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SpaceRak traces its roots back to the Eugene Welding Company, which was founded in 1945. Eugene Welding Co. began operations in Flint, Michigan, fabricating tubular frames for the understructures of mobile homes. Once EWCO had made a name for itself as a reputable manufacturer of high-quality steel tubing, SpaceRak was formed in the 1960s for the sole purpose of producing pallet rack.

Since it’s founding, SpaceRak has been a leading member of the material handling industry, having engineered several new products and designs. Now a division of Heartland Steel Products, SpaceRak is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The company has locations in Marysville, Michigan and Lodi, California.

SpaceRak Selective Pallet Rack


SpaceRak Pallet Rack
Source: SpaceRak.net

The product many of us are accustomed to seeing and quoting is SpaceRak selective pallet rack. Once upon a time, SpaceRak made a closed-tube column called the “Raptor” column, which we’ll talk about later. Today, SpaceRak’s teardrop column is an open-backed model.

SpaceRak selective racking features several familiar specs, including 2” vertical adjustability, 16 or 10 gauge steel frames, 1 5/8” step beams, and 3 or 4-pin end connectors. For customers looking to switch it up from the typical green and orange, SpaceRak offers 8 free stock color options.

 

Heartland Engineered Systems


While SpaceRak is most closely associated with selective rack, its parent company, Heartland Steel Products, also provides customized engineered storage systems. Engineered systems take into account not only storage but also order picking, safety, workflow, and more.

These systems range from standard selective rack to dynamic systems like push-back, pallet flow, or any other type of system the application calls for. The overall concept is a storage system that’s designed to fit the unique requirements — space, workflow, product, codes, etc. — of the end user. When it comes to engineered systems, components may be custom-built to the client’s specs.

 

SpaceRak Drive-In and Drive-Thru Rack

SpaceRak offers drive-in and drive-thru rack systems for users looking to maximize their cube. The drive-in rack systems can be built with either structural or roll formed steel and are available in both single and double-entry designs. Double-entry designs provide even greater density for an already-dense storage system.

 

SpaceRak Push-Back Rack

Push-back racking is growing in popularity, and SpaceRak is among the manufacturers that provide a push-back racking option. Push-back allows users to store more product than with selective racking while allowing for greater selectivity than drive-in systems. SpaceRak push-back systems can be built anywhere from two to six pallets deep and up to four pallets high.

 

SpaceRak Pallet Flow Rack

Another popular type of dynamic storage system is pallet flow rack. SpaceRak offers pallet flow racking constructed of either roll formed or structural steel. As an engineered system, pallet flow rack is configured based on factors such as load weight and type, as well as pallet type.

 

SpaceRak Cantilever Rack

Cantilever rack is a popular way to store items like lumber and piping that don’t fit into standard pallet rack systems. SpaceRak cantilever racking comes in heights of up to 25′, with arm lengths of 24″ to 72″. Both the columns and the bases are made of heavy-duty W beam sections. SpaceRak cantilever can also be designed to meet any applicable standards and codes.

 

Raptor-Rak


SpaceRak Raptor-Rak
A sample of the Raptor-Rak design

At one time, SpaceRak manufactured a column named the Raptor-Rak. Although the Raptor-Rak is no longer in production, it is still widely remembered by many seasoned material handling professionals who associate it with the brand. Raptor-Rak was, at the time, SpaceRak’s strongest storage product. Raptor-Rak frames featured fully-closed, square tubular column that provided exceptional levels of strength and impact resistance.

Today, SpaceRak no longer includes Raptor-Rak in its product offering. Still, it’s not uncommon to find it in use in modern warehouses, a reminder of a past era for SpaceRak and material handling. Now if you ever come across it, you’ll be able to identify this unique pallet rack design.

 

SpaceRak Pallet Rack Clips


There’s a common point of confusion that often surfaces around SpaceRak: safety clips. There are two different SpaceRak safety clips on the market, each compatible with a different pallet rack model.

One of these two safety clip designs fits SpaceRak’s current beam end connectors. We’ll call this clip the SpaceRak New Style clip. If you purchased SpaceRak pallet rack beams today, it would come complete with these safety clips. They appear identical to Steel King and Bulldog teardrop pallet rack clips.

The other of the two clips is compatible with SpaceRak’s old pallet rack end connectors. We’ll call this clip the SpaceRak Old Style clip. While it’s obsolete for new SpaceRak pallet rack, it’s an important component for the existing older SpaceRak racking still in use.

spacerak pallet rack clips
The SpaceRak Old Style Clip (left) and SpaceRak New Style Clip (right)

 

Learn More about SpaceRak


There’s always more to cover when it comes to manufacturers, but our goal is to help you by learning and understanding the basics. We hope we’ve done this with our guide to SpaceRak. If you want to learn more about SpaceRak or need to quote SpaceRak for your next project, please give us a call or send us an email.

Remember, our goal is to help you!