building a firewood storage rack. questions

[Johnny]

I want to build a firewood rack and need to know what material dimensions would be acceptable. I don't have a fancy CAD program so I made a "sketch" in PhotoShop- go ahead and have a free chuckle. I hope I have given enough information to fetch an answer? I may choose to make a couple 4' wide units instead. This will probably end up being heavy if it's 7' wide?

I refuse to buy a bolt together POS from Home Depot when I own MM140- even if it's $500 in labor.

Is 1.5" x 1.5" square A513 tubing overkill or inadequate? What wall thickness will suffice? Am I WAY off base in materials selection?

I got a rough idea of materials cost by getting an online quote from metalsdepot.com. Metals Supermarket will likely be my supplier and I haven't a clue about what they'll charge for this type of material- they're website is a bit shy of functional?
A513 Steel Structural Square Tube 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 X 16GA (.065 wall) 48' = $93
A513 Steel Structural Square Tube 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 X 14 GA (.083 wall) 48' = $118
A513 Steel Structural Square Tube 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 X 11 GA (.120 wall) 48' = $136

[aametalmaster]

I would look for a metal supplier thats close...Bob

[Johnny]

I would look for a metal supplier thats close...Bob

Metal Supermarkets is 17miles one-way and I am OK with that.

Thanks.

[tnjind]

Is this going outside? if so you may want to put something under the feet so it doesn't sink.

Looks good. If outside are you going to cover it?

[Johnny]

It's going outside. I'll probably add material to the legs so it dosen't dig into my concrete patio.

It will be covered with a lightly customized blue tarp. I sew better than I weld.

another top notch sketch... with skids added

[Johnny]

Is this going outside? if so you may want to put something under the feet so it doesn't sink.

Looks good. If outside are you going to cover it?

Forgot my manners. Thank You!

[Flyingpig]

Youre going to have a lot of weight 7 feet high with only a 14 inch footprint. To keep from having it fall over on the neighbors poodle, Id make it longer and not as tall. If youre dealing with a confined space bolt it to the garage wall.

[Johnny]

Youre going to have a lot of weight 7 feet high with only a 14 inch footprint. To keep from having it fall over on the neighbors poodle, Id make it longer and not as tall. If youre dealing with a confined space bolt it to the garage wall.

Thank You. a 14" footprint is very skimpy, re-think due. As of this moment it'll be 5'high and 7' wide. I'll increase the feet to 18" perhaps though it will create a trip hazard, at least for me.

[Jack Olsen]

As a point of reference, Metals Depot's prices are ridiculous.

1"x1"x24' 16ga from them is $23. My price for a 20' length in Los Angeles (where things ain't exactly cheap) is only $6.

[fjk]

Metal Supermarkets is 17miles one-way and I am OK with that.

either you won the lottery or have goat pictures of the local m.s. manager

seriously -- for any non-trivial amount of material, find a steel service
center/dealer/...er. the price difference is major.

s to your design -- i built one about the same -- except that it was not
as long and i did not put the stretchers along the top. it works well.
you _might_ want to consider putting only 1 such stretcher along the top.
it would make it easier to load/unload the rack.

good luck
post pictures.

frank

[TripleTrophy]

For material thickness, you can always look at the POS at Home Depot, and see what they are using. Offhand, I would be inclined to do the bottom in .120" or so, with ".065 a possibility for the sides, and the top which will likely be in tension.

[Johnny]

Thank Dudes! I'll see what kind of minimums are involved with Service Steel. Probably have to buy a 1000'.

[Bodybagger]

At 5' high, 7' wide, filled with 18" long firewood, you'll have 52.5 cu ft of stacked firewood, which is 41% of a cord.

Reasonable weight per cord of firewood is 5000lb, so you'll have 2,050lb when filled. Could go up or down depending on length and moisture content, but we'll use that number.

If you have 3 legs 18" long at 1.5" wide, you have a bearing area of 81 sq. in. to distribute the 2,050lb load, resulting in a bearing pressure of 25.3psi or 3,644 PSF.

3,600 PSF is a large load for below grade footings, considering that residential footings rarely have more than 1,000PSF.

But bearing capacity at the surface is MUCH MUCH lower. This is going to sink unless you put it on something capable of supporting 2,000+ lbs, such as a 6" layer of compacted gravel or a 4" concrete slab.

If you go with the concrete slab, you can set anchors where the feet will go and use tabs to bolt it down. Takes care of the tipping issue as well.

[Broccoli1]

I would just build it all out of 11g- last forever.

1 Stringer in the back-top

Since it is going on top of the patio just 86 the Feet.

[Bodybagger]

Scratch that. Just read the part about being on a concrete patio.

You can bolt it to your patio with wedge anchors on the feet.