Even if it’s filled with “light beer”, sixer beer kegs can be quite heavy. Weights can vary according to what’s stored inside, but a sixer can weigh in at around 55 pounds with most typical beers. OSHA and the Department of Labor and Industries recommends a lifting limit of 50 pounds, so even allowing for varying liquid weights, the typical sixer is still pushing the envelope of official limits.
Loading and unloading sixers off of rack can become pretty strenuous after even a short while. Back injuries caused by warehouse work are fairly common due to the lifting and shifting of heavy loads. Among those heavy loads is the wrangling of beer kegs, such as the loading of racks, taking inventory off of the racks, and moving product from the rear of the rack to the front.
Bluff Manufacturing has created a system of keg racks that alleviates much of the wrangling, reducing the risk of injury, while increasing your storage space. Many keg storage systems are simple shelves requiring the keg to be stored upright. Removing these kegs requires them to be dragged along their flat edges. Bluff’s keg racks store them on their sides with the back of the rack being slightly elevated to take advantage of a keg’s cylindrical shape. A worker can simply grab a keg from its more convenient ends and load it onto a pallet while the remaining stock rolls forward. To load the rack, the kegs are put in from the rear and roll gently to the front.
Bluff’s keg racks range in length from 38 inches (warehouse rack length 42 inches), holding 4 kegs, to 116 inches (warehouse rack length 120 inches), holding 12 kegs. They are easy to install, requiring no welding or bolting, and are virtually maintenance free. Contact us to see how we can help improve your craft beer keg storage and flow.
