Cantilever Racking for Long Materials

Cantilever racking is purpose-built for storing long, unwieldy materials—timber, steel profiles, pipes, tubing, and sheet materials. This guide covers design, capacity and good installation practice.

What is Cantilever Racking?

Cantilever racking is an open-front system of vertical uprights with horizontal arms. Each arm is supported at one end by an upright, leaving the front of the rack open for loading and unloading. With no front uprights or beams in the way, long and awkward loads can be placed and removed from the side.

Load Capacity

There's no single capacity for cantilever racking. What a system can safely hold depends on the arms, how they connect to the uprights, the uprights themselves, the bracing and the complete installed layout. Safe working loads are set by the system's designer or manufacturer for each configuration.

Two limits always apply, and both must be observed:

• Arm rating: the most each arm can carry, for its length and the loading arrangement it was rated for.
• Upright rating: the most each upright can carry in total, across all of its arms.

Arm length affects bending and deflection. Always use the manufacturer's rated capacity for the specified arm and loading arrangement.

Support Spacing

The number and spacing of supporting arms must suit the length, rigidity and weight distribution of the materials you store. Load placement must follow the approved design. Simply dividing the total weight by the number of arms is not enough to show a load is safe.

Material Types

Timber & Sheet Materials

Boards, planks and sheets are well suited to cantilever racking. They're stored horizontally across the arms of successive uprights, keeping long lengths off the floor and easy to reach. Storing boards or lengths upright needs a system designed for that purpose.

Steel Profiles & Beams

I-beams, H-sections and channel sections can be very heavy. Specify the system according to the actual weight, dimensions and support arrangement of the sections you store, rather than by material type alone.

Pipes & Tubing

Round materials can roll. Fit suitable end stops or other specified roll-off protection so they can't roll off the arms during loading, unloading or storage.

Palletised Loads

Palletised loads should only be stored where the cantilever system and any decking or supports have been designed for the particular pallets and loading arrangement.

Installation

Good installation matters as much as good design:

• Floor or foundation capacity checked for the loads the uprights will carry
• Anchoring and bracing fitted as specified by the designer
• Installation by competent, trained installers
• Enough space around the racking to handle long loads safely
• Load notices displayed showing the safe working loads

Safety & Inspections

Key hazards include:

• Overloading arms or uprights beyond their rated capacity
• Loading in a way the system wasn't designed for, such as loads near the arm tip
• Unstable stacking of materials
• Vehicle impacts on uprights and arms
• Damaged components and defective connections

These measures help reduce the risk of incidents:

• Train operators in safe loading and handling
• Protect uprights in busy areas from vehicle impact
• Report damage immediately and act on it
• Carry out visual inspections weekly, or at other intervals set by your risk assessment
• Have an expert inspection by a technically competent person at intervals not exceeding 12 months

Restraints such as straps are not a fix for unstable storage. Any restraint arrangement should suit the goods and the rack's design.