Pallet water tower brainstorm. Seeking advice

So I'm bouncing ideas around for a water tower for our IBC tote water collector, and I figured it may be wise to ask some input cause someone out there knows a lot more than me about engineering.

The goal is to get this thing off the ground. That'll increase the pressure and the area we can use it. But 2500 pounds of water is kinda heavy.

IMG_20190112_152547008.jpg

Don't freak out yet! There's no weight on it, and there's no system in place to fill it yet. It's safe as it sets. This is a dry fit.

My intent is to install gutters that will run to it and overflow into the swales. This will be one of many totes all over the yard, and this one will be not for human consumption, so a simple screen filter will he used.

My plan is to use screws to secure the pallets and I'll put cross bracing on the front, but I'd like to keep it largely open to put bikes and yard toys under there.

My concern is 2500 pounds of water four feet off the ground. That's the heaviest load I've ever made a support structure for, and it's no small matter if it decides to fall due to shitty redneck engineering. I'm on a very strict budget of whatever a box of screws costs, and the pallets are my materials. I could simply stack the pallets and gain about two feet of height, but that seems an inefficient use of the space and wouldn't give me the whole four feet, though that height isn't strictly necessary. Three feet would put it above the highest point on property.

This spot it is on has supported the full container for a series of months and has sustained no cracks. It is a concrete pad of unknown thickness. I am currently unable to install another pad elsewhere, but that is my intent on successive tote projects.

Seeking input. What say the steemians? Positive input please, don't just call me an impoverished retarded redneck and run off ;)

Be blessed.
Be fruitful.
Stay relevant.

Nate.


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Hi! As yo said this is going to weight 2500 pounds, so I recommend you to use arround 20$ to buy 20 concrete blocks. Clean the paviment and make 4 piles of 5 blocks, using cement between the grownd paviment and the 1st block, and between the blocks of each pile. You may also consider to apply 1 point of cement on top of each pile, between the 5th block and the deposit. If your roof limits the high the deposit can be, then 5 blocks may be too tall or maybe not. This is something to check before aplying the cement. Using wood pallets may hold it but it's less safe. As time passes some parts of the wood can deteriorate, and the structure can become unstable. When holding the full 2500 pounds of weight a weak point in the wood structure can be all it needs to destroy the wood structure and end with the deposit on the floor. Not to mention is dangerous, because if it breaks when somebody is arround there is enough weight to kill a person. Precisely for this reason I would consider not to put bikes, yard toys or anything else under there. Approach to it only when necessary and touch the structure as less as possible.
I'll follow you, and in case you have more agricultural or technical questions I may be able to answer you.

You know, I said I couldn't do any other materials, but looking at the material price at the home improvement store down the street, I could do this job with concrete for $25 after tax! I think this is the route I'll take. I've already got a bag of concrete to use.

I'll save up the cash and use the pallets to make a climbing fort for the kids.

Glad to hear. Just one consideration, I said that it may be good to add cement also between the top block and the deposit, to improve the security of the structure. But consider that doing so will fix the deposit, therefore you may not be able to remove it and that could be inconvinient if for example you want to take the empty deposit to clean it. For this reason it may be better to secure as much as possible the 4 piles of concrete blocks with cement, but not adding cement between the top blocks and the deposit. Consider that doing so will make hard to remove the block piles if one day you don't want the deposit anymore, but adding the cement at the grownd paviment and between the blocks do both things at the same time, improves the stability of the structure but at the same time makes it more difficult to remove. In any case consider not adding cement between the top blocks and the deposit for cleaning purposes. If you live in a place with mosquitoes they will come to the deposit to breed in there. Consider to glue some mosquito net between the pipe and the tank inlet nozzle, to try prevent the entry of mosquitoes. Not tape, since the tape will prevent the air outlet, and the air needs to leave the tank to let the water flow in correctly.

I was thinking to use some wood pieces to secure the tank to the top of the pillars. That way it's not cemented on, and is still secure. I think a stiff wind could move the tank if it were empty, and I'd like for it not to get blown over.

I'll definitely be putting a mesh screen over the inlet, as mosquitos are a big problem here. It'll also serve the purpose of keeping out leaves. We have a lot of trees on property, and I'd like for my water tank to not be full of leaves.

I would arrange some more pallets, stack them, secure them, put the IBC on top, turn the pallets into a bug hotel and store the toys somewhere else :-) CC0A5948-2D88-4604-9BBC-8C33B5A3BB09-254-00000028C0976469.jpg

Woah, that's a heck of a bug hotel! I've seen ones about the size of a shoe box before, but that one is huge! I like that idea a lot. I've been thinking about a few mason bee hotels all over the yard.

That bug hotel is freaking awesome... except mine would be full of spiders....

I heard the grasshoppers in oz could eat your foot to the bone in twelve minutes.

It's not mine btw. I snatched it from Pinterest. Loads of really great ideas for bug hotels there. I want to build a pretty large one too :-)

I would place a third pallet across the top that is constructed from hardwood and screw into the vertical pallets. Then put cross braces on all 4 corners like this which will stop lateral movement.
DSC_0600.JPG
Would be worthwhile securing the vertical pallets to the ground too which could be as simple as hammering pegs on either side of the pallets, or building a frame around the base which could be bolted to the vertical pallets.

Super braces! That was kind of my thinking too, though I hadn't thought of the pegs, I can see how those would help.

I think I'm going to change my plan, save my pennies, and go with pillars of concrete blocks. It can be done for about $25 if I buy new materials from the retail store. Less if I can buy someone's leftovers.

Alternatively, cement in the ground 4 hardwood posts, then use the hardwood supports from the pallets to form the frame at the top of the posts to hold the tank. Cost you about the same amount but wont go anywhere! Will still need the corner braces however to stop lateral movement. Use quick set cement if you want to complete in a single day.

Hey Nate, I'd say brace the hell out of it, and you'll be fine. I'd follow @theloneisobar's suggestion and add the horizontal pallet on top. I would even add an third vertical one, connecting the two on the sides. You could place it half-way in the middle, making it look like an H from above. That way it would add maximum support. Then I'd add the cross-braces in ALL corners: along the top, and along the middle pallet, top, bottom, and middle, on both sides. (I hope this makes sense without a visual. If not, let me know and I'll draw you one.)
Sure, this way you'd lose the storage area underneath the IBC, but honestly, I'd second @josegomez1 in this regard: better safe than sorry!
One of the things I learned here in Mexico is that it's okay to use shoddy material (though your pallets don't seem that shoddy), as long as you use enough of it. One time I helped some friends build an outdoor kitchen, and my German mind was screaming inside me that we're all going to die if this flimsy building collapses... In the end there were half a dozen of us climbing around on the structure, putting the roof on, and it was stable as a monolith.

Yeah, the concrete blocks are the route I think I'll be taking. The wife will like it better that way too, which is something I'm trying to strive for on my projects now lol

With this patio being a place where the kids regularly play, I'd rather use the concrete. Toys will get stored where they get stored now: all over the damn place. Lol

Very good point with the outdoor kitchen. Enough bracing could probably make anything possible.

my German mind

Ahahahhahaha....

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We have them in similiar set up stacked on 3 pallets. You'll be fine if you use physics mate.

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Dangit, I keep making comments with the NM profile! 😂

Got a picture of yours? I thought about putting a third where the support goes down the middle of the tote. Now I think I'm leaning towards saving up $25 for a few concrete blocks.

Good idea. Saves making a frame from scratch

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Just put another tote under it: even an empty one can support the weight of a full one. Just make sure they sit level :-)
We've had 7 stacks like that for 3 years now, sitting on flat rocks; we get heavy rain & the soil underneath gets fully saturated.

That's an idea I had once before. I thought about stacking two on a couple concrete blocks and making a double decker water storage with the top one being used as a big outdoor shower that would drain into a herb garden. Wife's words were "hell no." 😂

Totes (aka IBC's) are meant to be stacked at least 2 high when full.
Some can go 3 high!

For example:
"
When not in transportation and in a warehouse and filled to its maximum gross weight, Hoover’s metal IBC's can typically be stacked 3 high. The APR all poly IBC and the Tuff Tank II can typically be stacked 2 high when filled to their maximum gross weight in a warehouse.
"

https://www.hooverferguson.com/resource-center/faq.html

Here are better specs: metal cage IBC's (either 275 and 330 Gallon) can be filled & stacked 3 high, even when part of the metal structure is those plastic corners, or plastic base:
"Stackable 3 High"

https://www.protank.com/275gallon-caged-ibc-tote-p9931172

https://www.protank.com/330gallon-caged-ibc-tote-p8443458

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