Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is the second one I have built and after all is said and done with it only took about 4 hours worth of work from start to finish. Just 2x4s and melamine for the shelving. Ill be building the next one this weekend. Very sturdy, I can roll it where ever I want it. and I dont think the melamine will warp as badly with only 2 cages per shelf.

it took 10/12foot 2x4s at $4 something each and 5 4x8 sheets of melamine. Lots of wasted melamine because each shelf is 3x3, but its still a very cheap thing to build.

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Its all in the wheels. If you have good wheels on the bottom it makes all the difference.

LOL....still, I'd be worried that it would fall through my floor. That thing has to weigh 300 lbs....lol

And if 300lbs would go through your floor maybe you should find a new place to live! 2x4's are not all that heavy. The rack looks great, nice and sturdy for moving around. How did you heat it and what size tups are in it?

np

LOL - I bet it's probably pretty close - those 3x3 sheets of melamine are about 12-15 lbs each times 11 - plus the 2x4, tubs, snakes and accouterments - yeah - I'd bet 300 lbs isn't too far off.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

11.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

I have a melamine rack thats less than half the size of that and it weighs well over 150 (w/o the 2X4s). That's the problem with melamine. I love it for building racks, but they are SO heavy and cumbersome. The previous poster obviously hasn't worked with it.

Trust me, that thing is heavy

I don't know why you two are knocking the guys rack? Maybe you could have just said "Nice Rack" insted of [bleep]ing about how much it weighs. tosha even if I used the high side of your weights on the melamine its only 165lbs. 10/12 foot 2x4s don't weigh 50lbs and tubs and snakes surely aren't 100lbs. maybe he is keeping burms in the rack?

Actually no one was knocking his rack - simply stating what you obviously over looked - melamine is heavy - and maybe it's not 300 pounds but according to my calculations snakes and all its most likely between 230-250 pounds assuming that there are 20 snakes in there that are 1000 grams or less.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

11.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

Just having built many racks myself out of melamine, I was just remarking about how heavy it must be. By the way, in your calculation you didn't take into account the sides and back of the rack (I'm assuming its all closed in with melamine)...that would easily add another hundred pounds or so.

In my experience, the only downside to the large melamine racks is when you have to move. We recently moved into a new house and it was a real bear moving my racks. My largest rack is 11 long tubs stacked vertically, and that thing must be close to 200 lbs if not more. Couple that with the sharp corners and the shear size, they sure suck to move.

who cares as long as it rolls where you want it. Everyone knows melamine is heavy! If I could buy 3x3 PVC sheets, I would rather that than the heavy melamine...

Everyone thinks its a nice rack. It could be done better, but it beats the hell out of the last one! haha

PS Its heated with 3in heat tape and a oiled filled radiator heater.

I'm planning on using the pvc sheets to construct a rack and the pvc comes in 4' x 8' sheets just like plywood. A local sign shop should be able to get it for you if you decide to build another rack and want it lighter. A place near here quoted me a price of $68 (plus tax) for a sheet and they would cut it to my specs n/c so it does run a bit more in price.

Cheryl

Nice looking rack!! What size tubs did you use?
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Thomas Jones
aligatorhunter@cox.net

np