Just bought a used truss roof, what now?

[scott407]

I just bought a 16'x30' truss roof (20' height) used. It has been used a lot and has some visible issues (bends, oxidation). I need to get this thing certified and ready to rent.

I had a local rigger (15 yrs experience) come take a look and he said I need to have the original manufacturer assess it, rate it, and re-certify it. There are no markings on the rig by the manufacturer, so no luck there. He said it could be Tomcat, but wasn't 100% sure, and recommended them to come out and inspect to see if it was their truss. He said if it's not a name brand then it's only good for scrap metal.

Conversely, I had an engineer/consulting firm from out of town tell me he could do an assessment, layout/approval drawings, and review/approval for about $8k. Basically, the engineer could get my "no name" rig re-certified.

What is the best route here? And is $8k a good price to get this rig re-certified and legal?

 

[Footer]

I just bought a 16'x30' truss roof (20' height) used. It has been used a lot and has some visible issues (bends, oxidation). I need to get this thing certified and ready to rent.

I had a local rigger (15 yrs experience) come take a look and he said I need to have the original manufacturer assess it, rate it, and re-certify it. There are no markings on the rig by the manufacturer, so no luck there. He said it could be Tomcat, but wasn't 100% sure, and recommended them to come out and inspect to see if it was their truss. He said if it's not a name brand then it's only good for scrap metal.

Conversely, I had an engineer/consulting firm from out of town tell me he could do an assessment, layout/approval drawings, and review/approval for about $8k. Basically, the engineer could get my "no name" rig re-certified.

What is the best route here? And is $8k a good price to get this rig re-certified and legal?

Certified is a rather dubious term. Unless the engineer is going to perform load tests on it, then all they are doing is looking at is and writing it off.

After the Indianna collapse, some municipalities are looking at these structures as individual building projects, not movable structures. Therefore, every time they go up they basically start fresh and require all paperwork etc like it is a new building. Something to consider at least.

I would listen to your experience rigger. Without knowing who made the thing, you are pretty much up a creek. Without that you both lack the actual loading ability of the roof and more importantly, the support of the company the ensure any modifications are safe.

 

[avkid]

At first glance that appears to be Tomcat.
You need to assemble it correctly then have it load tested under the supervision of a qualified engineer.

The only firm I recommend:
Clark Reder

 

[porkchop]

It certainly looks like Tomcat, but they pretty much sticker or stamp everything they make. If it has no markings at all I would find it hard to believe they're the manufacturer. That or the previous owner went crazy removing stickers for some reason...

 

[soundman]

If it has no markings on it how do you know the SWL of it? I would agree with your friend that this is most likely scrap metal.

 

[avkid]

It certainly looks like Tomcat

The sticks do, but the sleeve blocks on the other hand...

 

[MPowers]

I just bought a 16'x30' truss roof (20' height) used. It has been used a lot and has some visible issues (bends, oxidation). I need to get this thing certified and ready to rent. ....What is the best route here? And is $8k a good price to get this rig re-certified and legal?

Visible Issues????? And you still bought it? Oxidation is not a problem, but bends? Any visible bend requires that section of truss to be decommissioned. No if's and's or but's...any visible bend, twist or camber deformation places a section of truss in a DO NOT USE condition.

Every piece of truss that leaves our loading dock, leaves with written documentation that since the last use, it has been inspected and found to be in good condition with no visible defects in welds, no visible deformation in twist, camber or bend.

If there are any visible bends, twists etc. in the truss I would advise against using it in any supporting or overhead situation. If you knowingly rent out this with visible defects, no matter who certifies or "signs" off on it, you are assuming an infinite amount of liability.

"Best route here? " IMHO find a boat that needs an aluminum anchor. You can use individual pieces in applications where the truss is strictly a visual element with light inside or similar, but never supporting another piece of truss or a video screen or ....!!

$8K for certification? IMHO a rip off and not worth the paper it is written on. Especially now that you have made a public announcement that there are potential issues with the truss.

I had a local rigger (15 yrs experience) come take a look.........He said if it's not a name brand then it's only good for scrap metal.

Pay attention, scrap metal. Trust him.

 

[FatherMurphy]

The engineer would only be doing you anything of benefit if, and only if, he was willing to reverse engineer the roof and it's construction materials and methods to the point that he would be assuming liability for the rest of its service life. If he's thinking of just simply measuring it, computer modeling it, and giving you a report, never to be heard from again, then you'd only be paying another $8k for some recycleable paper to go with your scrap metal collection. To give you numbers worth anything more than the paper they're printed on, he'd have to figure out which alloys and tempers were used for which members, not just sizes, and what weld types were used where. You'd still be lacking any sort of destructive testing to learn where design simulation differs from Mother Nature, unless you succeed in finding the manufacturer.

In a different train of thought, it appears that the sleeve blocks are hoisted by electric winches permanently attached to the tower bottoms - aside from the internal stresses this places on the tower (as opposed to designs where the motor and the hook both attach to the sleeve block), are the winches rated for overhead lifting, sized for the loads, and include proper brakes? If all four motors have to be run by separate pickles, that's kind of unwieldy too.

 

[avkid]

Those hoists look like your generic Harbor Freight variety.

Sell the undamaged truss sections as decorative and scrap the rest.