zone in the very rear of the shop, I've never considered moving a section over. Would I like to, sure, I'd love to roll the tool cabinets & workbenches out of that large rear area & move the long pallet section to the east 4 ft & have the empty footprint shot blasted & epoxy coated. Eventually, one day, would like to do that :)

I'd probably have max 2000 lbs on a rack. In my last shop I used casters extensively because I had very limited room and needed the mobility. I had my (forgive me machining Gods) BP mill on heavy duty iron casters, not easy to move, but it would move. It's all about the diameter of the wheel. Something 2000 lbs on a smooth concrete floor you'd want minimum 3" diameter, probably 4".

Here are some examples of the idea of the bolt on casters/lift

https://www.howdoimovemyshelving.com/products

And some cheap Amazon items that are sort of the right idea.
https://www.amazon.com/TOOLGUY-REPUB...07MJTC4FK?th=1

I'd just make something myself, but the logistics aren't working out at the moment. Was hoping to find something so I could get a couple of racks moved in and mobile so I could start making the things I need, and not have to completely unload them and disassemble to put wheels on them later.

If I was brave I'd just pick a spot for the lowest beams and weld them to the uprights, then I could use pallet forks on the skid steer to move the whole thing, even loaded (carefully).

The example shown in the top link end up over $1000 for a set of four "jacks" and attachment adapters.