While working in the warehouse, has it ever crossed your mind that those wire decks holding up your inventory on the shelf look awfully skimpy? Have you ever discovered that some of these wires were bent from a palette or a careless forklift? Many may not think about this often, but those wire decks are not indestructible. In fact, they have a very strict weight limit depending on the gauge of the wire steel used to make the wire shelving. Here are the basics of wire rack deck capacities to help stave off your fears of collapsing shelves and broken inventory.
In general, one can expect that the strength of the wireframe is based on the gauge (or thickness) of the steel it is made from. Our steel pallet rack decking is made of steel 6-gauge wire mesh pattern that supports the loads without bending or buckling. Due to the way that the wire mesh is laid on top of itself in a support-specific layout, this sort of wire pattern and gauge will easily carry up to 2500 pounds of weight before showing any malformation. Smaller surface area selections may have up to 3000 pounds of capacity.
If you are looking to replace your now damaged wire decks in your warehouse or another storage area, there are some extremely important things to consider before choosing your deck. The first is the overall dimensions of the wire rack you want. With some of the larger racks, the load capacity is decreased due to the lack of overall support in the middle of the screen. The other important factor to consider is whether or not you want edge designs for the rack. In practice, these can help secure the rack to the shelving in different ways. Some are welded to the frame, while others simply sit on top.
Knowing how to manage your wire decking in a warehouse can be difficult, especially when you are tasked with selecting the wire racks that serve as shelve support. We hope that our overview has helped you better understand the basics of wire rack deck capacities. If you have any other questions, do not be afraid to reach out to Rack Safety Products for any other questions you may have.
