Stop Compromising Your Surface Finish.
For manufacturers of hygienic stainless steel components, a scratch on a polished tube isn't just a cosmetic flaw—it’s immediate scrap. Traditional floor stacking and forklift maneuvering are the enemies of your Ra values.
Our Roll Out Cantilever Rack systems eliminate side-loading damage by allowing 100% overhead crane access. Store your high-purity tubes, bars, and profiles densely, and retrieve them without friction, impact, or "digging" through piles.
In the high-stakes world of sanitary stainless steel manufacturing—where you are producing components for heat exchangers, dairy pumps, and pharmaceutical valves—material handling is often the silent killer of profitability. You source high-quality 316L stainless tubes with specific surface finishes (Ra), only to have them damaged before they even reach the saw or laser cutter.
The problem usually isn't the operator; it's the infrastructure. Storing 6-meter bundles of tubing on static racks forces forklift drivers to navigate narrow aisles and "spear" bundles from the side. This inevitably leads to metal-on-metal contact, crushed storage, and the dreaded "secondary handling" where piles must be shuffled to reach the specific diameter or alloy grade needed for a custom OEM order.
The core innovation of the Roll Out Cantilever Rack is its drawer-like functionality. Unlike static systems, every level of this rack can be cranked or powered out completely clear of the structure.
Operator using a remote to extend a heavy-duty drawer, enabling immediate access to specific tube grades.
This "Crank-Out" or motorized capability transforms your workflow from a horizontal struggle to a vertical breeze. By extending the rack arm 100%, you expose the entire length of the tube bundle. This allows your shop floor to utilize overhead cranes (EOT cranes) equipped with soft nylon slings or vacuum lifters to pick up the material.
The result? Zero friction. The crane lifts the stainless steel tube straight up. There is no dragging, no scraping against adjacent bundles, and no risk of forks gouging the polished surface. For a facility producing hygienic fittings where surface integrity is paramount, this feature alone can reduce material scrap rates by over 90%.
Time spent hunting for material is machine downtime. In a typical fabrication shop, a laser cutter or CNC saw might sit idle for 15-20 minutes while a forklift driver digs out a specific bundle of bar stock buried at the bottom of a stack.
The system is designed specifically for overhead crane interaction, ensuring rapid feeding of saws and laser cutters.
With a Roll Out Cantilever Rack, every specific SKU—whether it's a bundle of 2-inch sanitary tubing or heavy solid bar stock for valve machining—is accessible in under 2 minutes. The operator simply identifies the location, cranks the drawer out, and lifts the material directly to the machine feed table. This efficiency gain translates directly to increased daily output.
Stainless steel service centers and component manufacturers are often constrained by square footage. Traditional cantilever racks require massive aisles (often 12-14 feet) to allow a heavy-duty forklift to turn with a 20-foot load. This is "dead air" that you are paying to heat and light.
Dense storage of heavy tube stock in a compact footprint, eliminating wide forklift aisles.
By switching to a crane-accessible Roll Out Cantilever Rack, you can slash aisle widths significantly. Since the loading is done from above, you only need enough space for a person to walk and operate the crank or remote. We have helped clients recover up to 50% of their floor space—space that was then used to install additional CNC machining centers or welding stations.
These are not light-duty shelves. They are engineered using structural steel profiles and heavy-duty bearings designed to handle the extreme weight of solid stainless steel bars and large pipe bundles.
Robust crank mechanisms and sealed bearings ensure smooth operation even when loaded with thousands of pounds of steel.
Whether you need a manual crank system for occasional access or a fully motorized electric system for high-frequency processing lines, the structure is built to ASME and ISO safety standards, ensuring stability even when fully extended.
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Material Suitability | Stainless Steel Tubes, Bar Stock, Aluminum Profiles, PVC Pipes |
| Load Capacity | Up to 11,000 Lbs (5,000 kg) per arm level |
| Extension | 100% Full Extension for clear overhead access |
| Operation Mode | Manual Crank (Mechanical Advantage) or Electric Motorized |
| Tube Lengths | Standard 20ft (6m), custom lengths up to 40ft (12m) available |
1. Can we add liners to the arms to protect polished stainless steel?
Absolutely. For high-purity tube storage (such as ASME BPE grade), we recommend and can install UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene) liners on the cantilever arms. This ensures your polished surfaces never touch bare steel, preventing carbon contamination and scratches.
2. How much force is required to crank out a fully loaded arm?
Our manual Roll Out Cantilever Rack systems utilize high-quality transmission gears and bearings. Even with a load of 6,000 lbs, a single operator can extend the shelf with approximately 30-40 lbs of crank force, making it ergonomic and safe.
3. We have low ceilings. Can this system still work for us?
Yes. While vertical height maximizes storage, the primary benefit of this system is the drawer accessibility. We can design low-profile units with 3-4 levels that fit under mezzanines or low rooflines, still providing the benefit of crane access and organized segregation of tube diameters.
4. Is the system compatible with vacuum lifters?
Yes, this is the ideal use case. Because the drawers extend 100%, there is no overhead obstruction from the rack level above. This allows vacuum lifters to descend directly onto the center of the sheet or tube bundle for a safe, balanced lift.
5. Can we store short lengths or fittings on these racks?
While designed for long materials, we can equip specific levels with steel decking or heavy-duty wire mesh. This creates a solid surface suitable for storing shorter cut-offs, boxes of fittings (clamps, ferrules), or valve components alongside your long tubes.
