Storing steel pipe, tube, and profile stock efficiently is a problem of geometry as much as weight. A bundle of seamless tubes, a pile of welded pipe, and a stack of extrusion profiles all need horizontal support across their full length—but they differ in diameter, bundle width, and retrieval frequency. Fixed-depth cantilever arms force every material into the same compartment, which wastes space on small-diameter stock and overloads arms when operators cram oversized bundles into undersized slots. Herochu built its telescopic cantilever rack for steel pipe profile and tubes storage to solve this mismatch—giving each tier an arm that extends and retracts to match the material, not the other way around.
Telescopic Arm Mechanics: Extension Without Replacement
The defining feature of the Herochu telescopic cantilever system is the arm that extends from 400 mm to 800 mm in 100 mm increments. This is not a sliding drawer on rails—it is a structural extension that maintains full load rating at every locked position. An operator selects the extension length that matches the bundle depth, locks the arm, and loads. When the next tier holds a different material profile, the arm retracts or extends again—no arm swap, no disassembly, no downtime.
This matters most in steel pipe distribution where inventory rotates through multiple sizes in a single week. Monday’s delivery of 6 m seamless tubes may give way to Thursday’s arrival of smaller-diameter welded pipe. A fixed rack would need different arms for each—a costly, labor-intensive proposition. The telescopic design lets the same rack serve both with a 100 mm adjustment.
Cantilever Arm Load Rating and Safety Factor
Each cantilever arm in the Herochu system carries a 5,000 kg rating and is load-tested to a 1.5x safety factor at the factory. That means the arm holds 7,500 kg before reaching its deformation threshold. This testing protocol matters because steel pipe bundles do not always sit centered on the arm. An off-center load concentrates force at the arm root—the point where the arm meets the upright column. Herochu reinforces this junction with an engineered bracket that transfers bending moment into the column rather than concentrating stress at the bolt line.
The result is an arm that holds heavy pipe bundles confidently even when the forklift operator does not place the load perfectly centered—a common real-world scenario that static load ratings do not capture.
Galvanized Cantilever Arms for Rust Resistance
Steel pipe storage is wet work—not from water, but from condensation. Cold-rolled and galvanized pipe arrives at the warehouse at outdoor temperature. When it moves into a climate-controlled storage area, moisture condenses on the pipe surface and drips onto the arms below. Over months, this repeated wet-dry cycle corrodes bare steel arms, weakening the load path and producing rust streaks that stain the stored pipe.
Herochu uses galvanized steel for the cantilever arms. The zinc coating sacrifices itself to protect the underlying steel—it oxidizes first, forming a protective patina that slows further corrosion. Even where forklift contact scratches the coating during loading, the surrounding zinc continues to protect the exposed steel through galvanic action. This is why galvanized arms outlast painted arms in pipe storage environments by a wide margin.
Double-Sided Independent Compartments
The Herochu telescopic cantilever rack uses a double-sided configuration with independent compartments on each tier. Each side of the upright serves as a separate storage face, effectively doubling the storage capacity per upright footprint. More importantly, each compartment is independent—loading one side does not transfer load to the opposite side, and clearing one compartment does not destabilize the other.
For steel pipe and tube distributors, this means the rack can serve two material categories simultaneously: carbon steel pipe on one face, stainless tube on the other, or production stock on one side and shipping-ready bundles on the other. The manual crank mechanism on each compartment enables space-saving loading and unloading—operators crank the arm forward to present material for picking, then retract it to store the bundle flush within the rack depth, keeping aisles clear.
Handling Bundled and Loose Materials
Steel pipe arrives in two forms: strapped bundles and loose individual lengths. Each presents a different storage challenge. Bundles concentrate weight at strap points and can roll if the arm surface is too smooth. Loose lengths shift during loading and can fall if the arm lacks a retention lip.
The Herochu arm surface is engineered for both. The arm profile provides sufficient friction for bundled stock, and the arm tip includes a retention feature that prevents loose lengths from rolling off during placement. The 600 mm clear space (customizable) between arms accommodates standard bundle widths while leaving enough room for an operator to index individual lengths without binding.
Upright Column Heights and Tier Adjustability
Upright columns are available from 2,000 mm to 6,000 mm in height, with arm levels adjustable every 75 mm along the column. This adjustability is what makes the rack suitable for the full range of steel pipe and tube profiles:
- Short columns for small-diameter tubing stored in many tiers
- Tall columns for large-diameter pipe that needs vertical clearance between layers
- Mixed configurations where lower tiers hold heavy pipe and upper tiers hold lighter profiles
The 75 mm adjustment interval means the rack is not locked into the five or six standard tiers it ships with. A distributor who later needs to store a different pipe profile can re-tier the entire column without replacing components.
Forklift Access and Aisle Efficiency
The single-sided open face design—available alongside the double-sided configuration—allows forklift access from the front, which maximizes aisle efficiency in steel distribution operations. Operators drive in, deposit the bundle, and withdraw without needing to navigate around the rack structure. Combined with the manual crank extension, this means the aisle can be narrower than a fixed-arm rack would require, because the material presents itself to the operator rather than the operator needing to reach into a deep compartment.
Plug-In Installation and Rapid Assembly
The plug-in, bolt-together modular construction means zero on-site welding. Two workers assemble a full unit in approximately four hours using standard hand tools. Because every joint is engineered and tested rather than field-welded, the structural rating holds regardless of who installs it. When inventory profiles change, the same crew reconfigures the rack—extending arms, adjusting tier spacing, or relocating the entire unit—with the same structural integrity as the original installation.
Built for Steel Pipe Distribution
Every component in the Herochu telescopic cantilever rack is selected and tested for the demands of steel pipe, profile, and tube storage. From the Q235B frame that handles dynamic loading to the galvanized arms that resist condensation-driven corrosion, the system is purpose-built—not adapted from a generic pallet racking product. CE certified and ISO 9001 manufactured, with a three-year structural warranty on all components, the Herochu rack gives pipe distributors storage that adapts to their inventory rather than forcing their inventory to adapt to the rack. For operations that handle varying pipe and tube profiles week to week, the telescopic cantilever design delivers the flexibility and load integrity that heavy pipe storage demands.
