I recently moved some stuff into a larger storage unit and am in the process of getting industrial shelving units to help maximize the space. Shelving also helps with organization. But there are some things too large or bulky that I want to store separately, just not directly on the floor. The few items in cardboard also need to be kept off the floor.
A dunnage rack is a short elevated platform typically made from plastic, aluminum, or steel, and it serves to keep items off the floor. Most often, dunnage racks are used to keep goods dry and well ventilated.
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I was about to order a few pallets when I learned about Rubbermaid’s dunnage racks. The price on Amazon seemed right, so I ordered a couple 36″ x 24″ units. These racks will keep goods about a foot off the ground, which seems better than the couple of inches of elevation pallets would provide.
Features
- 12″ deck elevation
- slotted design for better air circulation
- 1500 lb load capacity
- structural foam construction
- aluminum reinforcement (2 robust box channels on bottom)
- withstands temperatures of -20° to 120°F
- molded tie-down slots
- textured deck
Assembly
The 36″ rack comes with 4 legs, 4 small screws presumably for aluminum reinforcement retention during assembly, 8 larger screws with unknown purpose, 16 washers, and 16 large lag screws for leg attachment.
Manual assembly is a bit of a pain. It’s doable for the first rack, but for subsequent racks I relied heavily on a cordless driver. You’ll need a Phillips screwdriver and 9/16″ wrench and socket. Even with a cordless driver, a manual wrench helps start the lag screws straight and true.
A little elbow grease and a couple of minutes later and the rack is ready for use.
Summary
Overall, I am quite pleased with the build quality and overall design of the dunnage rack. It is robustly built and can handle much heavier loads than other plastic/polymer racks in its price range. Larger racks have higher load ratings since they sport additional legs.
This isn’t as much a review as a this is what I bought and really like it recommendation post. There’s not much that can be said about a slab of molded foam plastic, but it’s nonetheless very well made.
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I caught these racks on sale for about $40 each at Amazon, but they’re normally priced at well over $100 each. If I ever need larger or additional dunnage racks and price isn’t as important as build quality and load capacity, I will definitely buy a few more Rubbermaid ones.
For less critical applications, such as home-use, I will likely just throw something together from t-slot aluminum, 2x4s, and plywood. But for business-related uses where I need something that just works with near-minimal effort, I won’t spend much time looking past Rubbermaid.
I regularly use other Rubbermaid industrial products and these dunnage racks are one more reason why I’m so fond of the brand.
Product Info (via Rubbermaid)
Rubbermaid also uses similar platforms (sans ventilation slots) for same-sized semi-live skids and platform trucks.
P.S. Dad, I know you’re reading this and I know what you’re thinking. No, I couldn’t find any free/abandoned wood pallets to use. It’s 26° outside, so I’m not going to throw something together with 2x4s onsite at the storage facility if I don’t have to.
jesse
Sometimes you can get these composite pallets just by asking. Businesses that do a lot of receiving accumulate all kinds of pallets.
Steve R.
Stuart–Happy New Year! There are advantages and disadvantages to these Rubbermaid “mini” pallets. They are somewhat undersized, compared to a standard pallet, which is 32″ W x 48″ L x 5″ H, but it all depends on what you’re trying to store and how heavy it is. The RM units are more compact; if you don’t need them to be as large as a standard pallet, you’ll waste less space. The additional height is nice, especially if you live in a flood-prone area. However, if you have some heavy items to store, you may need help to lift them the additional height, or perhaps use a ramp. The legs look stout, and I assume RM has designed slots in the underside for the legs to slip into, for additional support/rigidity. We had some large plastic pallets at my place of work to store aggregates, bags of cement, etc., and they can’t be beat. They were a one-piece molded design, they didn’t warp and they would last forever. They were 8-10″ high, which protected materials from the occasional flooding incident. Wooden pallets aren’t as tall, and we periodically had to perform repairs to keep them in service. The only question I have about the units is: Are they designed to snap together for extended lengths or runs if you need them to?
Regarding Jesse’s comment about the availability of composite pallets, there is a big market in the recovery and re-use of all pallets, so I’m not sure that you could count on a business just “giving” them to you. I know Home Depot would charge us $15.00 a piece for the wooden ones if they delivered materials to us at work, and that was 4-5 years ago.
Stuart
Happy New Year to you too!
The racks don’t snap together, but Rubbermaid does make longer and wider ones. I plan to sit them all together to create a 9-foot run, and I don’t anticipate them moving at all once they’re loaded.
Individual items won’t weigh more than 100 lbs or so, but some might be 75-80 lbs, which I find easier to move from a foot off the ground than 6-inches.
mnoswad1
Structural foam………like that stuff. I’d like to see more things made of it, its gotta cool pattern and seems to be self slippery. Wondering if they cast that stuff in sheets so one could fabricate things with it.
Either way…..very good idea to keep things up off the ground, just the clean look is enough, and ease of cleaning, but notice that things get rusty, warped, moldy when placed directly on concrete slabs. Noticing some water heaters often rust on the bottom not because of water, but rather vapor rising through the slab and condensing. Not that one would put a water heater on this, just saying.
Mac
Nice review, but…
Think I’m going to agree with Dad – Pallets are free all over the place. Never even been asked to pay for any. Most places love you for taking them away, and some will even help load.
At 26 deg, work hard tossing pallets around, and you won’t be cold long. 🙂
Need more hieght, get more pallets.
Youtube ‘pallet house’ for cool video on really great use.
Stuart
Pallets are also twice as wide as I really wanted right now. I might have a use for a few later on for the middle of the storage room. But right now I don’t have the time to drive around the area looking behind businesses to see who’s throwing away pallets.
Yes, you can find pallets for free, but there’s a time and effort expense.
Should I need 1-2 pallets in the future I will likely just buy inexpensive recycled plastic ones.
DICK DECKERT
Would these dunnage type racks also work as platforms for doing high home fixing chores as wallpapering, painting ,lights,nailing? Rectangles would do nicely in my opinion instead of buying work platforms. Pricing would be needed. Just an old timer idea. Thanks